CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to breed turtles!

Because the breeding period of turtles is long, the hatching time of young turtles is inconsistent, and the size of individuals is different, some young turtles enter hibernation not long after they hatch in autumn every year before they can eat and grow. Because the newly hatched young turtles are small (usually about 4 grams), tender, have poor foraging ability, weak disease resistance, and high mortality rate. How to improve the survival rate of young turtles has become a technical difficulty in raising turtles. After years of practice, the author has summarized a set of effective methods for raising young turtles, which are now introduced as follows.

- Scientific feeding

To raise young turtles, it is necessary to select high-quality, fresh, nutritionally complete, palatable and high-protein bait. Generally, young turtles start to eat after the yolk sac is absorbed 2 to 3 days after hatching. At this time, they can be fed with some small red worms, chironomid larvae, earthworm silk, cooked egg yolk and other foods. After 7 days of feeding, fresh pork liver, minced fresh fish, snails and clams and animal offal can be fed. In places where conditions permit, earthworms can be artificially raised for feeding (because earthworms are rich in protein and a variety of amino acids and minerals, feeding earthworms to young turtles grows fast, with low cost and high survival rate). To raise young turtles, we must adhere to the "four fixed" principles: fixed time, fixed point, fixed quality and fixed quantity, and cultivate the feeding habits of young turtles at fixed times and fixed points. In the hot season, feed once at 9 am and once at 5 pm. After autumn, feed once a day, and the feed should be thrown on the feeding table close to the water surface. The feeding table can be set up with wooden boards or asbestos tiles 10 cm underwater, with a slope of 25 degrees. In order to avoid fighting and biting when the young turtles are feeding, several feeding points can be set up. The amount of food to be fed should be determined according to the actual eating habits of the young turtles, so that the young turtles are full and there is no surplus for the next feeding. When the water temperature is 25℃～30℃, the general feeding amount can account for 10%～20% of the young turtles' body weight. The feed should be fresh, without rot and mildew. The feeding table should be cleaned and disinfected before feeding every day to prevent contamination of the new feed and pollution of the water quality.

2. Strict water quality management

The skin of young turtles is delicate and easily damaged by external mechanical damage. In addition, newly hatched young turtles have the bad habit of biting each other. They are very easy to be bitten in high-density artificial breeding. If the injured young turtles live in the water of the pond with poor water quality, they are very likely to be infected and die. Therefore, the water quality for raising young turtles must be tender, fresh, light green, pollution-free, and free of bacteria. The transparency is generally around 25 cm and the pH value is 7-8. Since the pond for young turtles is small, the water is shallow (generally 20-30 cm deep), and the stocking density is high, the water quality is very easy to deteriorate. The water must be changed every 2-3 days, and the amount of water changed each time is about 1/3 of the total water volume. The water temperature for changing water should be consistent with the water temperature in the breeding pond. Green water is better for raising young turtles. Some aquatic plants such as water hyacinth, water lily, water peanut, etc. can be placed in the breeding pond, so that the young turtles can be raised and grown in a hidden state, reduce the biting of young turtles, and improve the survival rate of young turtles.

3. Timely prevention and control of diseases

Before releasing young turtles, the breeding pond should be thoroughly disinfected. You can use 10ppm bleaching powder or 150ppm quicklime to soak them, and then add new water after 7 days for standby use. Before releasing young turtles into the pond, the turtle body should be disinfected. Soak them in 8ppm potassium permanganate for 20 minutes (water temperature 20℃). Or soak them in 20ppm furazolidone for 25 minutes, or soak them in 3% salt water for 10 minutes to kill the bacteria. During the breeding process, you can alternately sprinkle 15ppm quicklime or 1ppm bleaching powder, usually once every 15 days. In order to prevent diseases, sulfa drugs can be mixed into the feed, or they can be fed alternately with antibiotics. Add a little Ve and Vc to the feed of young turtles to enhance their antibodies. Adding 2‰ betaine to the feed can increase the appetite of young turtles.

Injured young turtles should be soaked in 2ppm malachite green solution or smeared with gentian violet to prevent bacterial infection. Sick turtles should be isolated and treated in time. The water in the diseased pool should be completely changed, and 10ppm formalin can be sprayed, and targeted drug treatment should be carried out.

4. Hibernation Management

Overwintering is a difficult hurdle in raising young turtles. Since the young turtles hatched that year are small (usually only 10 to 15 grams), they store few nutrients in their bodies, have a long overwintering period, consume a lot of nutrients, and are prone to illness and death in large numbers due to their weak constitution. When the natural water temperature is 20°C, if there is a greenhouse, they should be transferred to the greenhouse for heated breeding. If there is no greenhouse, when the water temperature is below 15°C, the young turtles should be transferred to the overwintering pond in time. The overwintering pond should be selected in a sunny, windproof, frost-proof and heat-insulating indoor or plastic shed. The bottom of the pond should be padded with 20 cm of fine sand and then injected with 10 cm of water. Soak the young turtles in 20 ppm furazolidone for 25 minutes, and release 200 to 250 young turtles per square meter. The young turtles will burrow into the sand by themselves. If there are not many young turtles, they can be placed in a tank,

Fine sand is placed in buckets and basins to store water for wintering. During the wintering period, the appropriate temperature should be maintained (generally, the water temperature for wintering is required to be between 2℃ and 6℃). The indoor temperature should be strictly prevented from fluctuating to prevent the young turtles from waking up from hibernation, which is not conducive to hibernation. The pool water does not need to be changed. If the water level drops, a little water can be added, but the water temperature must be consistent with the water temperature in the wintering pool. When the weather changes greatly, anti-freeze measures should be taken in time. Through scientific feeding and management in many aspects, the survival rate of young turtles after hibernation is generally around 95%.

Scientific method of raising soft-shelled turtle

- Stork breeding

Generally, the best time for the parent turtles to be released is about 6 years old. The male-female ratio of the parent turtles to be released is 3:1. At this time, it is necessary to correctly identify the male and female. The tail of the sexually mature female turtle is short and cannot naturally extend beyond the skirt edge. The tail of the male turtle is pointed and can extend beyond the right skirt edge. Before releasing the turtles, drain the pond water and disinfect with lime. After half a month, fill water and release the turtles. The parent turtles can be disinfected once in the shallow water pond with 0.1% formalin. 300 to 400 turtles can be released per mu.

2. Feeding

According to the feeding habits of the turtle species and the proportion required for the growth stage, fully mix, add appropriate amount of water and mix, and then feed. Here are some feed formulas.

① The feed made from 5 kg of bean cake powder, 10 kg of silkworm pupa powder, duckweed and 25 kg of rice bran is what turtles prefer.

② After the water peanuts are chopped and boiled, they are mashed into porridge. Then, an appropriate amount of rice bran, a small amount of salt and baking soda are added and mixed well to make feed.

③30 kg of cow dung, 7.5 kg of rice bran, 6.5 kg of bran cake, 2.5 kg of peanut bran, 1.5 kg of wheat bran, 1 kg of fish meal, 1 kg of silkworm pupa powder and a small amount of adhesive can improve the utilization rate and make it easier for turtles to digest and absorb.

④20% soybean vines, 20% rice husks, 10% silkworm feces, 15% rapeseed cakes, and 35% sweet potatoes are made into compound feed, which turtles like to eat and gain weight quickly.

⑤Mix 20% rice, 30% bran, 10% soybeans, and 40% bran together, add 1 kg of salt and 40 grams of sulfonamide to every 50 kg of raw materials, and make it into puffed granular feed, which is effective in feeding soft-shelled turtles.

⑤ The best effect is to eat mainly fish, shrimp, earthworms, animal offal, snail meat, frog, rat and snake meat, accompanied by cooked wheat grains, cakes, melons and vegetables.

3. Egg laying and hatching

Eggs are laid in a normal temperature pool from June to August. The eggs with opaque milky white dots on the shell are fertilized eggs. When collecting and incubating, the milky white part must be facing upwards, otherwise the young turtles will not hatch. The incubation temperature is preferably around 30°C. The sand can be hatched when the water content is 5% to 25%. The burial depth is 5 to 20 cm. Generally, young turtles can be hatched in about 45 days. The incubation method is selected according to specific conditions. If there is a warm water pool, the pool water can be shallowed to 30 to 40 cm, and the water temperature can be maintained at around 30°C. In a 20 cm incubation basin, 7 cm thick sand is laid to fix the breeding eggs, and then covered with 5 cm sand, and placed in a pool 13 to 14 cm deep. Do not let water in. The hatched young turtles can naturally enter the breeding pool. Young turtles should be fed with baits such as water fleas and silk earthworms, and can be fed with eel compound feed later.

4. Heating breeding

Heating aquaculture is also called rapid aquaculture. In general, natural aquaculture is greatly affected by water temperature, so it takes 4 to 5 years to grow commercial turtles. However, heating aquaculture can shorten this period to about 1 year, that is, using hot spring water or factory waste water for heating. In addition, the protein content in the feed is 45% to 50%, and adding 3% to 5% oil can improve the feed utilization rate and growth rate.

Rice field turtle farming technology

Turtle is not only a precious food, but also has high medicinal value. With the increasing demand for turtles, artificial turtle farming has developed rapidly. However, raising turtles in rice fields is a breeding method that has only emerged in recent years.

Raising turtles in rice fields, because the turtles have a spacious living environment, a large range of activities, feeding, and sunbathing, so they grow and develop quickly and have a high weight gain rate. Raising turtles in rice fields, rice and turtles coexist, turtles can loosen the soil for rice fields and catch pests, at the same time, raising turtles in rice fields is also conducive to reducing production costs and improving economic benefits.

1. Rice field selection Rice fields for turtle farming should be easy to care for, such as fields in front of or behind houses that are close to residences. At the same time, the applied terrain should be low-lying, with good water source conditions, smooth water flow, and convenient drainage and irrigation.

2. Anti-escape facilities. Turtles have the characteristics of using their limbs to dig holes and climb. The construction of anti-escape facilities is an important part of raising turtles in rice fields. A wall 50 cm above the ground should be built around the selected rice fields using bricks, cement boards, wooden boards and other materials. The top edge should extend 15 cm inwards. The inner wall of the wall and the edge should be painted smooth. Anti-escape facilities should also be built at the inlet and outlet.

3. Dig a good turtle ditch. A turtle ditch should be dug in the rice field. It can also be replaced by a strip ditch on the edge of the field. The turtle ditch is a place for feeding and hibernation. Generally, the turtle ditch is 3 meters wide at the top, 1.5 meters wide and deep at the bottom. The length is determined according to the area of ​​the rice field, generally accounting for 20% of the total area of ​​the rice field. A beach is built in the center of the field for parent turtles to lay eggs, reproduce and bask in the sun. It is generally north-south, 5 meters long, 1 meter wide at the top, and 0.8 meters above the normal water level.

4. When raising turtles in rice fields, the stocking density should be controlled according to the conditions. Too sparse stocking wastes water surface, while too dense stocking affects the growth and development of turtles. According to experience, in general, 300 to 600 turtles per mu are suitable for stocking turtles over 2 years old. If you are going to breed young turtles, you can add 50 to 60 6-year-old parent turtles per mu, with a male-female ratio of 2:1 or 3:2. Rice fields for raising turtles should generally be stocked with a small amount of large-sized silver carp to purify the water quality.

5. Breeding Methods Turtles are omnivorous animals that prefer animal feed and animal carcasses. Young turtles mainly eat aquatic insects, tadpoles, small fish, shrimps, earthworms, etc. Adult turtles mainly eat snails, small fish, animal carcasses and their internal organs, and also eat plant feed such as soybeans and corn.

If conditions permit, it is best to feed some artificial compound feed. When feeding, the "four determinations" must be achieved, namely, timing, positioning, quality, and quantity. 6. Water quality management Water quality and water temperature have a great impact on the growth and development of turtles. Pay attention to observing the water color, analyzing the water quality, frequently adding new water, and properly controlling the water level. Generally, the water depth should be between 15 and 20 cm. The water temperature must also be adjusted. In high temperature seasons, the water level in the rice field can be appropriately deepened without affecting the growth of rice. At the same time, in order to prevent poisoning, pesticides are generally not used to control insects in rice fields where turtles are raised.