Cleaning Your Tortoise or Turtle's Habitat

Turtles

Every day: Use a small net to remove any droppings or uneaten food.

Keep your turtle’s swimming water filtered by using a canister filter or power filter. The more powerful the filter, the better for your turtles, unless they seem to be fighting the current.

Every couple of days: Test the pH level of your turtle’s swimming water; it should be between seven and eight on a scale of 1-14. Buy a test kit, or bring a water sample to PetSmart. We’ll test it for free within minutes!

At least once a week: Replace some of the water in the tank with clean water. Even if your turtles’ swimming water looks fine, it could be high in ammonia or nitrite.

Every two to three weeks: Clean out the whole tank and refresh the filter.

Safety: Don’t use soap or detergent for turtle tanks — even a trace left behind can harm your pet! Instead, use a cleaner made especially for this purpose.

When cleaning your turtle tank, move your pet to a clean container you keep only for this purpose. Do not use a food container!

Always wash your hands after handling or cleaning up after your turtle.

Information from the book Aquatic Turtles (Complete Herp Care series) by David T. Kirkpatrick (ISBN: 978-07938-2885-2) was used in this guide. Copyright 2006 TFH Publications, Inc. Used by permission.

Tortoises

Every day: Refresh your pet’s water bowl. Remove any leftover food and waste.

Every two or three weeks: Change out the bedding. Wipe down the habitat with cage cleaner or disinfectant.

Safety: Don’t use soap or detergent for tortoise habitats — even a trace left behind can harm your pet. Instead, use a cleaner made especially for this purpose.

When cleaning your tortoise habitat, move your pet to a clean container you use only for this reason. Do not use a food container!

Always wash your hands after handling or cleaning up after your tortoise.