General Care Discussion :: Turtle poop...

[texasreb]

What does turtle poop look like? I know this might seem like an ignorant question, but I can't tell what the poop looks like so I don't know if what I'm seeing in the bottom of my tank is dissolved uneaten food or if it is dissolved poop.

Could someone post some pictures of their turtle's poop in various stages of decay?

Disclaimer: I really do not have an odd obsession with poop!

[Love of Animals]

Do you have rocks for substrate? I didn't see turtle poop for a long time. First my turtle would eat it and second the remainder would fall into the rocks and make my tank smell. When I changed to sand substrate I would have to see my turtle poop before he ate it to know if he pooped, but my tank no longer smells. If your turtle is eating it don't worry it won't hurt him. I don't think many people would have pictures of poop. Maybe you could post a pic of what's at the bottom of your tank and we can help you figure it out.

[texasreb]

My tank is bare bottomed. I'll try the route you suggested and let some "poop" accumulate and photograph. The matter in question is a brownish layer on the bottom of the tank. It looks somewhat like brown algae (aka diatoms) in a freshwater fish tank, except that this stuff is free flowing. It has no form to speak of--it's just a layer on the bottom of the tank. It tend to accumulate in one spot.

[Trevor's_Mom]

Sounds like poop to me. My RES poops about once or twice a week and it starts out in (loosely) formed logs, about an inch long and pretty close to the diameter of a regular pencil (maybe a little thicker). It doesn't take long for the movement of the water from the filter and from Trevor swimming around to break up the poop-logs and cause the poop debris to scatter all over the bottom of the tank. I've got a pretty good aquarium vacuum so I can suck it up fairly easily, but I try to get it out with a turkey baster before the logs break apart.

[texasreb]

Trevor's Mom,

Thank you so much! Your description is most helpful! Before now, I had no idea what I was looking for. FWIW,
I think my turt is pooping!

[valladin82]

Depends on the diet for mine. If they just ate some pellets they usually poo out logs. I feed mine in a container so I easily see it. If I feed them some leafy greens it looks like shredded lettuce all over the place. VERY messy. Its like leafy flakes all over the bottom of the container or tank if they're buttheads and wait till they're back in the tank to poo. I got like 30+ ghost shrimp and some feeder fish in the tank now and I rarely see ANYTHING on the bottom. Little garbage disposal critters. Either way it breaks up easy and sometimes they dash past it and it breaks it all up into the water.. lol

Oh I also got a Pleco in there and one of his hang out spots is right at the filter intake and I watch him poo and it goes right into the filter.... lmao