General Care Discussion :: Turtles that wander around

[heather822]

I just have a question for those of you who let your turtles wander around in your house.Are you not worried about salmonella or have your turtles been tested to see if they have it or not? I'm not sure how they carry it so I don't know if them wandering around while dry is even an issue of carrying it around the house.

[freshprince2146]

I sometimes let my turtle wander a little around my room which probably isn't the best idea because all turtles carry salmonella so i would recommend keeping the exploring for the summer time were you can take them out side and not worry so much about disinfecting objects after

-freshprince

[gwennie]

Not all turtles carry salmonella...some are carriers, some aren't, but as a rule of thumb it's good to treat them all like they do carry it.

I don't personally let mine wander about because honestly, houses aren't that safe for turtles. There's all sorts of things that could happen lol. Especially with smaller ones and hatchlings.

I'm like freshprince in the practice of not really letting them roam around the house and taking them outdoors when it's warm and sunny.

[Seroster]

I've thought about letting Herman wonder about but he's very small and our dogs are very large, and our cats are very inquisitive. (Just not around the dogs. ) So he stays in his tank.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Let me correct gwennie. ALL turtles carry Salmonella, it depends on the individual turtle and their stress level as to whether or not they accidentally excrete it from their bowels.

If you want to let your turtle wander around, first, consider whether or not you have small children or other animals around. If you do, your sanitation procedure will be much stricter. We highly recommend you let your turtle wander on hard floor surfaces only, no carpet, for two reasons. One, easier to clean; two, turtle claws can snag on carpet and get pulled out. So, find a nice hard surface, pat dry your turtle, and let them wander around. Perfectly acceptable, though for the first few times, you may want to keep a serious eye on them because they can start eating things on the floor, you aren't completely sure what is turtle proof or not, etc. When they are done, sanitize the surface. If you don't have kids or other pets, you can get away with Lysol and a light mop. If you do have kids or other pets, you may want to go all out with the 10% bleach solution and wet mopping and allowing it to air dry completely.

You can always try outside wandering, which means no real need to sanitize.