CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to breed grass turtles in summer? What important matters should be paid attention to? ? ?

Most turtles are very tame and will accept any food. From the perspective of food, they are easy to keep as pets. However, like lizards, turtles need to sunbathe. In addition, turtles are nearly round in shape, weigh much more than they appear, and need a lot of exercise. Ordinary cages often tend to be too small, which is more troublesome than other reptiles.

1. Food

Although turtles eat anything, they must be especially careful if they are fed cheap food with low nutritional value. This may cause nutritional imbalance. Turtles need a lot of calcium and should be fed food that contains a lot of calcium. Recently, the market has launched a nutritionally balanced feed for turtles, which can be eaten with confidence. In addition, carp feed and dog food are also very suitable foods. Occasionally feeding some fresh food such as boneless fish, snake meat, and mice will surely win the favor of turtles. Feeding only fish and meat slices will cause malnutrition, and water-soluble nutrients need to be added. The above introduction is the food provided to turtles that often live in water. For example, turtles such as tortoises that do not go into water and like plant-based food are not suitable for artificial feed. Generally, leafy vegetables, cabbage, carrots and other vegetables can be used with nutrients for feeding. You can use the feed of the nine-tailed bird to feed.

2. Cage

Aquatic turtles can be kept in water containers such as water tanks. Turtles are actually larger than they appear and they exercise a lot, so they need a larger cage. On average, a 60 cm water tank is still too small, so it is best to use a storage box for clothes to keep them.

3. Others

If turtles are not exposed to ultraviolet rays, they will also be unable to utilize calcium. Compared with lizards, the facilities to prevent turtles from escaping are simpler. As long as the water supply facilities are well-equipped and there is a cool place to rest, it is not easy to get heatstroke, and the way to sunbathe is also relatively simple. If the calcium intake of young turtles is insufficient, the shells will easily become soft; if the intake of vitamin A is insufficient, the eyes may turn white. When the above phenomenon occurs, in addition to the problem of insufficient vitamin A and calcium, it may also involve long-term feeding of low-nutrition food, insufficient ultraviolet rays, etc., which may be due to errors in the breeding method. It is necessary to carefully provide nutritionally balanced food, use sun lamps for sunbathing, etc., and completely change the breeding environment.

Common diseases

Shell Diseases of Aquatic Turtles

Artificially raised aquatic turtles may develop ulcers on their shells. Although they are all lesions of the shell, the types of pathogens are different due to different symptoms. Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-positive bacteria. Symptoms include shell peeling, pigmentation, ulcers, paralysis of the four limbs, loss of claws, necrosis of internal organs, etc. Animals used as feed such as crayfish, snakes, and sea maggots, as well as soil and contaminated water, may be sources of infection. Bacteria enter the body through abrasions. During treatment, medicated baths are used and appropriate antibiotics are applied to the whole body. However, various turtles have allergic poisoning phenomena to certain antibiotics, so special attention should be paid when using them.

Turtles are originally temperate to tropical creatures, so it is not easy to see wild turtles in cold regions. The most common species in Taiwan is the grass turtle. In addition, small green turtles native to America can also be seen for sale in aquariums. The soft-shell turtle is a type of turtle. It has a vicious temperament and can hurt people. Therefore, if you want to raise it, it is best to keep a small one.

Feeding location

1. Pool in the yard:

To prevent them from escaping, you can set up a metal mesh around the pool or raise the edge of the pool so that they cannot cross over.

2. Raise at home:

The best breeding container is a sink or wash basin. As long as the turtle does not crawl out and the water can be changed, it can be used.

Feeding tips

The best permanent place for the breeding box is in the house. If it is always in direct sunlight, the water temperature in the tank will rise, which may lead to the death of the turtle.

The ideal water temperature should be maintained at 25 degrees C. If the water temperature reaches 30 degrees, they will be very active. If you find that their physical condition is not good, you can use a 100-candlepower bulb to make the water temperature slightly higher, but not more than 35 degrees. Change the water once a week.

Turtles like to bask in the sun because they are cold-blooded animals. Their body temperature rises and falls with the temperature. Therefore, they use the sun to adjust their body temperature. If their body temperature is too high, they will dive into the water. In addition, basking in the sun can also produce vitamins in the turtle's body, which helps its shell to be hard and healthy. The best time for sunbathing is 30 minutes to 1 hour.

When the shell of a turtle becomes soft or the area around its eyes becomes red and swollen, it means that they are sick. It is usually caused by malnutrition, so feed them some baby vitamin drops or medicine every day, or use human eye drops to drip in their eyes.

When winter is approaching, turtles will not eat. At this time, you should prepare a place for them to hibernate. Put about 30 cm of water in the water tank, and then add soil and a lot of fallen leaves. However, if the water temperature is always kept at around 25 degrees, turtles do not need to hibernate, and they must be fed on time.

Bait

In ponds or rivers, turtles feed on small shrimps, crabs, insects, water plants, etc. Therefore, when raising them, you can give them some lean meat, small goldfish, loach and freshwater fish meat, liver, and occasionally some vegetables or fruits.

Offer them food once a day or every two days, just a little bit with tweezers or chopsticks.

Tortoise

Article source: Pazu Information Department Release time:

Latin name: Chinese reevesi

English name: chinese three-keeled pond turtle

Turtle is also known as mud turtle, grass turtle, golden turtle, etc.

The turtle is the most widely distributed and common species of turtle in my country.

Water turtle series

The turtle's head is medium-sized, olive or dark brown; there are yellow stripes and spots on both sides of the head and throat, extending backward to the neck. The snout is cut inward and downward, and the keratin sheath at the edge of the beak is weak; the angle between the left and right dentary joints of the lower jaw is less than 90 degrees. There are three obvious ridges on the turtle's back; the carapace of a young turtle is brown-brown, and the entire body of a male turtle will turn black when it grows up, so it is also called a black turtle; the color of the female turtle does not change. The turtle's plastron is brown-yellow, and each piece has large dark brown spots.

Tips for keeping: Wild turtles live in rivers, lakes or ponds. They are small semi-aquatic turtles. They often leave the water and go to rocks or logs to bask in the sun. The ultraviolet rays in the sun help them absorb calcium in food, otherwise they are prone to soft shell disease or nail loss. So when we keep turtles, we also need to let them "bask in the sun" frequently, that is, bask in the sun frequently. It should be noted that even ordinary glass can isolate most of the UVB ultraviolet rays in the sun, so the turtles should be placed in a place where the sun can directly shine. Be careful not to take the turtles out for exposure to the sun at noon in summer, as there is a possibility of heatstroke. There should be a cover when basking in the sun, and it will crawl under it to hide when it does not want to bask in the sun. At the same time, turtles have the habit of climbing on their backs. If you keep multiple turtles, you will see that it likes to climb on the backs of other turtles. Young turtles spend most of their time in the water, but they are not very good at swimming, so they should be kept in shallow water. Even adult turtles cannot stay in deep water for a long time, and they need a piece of land for them to get out of the water and rest.

Diet: Turtles are omnivorous, but small turtles are more carnivorous. In the wild, they eat insects, frogs, fish and aquatic plants. In captivity, they are usually fed small fish, shrimps, loaches, lean pork, etc., and can also be fed some small snails, worms, earthworms, crickets, etc. They are often given some lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. to supplement their nutrition. My little turtle is only 4 cm long. Once I forgot to go home to feed it, and it actually ate up two coin-sized crabs that were raised with it! Later I found the crab's small claws in its feces. I also caught crickets, centipedes and cockroaches for it to eat.

It is best to cut the food into small pieces when feeding. When eating larger pieces of meat or fruit, they will hold the food in their mouths and tear it with their front paws until the food is torn into pieces. When they swallow, the food residue in their mouths will flow out with the water, making the water very dirty. If they are kept in an indoor aquarium, I recommend taking them out and feeding them in another container each time, so that it is easier to clean up the leftover food and avoid making the breeding box too dirty. They will defecate shortly after each feeding, so you should wait a while after feeding them before putting them back in the breeding box. About 20 minutes later.

Wintering: Healthy tortoises can hibernate naturally. Put it in the sand, and the tortoise will burrow deep into the sand. Cover the surface of the sand with warm materials and keep it moist. Check it once a week. In the spring of the second year, when the temperature reaches about 15 degrees, the tortoise will come out by itself. The newly recovered tortoise is weak and should not be fed in large quantities. In seasons with changeable weather, attention should be paid to temperature changes. Weak and thin tortoises can be kept warm in winter, and the ambient temperature can be controlled at about 25°C, and they can be fed and managed normally.

Endangered and protected: Tortoises are traditional Chinese medicines and their meat is edible. Every year, a large number of turtles are killed or sold on the market. Because they grow slowly, there are no farms to raise them. In recent years, due to the sharp decline in their numbers, their prices have risen year by year, and illegal traders have been killing them indiscriminately, leading to a vicious cycle. They have not yet been included in the list of national protected animals. Although they are numerous and widely distributed, they will inevitably become endangered if they are not protected and restricted according to the current development trend.

Tortoise

Article source: Pazu Information Department Release time:

Latin name: Chinese reevesi

English name: chinese three-keeled pond turtle

Turtle is also known as mud turtle, grass turtle, golden turtle, etc.

The turtle is the most widely distributed and common species of turtle in my country.

Water turtle series

The turtle's head is medium-sized, olive or dark brown; there are yellow stripes and spots on both sides of the head and throat, extending backward to the neck. The snout is cut inward and downward, and the keratin sheath at the edge of the beak is weak; the angle between the left and right dentary joints of the lower jaw is less than 90 degrees. There are three obvious ridges on the turtle's back; the carapace of a young turtle is brown-brown, and the entire body of a male turtle will turn black when it grows up, so it is also called a black turtle; the color of the female turtle does not change. The turtle's plastron is brown-yellow, and each piece has large dark brown spots.

Tips for keeping: Wild turtles live in rivers, lakes or ponds. They are small semi-aquatic turtles. They often leave the water and go to rocks or logs to bask in the sun. The ultraviolet rays in the sun help them absorb calcium in food, otherwise they are prone to soft shell disease or nail loss. So when we keep turtles, we also need to let them "bask in the sun" frequently, that is, bask in the sun frequently. It should be noted that even ordinary glass can isolate most of the UVB ultraviolet rays in the sun, so the turtles should be placed in a place where the sun can directly shine. Be careful not to take the turtles out for exposure to the sun at noon in summer, as there is a possibility of heatstroke. There should be a cover when basking in the sun, and it will crawl under it to hide when it does not want to bask in the sun. At the same time, turtles have the habit of climbing on their backs. If you keep multiple turtles, you will see that it likes to climb on the backs of other turtles. Young turtles spend most of their time in the water, but they are not very good at swimming, so they should be kept in shallow water. Even adult turtles cannot stay in deep water for a long time, and they need a piece of land for them to get out of the water and rest.

Diet: Turtles are omnivorous, but small turtles are more carnivorous. In the wild, they eat insects, frogs, fish and aquatic plants. In captivity, they are usually fed small fish, shrimps, loaches, lean pork, etc., and can also be fed some small snails, worms, earthworms, crickets, etc. They are often given some lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. to supplement their nutrition. My little turtle is only 4 cm long. Once I forgot to go home to feed it, and it actually ate up two coin-sized crabs that were raised with it! Later I found the crab's small claws in its feces. I also caught crickets, centipedes and cockroaches for it to eat.

It is best to cut the food into small pieces when feeding. When eating larger pieces of meat or fruit, they will hold the food in their mouths and tear it with their front paws until the food is torn into pieces. When they swallow, the food residue in their mouths will flow out with the water, making the water very dirty. If they are kept in an indoor aquarium, I recommend taking them out and feeding them in another container each time, so that it is easier to clean up the leftover food and avoid making the breeding box too dirty. They will defecate shortly after each feeding, so you should wait a while after feeding them before putting them back in the breeding box. About 20 minutes later.

Wintering: Healthy tortoises can hibernate naturally. Put it in the sand, and the tortoise will burrow deep into the sand. Cover the surface of the sand with warm materials and keep it moist. Check it once a week. In the spring of the second year, when the temperature reaches about 15 degrees, the tortoise will come out by itself. The newly recovered tortoise is weak and should not be fed in large quantities. In seasons with changeable weather, attention should be paid to temperature changes. Weak and thin tortoises can be kept warm in winter, and the ambient temperature can be controlled at about 25°C, and they can be fed and managed normally.

Endangered and protected: Tortoises are traditional Chinese medicines and their meat is edible. Every year, a large number of turtles are killed or sold on the market. Because they grow slowly, there are no farms to raise them. In recent years, due to the sharp decline in their numbers, their prices have risen year by year, and illegal traders have been killing them indiscriminately, leading to a vicious cycle. They have not yet been included in the list of national protected animals. Although they are numerous and widely distributed, they will inevitably become endangered if they are not protected and restricted according to the current development trend.