Tortoise Poop: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know

There are approximately 49 recognized species of tortoises worldwide, all belonging to the family Testudinidae. Tortoises are turtles that live exclusively on land, although they will get into shallow water for drinking, bathing, and cooling off. Tortoises have high-domed shells and possess stubby, elephant-like legs. They are often considered living fossils because they have remained largely unchanged in their morphology for over 100 million years. Tortoises are herbivores that eat plants and fruits. Because tortoises are continuous grazers that feed throughout the day, they produce a high volume of solid waste. Continue reading to discover everything you’ve ever wanted to know about tortoise poop.

What Does Tortoise Poop Look Like?

Tortoise feces are generally solid, firm, and cylindrical. Especially in the wild, their feces are visibly fibrous. Tortoise feces are typically a dark brown to green color. They also expel a creamy white, semi-solid substance called urate along with their feces. A tortoise will often expel feces, urine, and urates simultaneously. The size of the feces is determined by the size of the particular species.

Tortoises have a cloaca, a single opening located at the base of their tail that is used to expel feces, urine, and urates. The cloaca serves as the exit for both the digestive and urogenital tracts. Tortoises can store urine in their bladder to reabsorb water and typically excrete uric acid, which appears as a white, paste-like substance. However, they will occasionally urinate liquid as well.

Tortoises may poop daily or a couple of times a week, depending on species, diet, and age. While daily bowel movements are common in younger tortoises, adults may only go every few days or even once a week.

Tortoises tend to defecate while grazing, moving, or within their sleeping burrows, often leaving waste wherever they happen to be. Their slow movement and high-fiber diet mean they frequently defecate while foraging or traveling between feeding sites. In the wild, they often defecate in water to mask their scent.

Does Tortoise Poop Smell Bad?

Tortoise poop can have a surprisingly strong and unpleasant odor, despite the animal’s herbivorous diet. The scent is described as pungent, musky, and earthy. The odor is most intense when the waste is moist, often losing most of its smell once it has completely dried.

Is Tortoise Poop Toxic To Humans?

Tortoise feces can contain Salmonella bacteria, which can be transmitted to humans and cause serious illness. Most tortoises carry this bacteria naturally in their intestinal tracts and shed it through their droppings without showing any signs of illness themselves.