Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How often should you clean a turtles house?

I have a young box turtle (roughly half a year old) and I clean his tank every two weeks. Is that not suitable for him?

Well it depends on the setup. Please explain your setup, and size/age of your turtle.

-Chris
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Currently in the US Navy so I have sold off my collection. But over the years I have had dozens of turtles, fish, geckos, and other lizards. Cant wait to get back in the hobby once im out though!

My box turtle is roughly half a year old, and tiny. Half dollar sized.

At the moment he's living in a 40 gallon tank. Substrate is bed a beast, leaves, grass. It's about three inches deep and kept moist.

There is a water dish in the center of the tank. No food dish because he won't use it. He usually feeds underneath his log. Typically he uses the bathroom in his water dish, but I can't say that's every time.

I forgot to mention that I don't have any live plants. Just a bit of dead grass and dead leaves.

You didn't mention this in your setup, so I thought I would mention that you should have a heat lamp and a UVB bulb over the tank.

About cleaning... I would just spot clean every few days, then change the substrate out like every month as long as it dosnt begin to smell or mold.

-Chris
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Currently in the US Navy so I have sold off my collection. But over the years I have had dozens of turtles, fish, geckos, and other lizards. Cant wait to get back in the hobby once im out though!

Thank you!

Yes, I do have a UVB lamp, sorry I neglected to say that.

Good to know. Yay! Less cleaning!

When you say "spot clean" you mean basically taking out any dead or uneaten food and other debris that should not be in the cage, I assume.

Yes, you are correct about the spot cleaning. Also make sure your changing the water in the soaking bowl daily.

You said you had a UVB bulb, but do you have a heat lamp? What are the temps and humidity?

-Chris
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Currently in the US Navy so I have sold off my collection. But over the years I have had dozens of turtles, fish, geckos, and other lizards. Cant wait to get back in the hobby once im out though!

The bulb also heats one side of the enclosure.

Cool side is around 75 during the day, 70 at night. The hot side during the day is 85-90. At night it's also 70.

The humidity will vary from 40% to about 55 close to 60.