CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What should I do if my turtle's head retracts into its shell when I apply medicine to it?

Wait until he comes out.

The tortoise (Chinemys reevesii), also known as the golden tortoise, grass tortoise, mud tortoise and mountain tortoise, belongs to the class Reptilia, order Testudinata, family Testudininae, and subfamily Testudininae in animal taxonomy. It is one of the most common animals in the order Testudinata. Tortoises are distributed almost everywhere in my country, but the production is higher in the provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; they are also produced in various parts of Guangxi, especially in southeastern Guangxi and southern Guangxi; they are mainly distributed in Japan and North Korea abroad.

The tortoise shell is slightly flat, the dorsal and ventral carapaces are fixed and immobile, the carapace is 10-12 cm long and about 15 cm wide, with three longitudinal ridges. There are yellow linear markings on the sides of the head and neck, the limbs are slightly flat, and the fingers and toes are fully webbed. Except for the fifth hind limb, all fingers and toes have claws at the end.

Turtles generally live in rivers, lakes, swamps, reservoirs and mountain streams, and sometimes go ashore. In the natural environment, turtles feed on worms, snails, shrimps and small fish, and also eat the stems and leaves of plants. Turtles are cold-blooded animals. When the temperature is above 150C, they are active and eat a lot, but when the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, they enter a hibernation state. Turtles are active frequently from April to October every year. During this period, at sunset every day, turtles begin to swim in the water to find food, and do not stop foraging until dawn. They dive into the water and often climb ashore from 10 am to 4 pm on sunny days to bask in the sun on the shore. June to August is the peak feeding period for turtles. In October, their food intake gradually decreases, and they are in a hibernation state from November to March.

In addition, turtles have the following characteristics: low reproduction rate and slow growth. A 500-gram turtle only gains about 100 grams after one year of breeding. However, turtles have strong hunger tolerance and are not easily starved to death even if they fast for several months. They also have strong disease resistance and a high survival rate. Therefore, turtles are relatively easy to raise artificially.

【Feeding and management】

1. Feeding method

There are many ways to raise turtles artificially, such as pond raising, tank raising, wooden basin raising and reservoir pond raising, etc. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and you can choose according to local conditions. For general professional households and small-scale farms, it is better to build ponds for breeding, because this method is easy to manage and has greater economic benefits.

Construction of breeding ponds: The young turtle pond and breeding pond can be constructed with reference to the specifications and methods of the young turtle pond and breeding pond of the golden coin turtle. The construction of the adult turtle pond is similar to that of the golden coin turtle, but the area can be larger so that more turtles can be raised. If the adult turtle pond is large, fish and turtles can be raised together, and some herbivorous and filter-feeding fish can be raised in the pond to improve the comprehensive economic benefits of breeding. It should be noted that the clump turtle also has the characteristics of digging holes and escaping easily, so the foundation of the wall should be about 50 cm deep into the ground.

2. Feed and feeding of turtles

Tortoises have a wide range of diets, including rice, wheat, peas, small fish, shrimps, insects, snails, etc. Among them, their favorite foods are small fish, snails, corn and rice. When artificially raised, in order to meet the various nutrients needed for the growth of turtles and avoid poor growth and anorexia due to a single feed, a variety of feeds should be used, such as fish, shrimp, snails, river clams, etc. in animal feeds and rice, wheat, corn, etc. in plant feeds. In order to allow turtles to fully digest these feeds, corn, peas, etc. must be crushed and soaked for about 2 hours before feeding. Other large pieces of food must also be chopped before feeding. It should also be noted that at different stages of the growth of turtles, feeds containing different nutrients should be fed according to their growth characteristics.

The life of turtles is closely related to the climate. They start to eat in early April every year; their eating activity reaches its peak from June to August, and their weight gain is the fastest; their food intake begins to decrease after the temperature gradually drops in October. When the temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, they stop eating and enter hibernation. Therefore, feeding should be carried out according to the growth characteristics of turtles, and generally the following points are required:

(1) Timing. In spring and autumn, the temperature is low, and turtles are not very active in the morning and evening. They only eat around noon, so it is best to feed them between 8 and 9 in the morning. From Grain Rain to Autumnal Equinox is the peak feeding season for turtles. During the hot summer, turtles are generally inactive at noon, but are active and foraging between 17 and 19 in the afternoon. Therefore, it is best to feed them between 16 and 17 in the afternoon. Timing allows turtles to eat on time, obtain more nutrition, and ensure that the feed is fresh.

(2) Positioning. Set up fixed feeding points along the bank of the pond. The feeding table at the feeding point should be close to the water surface to facilitate the turtles to swallow water and bite food. The purpose of positioning the feed is to make the turtles develop a habit and make it easier for them to find food. At the same time, it is easy to observe the turtles' activities and check their feeding situation.