Do Box Turtles Need Water?
Tortoises and box turtles are both reptiles, but they differ greatly in appearance and behavior.
Tortoises are larger than box turtles and live longer lives.
They also require much more space to thrive.
Turtles need water to drink, but they don’t live in water like aquatic turtles.
They live in terrariums, or enclosures, not in tanks filled with water.
Box turtles are among the most misunderstood reptiles, for some unknown reason they have been named box turtles
Box turtles can still be wonderful pets
However, while they do share some similarities with other turtles and tortoises, they also have several unique characteristics that set them apart.
Turtles don’t live in water.
Remember that box turtles don’t live in water, they just need drinking water.
Turtles are reptiles, which means that their bodies are not designed to live under water.
The easiest way to tell if a turtle is aquatic is to check its feet. A close-up image of the food of a tortoise shows how much it eats compared to an aquatic turtle.
The aquatic turtle has webbed fingers, while the tortoise has short and stubby fingers that aren’t designed for swimming.
Webbing between its fingers allows it to swim effortlessly underwater, while the feet of the tortoise are made for rough terrain.
Turtles can tell whether they live in water or land based on the shape of their shells and how they breathe.
Box Turtles don’t swim, they float
Box Turtles aren’t great swimmers because they won’t immediately sink once they enter the water.
They will eventually stop floating and sink.
Box turtles don’t have the best feet for swimming, so the thing that will keep them afloat is the air inside their bodies.
As a result, they don’t have much control over which way they swim.
In the wild box turtles sometimes enter the water to cool down, generally they do not dive very far into the water.
However, in some unfortunate cases, they end up being caught by the water.
You can also find videos on YouTube that show people putting their turtles in water and letting them “swim”.
But what they are doing is not swimming.
They are doing the same thing that a human would do when he finds himself in deep water, and he doesn’t know how to swim.
They will start moving their legs and arms around trying to do something to stay afloat, and they will try to find an exit as soon as possible.
This is what those turtles are also doing, it’s not swimming, it’s panicking.
So if you have a box turtle and you want to put them in the water you can do it, but as long as they can stay on their feet and don’t have to struggle to stay afloat.
Turtles require drinking water to survive.
They don’t need a tank full of water to survive, but they do require regular access to drinkable water.
The water bowl should not be too big as the turtle may struggle to reach it
Change the water in the bowl at least once per day, but if you have the time, change it more frequently.
How long can Box turtles survive underwater?
They won’t survive more than 1 or 2 minutes under water
How long can Box turtles go without water?
Box turtles can live between 2 and 3 days without water, but during hibernation, they can last up to four months without drinking.
Can I give my Box turtle tap water?
Tap water is usually fine for drinking, but if the tap water isn’t safe for humans, then it probably isn’t safe for turtles either.
So only give the box turtle water that you would also drink.
Do Box turtles live in ponds?
Box turtles live near ponds, not inside the pond.
They need water to survive, so they will live near it, but because they aren’t aquatic they won’t live in it.
How long can a Box turtle go without eating?
A box turtle can survive up to 90 days without food, but this isn’t necessarily good for them.
They will also need lots of sun and water to do this.
If you own a pet box turtle, you shouldn’t leave them without food for long periods of time.
Wrapping Up
Box turtles don’t live in water but they need to drink it in order to survive.
The biggest problem with box turtles is their name, if they were called “box” tortoises most people would have known that they live on land and not in water.
Box Turtles are great pets, and if you were considering getting one, you shouldn’t let this stop you.
