CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to raise wild turtles

The appearance of soft-shelled turtles is oval, flatter than tortoises. From the color of appearance, soft-shelled turtles usually have dark green backs and limbs, some have light brown backs and white belly with red. Below is the method of raising wild soft-shelled turtles that I have carefully sorted out for you, let's take a look.

How to raise wild soft-shelled turtles Soft-shelled turtles are amphibians and reptiles that live mainly in freshwater. In the wild, they like to live in freshwater bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and mountain streams with muddy bottoms. They especially like to live in rocky caves with fast-flowing water not far from the shore, or in rapids with rocks at the confluence of streams and rivers. They lurk in the muddy bottom or rocky caves, waiting for an opportunity to attack fish and other animals that swim close.

Freshwater soft-shelled turtles are low in fat, cholesterol, and high in protein. They are rich in nutrition, nourishing and healthy. They are large and plump. Generally, they weigh 100 to 200 grams, and the largest individual can reach about 500 grams. They grow fast and have high yields. They can be harvested in the same year they are released. The yield of fresh soft-shelled turtles per mu is about 500 kilograms. They are highly adaptable and can tolerate adverse climate environments. They can survive in water temperatures between 3 and 35 degrees Celsius. They have a mixed diet and eat both animal bait and artificial compound bait and humus. They are easy to raise and rough. Artificial breeding of freshwater soft-shelled turtles is a good way for farmers to get rich. Let me introduce you to the process of breeding wild soft-shelled turtles: 1. Pond construction

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Freshwater turtles like to live in water environments with fresh water and rich dissolved oxygen. Therefore, ponds should be built in places with good ventilation, sunshine, sufficient water sources, no pollution sources, and convenient water injection and drainage. Each pond should be 2 to 8 mu and 1 to 1.5 meters deep. The bottom of the pond should be flat and silty, and the entire pond should be leak-proof. Filters should be installed at the inlet and outlet of the pond to prevent the entry of harmful organisms such as wild fish. There should be 50 cm high escape prevention facilities around the pond bank. Water plants such as water hyacinth and water lily should be raised around the pond, and their coverage is generally 1/3 of the pond surface. A certain number of stones, tiles and other shade objects should be placed in the pond for the turtles to hide and live. 2. Pond disinfection Generally, new turtle ponds can be cleaned with quicklime and water, with a dosage of 100 kg per mu. If old ponds are used to raise turtles, they must be dried and disinfected. In addition to splashing quicklime, catfish, loaches, black fish, snakes, rats and other pests in the pond must be thoroughly removed. 3. Stocking of turtle fry 10-15 days before stocking, apply about 200 kg of fully decomposed organic fertilizer per mu of pond to improve water quality. The best time to stock turtle fry is from March to May, choose a sunny morning or evening, and pay attention to the temperature difference. If the temperature difference is large, first add a small amount of pond water to the seedling transport container to adjust the water temperature. When the water temperature in the container is close to the pond water temperature, gently put the turtle fry into the pond to prevent the turtle fry from "catching a cold". The stocking specifications of turtle fry are generally 3-5 cm, and the stocking density is 3500-4000 per mu; if the turtle fry is small, the stocking amount can be appropriately increased, and the specifications of the turtle fry stocked in the same pond are required to be uniform.

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Carefully feed the turtles within 3 days after stocking, mainly minced small fish and minced meat, and in the next month, small fish, scraps or artificial baits can be added; when the turtle fry grows to 6-7 cm, they can be fed with crushed snails, river clams and appropriate amounts of plant bait. The daily feeding amount is based on the amount of bait that is full, finished, and no residual bait is left. Generally, medium and small turtles are fed at 15%-20% of their body weight, and adult turtles are fed at 5%-10% of their body weight. Feed once in the morning and evening every day, and feed 70%-80% of the total daily amount at night. The bait should be thrown in the shallow water around the pond, and more bait can be thrown in places where turtles are concentrated to facilitate their feeding and the breeder to check their eating situation.

Pond Management

Freshwater turtles grow fast, have vigorous metabolism, and consume a lot of oxygen. Therefore, the water quality of the pond should be kept fresh. Generally, 15 to 20 cm of water should be added every week to ensure that the water quality is fresh and there is enough dissolved oxygen to keep the transparency of the pond water at about 35 cm. In daily management, we should frequently check and patrol the pond, and remove the moss in the pond in time; frequently check the filter screens at the inlet and outlet to prevent the escape of turtles or the entry of harmful organisms such as wild fish due to the damage of the filter screens. When encountering bad weather such as thunderstorms, hot and humid days, continuous rainy days, etc., we should reduce or stop feeding; when the weather is too hot or too cold, the pond water should be deepened appropriately to stabilize the water temperature at the bottom of the pond. At the same time, we should also frequently observe the feeding and activities, growth, and molting of freshwater turtles so as to take necessary technical measures in time. If the turtles are found to be slow to react, swim to the shore, float and climb to the shore, it means that they are seriously lacking in oxygen, and water should be added in time or an aerator should be turned on to increase oxygen.

Disease control: Freshwater turtles are stocked at a high density and are prone to many diseases, so we need to pay attention to prevention and control. The first is turtle shell disease. This disease is caused by fungal infection caused by chitin-decomposing bacteria. Usually the edge or top of the turtle shell is most vulnerable to attack, and bacteria can quickly enter the body through the epidermis, causing internal injuries. You can use a mixture of 0.9ppm malachite green and 2ppm formalin solution to soak the turtle for 20 to 30 minutes. The second is smut. It is mainly caused by water pollution and fungal infection. The symptoms are that the gills change from red to brown or light brown until they turn completely black, causing gill atrophy. The prevention and control method is: soak the diseased turtle in 2 to 3ppm carbendazim 2 to 3 times, each time for 8 to 10 minutes, or spray the entire pond with 10ppm methylene blue. The third is ciliate disease. Mainly polycystic ovary syndrome and bell-shaped worms, they attach to the body surface, appendages, eyes and gills of turtles. When the infection is serious, the turtles will be restless and swim frequently around the pool, which will hinder their feeding, molting and growth. If they attach to the gills in large numbers, they may cause the turtles to die of anoxia and suffocation. Generally, prevention can be achieved by injecting new water and keeping the pool water clean and hygienic. Treatment can be done by soaking the infected turtles in 0.4ppm copper sulfate solution for 5 to 6 hours, and each course of treatment lasts for 3 to 5 days.

Harvest at the right time Freshwater turtles grow fast and are generally stocked in March or April and can be harvested in October or November. When harvesting, you can use the method of drying the pond or seine nets to catch them all at once in the evening. If you want to market them in batches, you can use cast nets to catch them.

Soft-shelled turtles are temperature-changing animals, and their life patterns are closely related to the changes in the seasonal temperature of the outside world. Therefore, soft-shelled turtles have the habit of hibernation. Hibernation generally starts from the Cold Dew Festival of the lunar calendar (October 8-9 of the Gregorian calendar) and gradually wakes up on the Qingming Festival of the following year (April 4-5 of the Gregorian calendar), and hibernation ends. Soft-shelled turtles are particularly sensitive to water temperature. The suitable temperature for their feeding and growth is 20-33℃. When the water temperature is above 24℃, they are very active. 25-30℃ is the most suitable temperature for their feeding and growth. Within this temperature range, they feed vigorously and grow rapidly. When the temperature exceeds 33℃, the feeding ability of soft-shelled turtles is weakened, and there is a phenomenon of summer heat. When the water temperature is below 20℃, the appetite decreases; when it is below 15℃, it basically stops feeding; when the water temperature drops to 10-12℃, it will hibernate in deep pools and caves that are sunny and leeward, or in the mud and sand at the bottom of rivers and streams to hibernate. After the Qingming Festival of the following year, the turtle wakes up when the water temperature rises to 10-12℃, and swims out of the cave to start looking for food when the temperature reaches 15℃. During the entire hibernation period, the turtle does not eat or move. It is in a state of suspended animation, with its head close to the mud surface and the tip of its mouth connected to the water. It uses the auxiliary respiratory organ in the throat, the gill-like tissue, to absorb dissolved oxygen in the water to maintain its low life activities during hibernation. It hardly breathes with its lungs during the hibernation period, and even if it does, it is very weak. After hibernating for about half a year, the turtle loses 10%-15% of its weight. The turtle's activities are mostly at night. At night, it often crawls to the fields and vegetable gardens near the river and stream, and sometimes goes to the mountains dozens of meters away from the river to find food. Before dawn, it returns to its habitat and lurks. Wherever the turtle moves, there are obvious footprints to be found. At the same time, the turtle will secrete a kind of mucus during the crawling process. Unless it is suddenly frightened, it usually returns to its original habitat along the original route.

Turtle breeding technology Turtle pond construction

Choose a quiet, noise-free place with convenient transportation, close to power sources, and close to water sources without pollution. A rectangular east-west shape is preferred. Turtles like quietness but are afraid of noise, like the sun but are afraid of wind, like cleanliness but are afraid of dirt. A pond with a quiet environment, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, and convenient drainage and irrigation should be selected as a breeding base. If it is a self-breeding, self-rearing, and self-feeding turtle farm, it is necessary to consider the construction of five types of turtle ponds: new turtle ponds, young turtle ponds, young turtle ponds, 3-year-old turtle ponds, and adult turtle ponds. If there is no sandy soil at the bottom of the pond, some sandy soil should be added. Build a sunbathing platform and a feeding platform on the edge of the pond and pool for the turtles to bask in the sun and eat. Build escape-proof walls around it, which can be brick-built or asbestos tiled vertically, with a height of about 1m.

Seedling stocking

The sources of turtle seedlings are: first, factory-breeding and mass production by professional households; second, wild turtles of varying sizes on the market. Regardless of the type of turtle seedlings, they must be graded and temporarily raised for about 15 days before being put into the breeding pond after they have adapted to the environment. The stocking density depends on the pond and other factors. 100-150kg of 2-3 year old young turtles are put per mu, and the maximum weight should not exceed 200kg.

Feed delivery

In the past, the feed used in turtle farming was mainly fresh bait (fresh fish, shrimp, etc.), but it was expensive and some were of poor quality. Turtles were prone to enteritis after eating. The scientific method of turtle farming is to use natural bait. For example, you can collect discarded livestock and poultry viscera, leftovers, and scraps from nearby restaurants and canteens; catch snails, clams, small fish and shrimps, and various water fleas in natural waters; use natural or scattered land to breed loaches and golden apple snails; use ditches and pond slopes to breed earthworms; attract flies to breed maggots; cultivate insects, etc. Add a small amount of plant bait, such as bran, corn flour, bean dregs, and a small amount of melons and trace elements, to the bait that turtles like to eat, process and mix them, and then feed them.

Regulating water quality

Although turtles breathe with lungs, they live in water most of the time, so the quality of water is still very important to their growth. For young turtles, the water depth should be kept at 0.3~0.4m, and the water should be changed once every 3 days, with 1/3 of the water changed each time. The water should be green to hide each other and reduce the chance of mutual injury. You can also put a small amount of water lilies, water hyacinths and other green plants in the water to improve the water quality. For adult turtle ponds, the water should be changed once every 4 days, with 1/4 of the water changed each time, to keep the water fresh, with sufficient dissolved oxygen and appropriate fertilizer.