Detailed Explanation of New Soft-Shelled Turtle Farming Techniques and Precautions
SummaryFarming pond: It is best to choose a quiet, sunny place and build a new soft-shelled turtle pond, hatchling soft-shelled turtle pond, juvenile soft-shelled turtle pond, 3-year-old soft-shelled turtle pond, and adult soft-shelled turtle pond. Seedling selection: You can buy high-quality seedlings from a regular farm or aquatic products market, and first raise them in net cages for 15 days before stocking. Temperature: It must not exceed 32°C. Feed: Animal feed and plant feed can be chosen. Feeding: The amount should be moderate. Water quality management: The water needs to be changed once a week, and a small amount of plants such as water lettuce and water hyacinth can be planted to improve water quality.
The soft-shelled turtle likes a quiet, sunny, and clean living environment, and dislikes noisy, windy, and polluted environments. The soft-shelled turtle has an oval shape, and its back and limbs are dark green, but some have a light brown back, and the belly is very white with a hint of red.
I. Construction of the Soft-Shelled Turtle Pond
1. For building the pond, choose a pond with a quiet environment, no wind and sunny conditions, and convenient drainage and irrigation for farming. If it is a soft-shelled turtle farm that breeds, hatches, and raises its own stock, 5 types of farming ponds must be built, namely a new soft-shelled turtle pond, hatchling soft-shelled turtle pond, juvenile soft-shelled turtle pond, 3-year-old soft-shelled turtle pond, and adult soft-shelled turtle pond.
2. The pond soil is best if it is clay or loam. If the pond bottom has no sandy soil, mix in some sandy soil. A basking platform and feeding platform should be built beside the farming pond to provide places for the soft-shelled turtles to bask and take food. Around the farming pond, use asbestos tiles and bricks to build an escape-proof wall with a height of 1 m.
II. Selection and Stocking of Soft-Shelled Turtle Hatchlings
Seedling selection: Order from a regular farm or buy from the local aquatic products market. You can also order online, but be sure not to buy from small vendors, because the soft-shelled turtle hatchlings in vendors' hands are inconsistent in size and their source channels are unclear, and the purchased soft-shelled turtles are prone to illness and death.
Stocking: No matter where the soft-shelled turtle hatchlings are bought from, they cannot be placed directly into the farming pond. They should first be temporarily raised in net cages for about 15 days to observe their condition. You can first put part of the soft-shelled turtles into net cages in the farming pond and raise them for about 15 days. If the soft-shelled turtles show no discomfort or abnormality, large-scale stocking can be carried out. The stocking density depends on the size of the farming pond and other factors. Per mu, 100 kg-150 kg of 2-3-year-old juvenile soft-shelled turtles can be stocked.
III. Temperature Control
The most suitable temperature for the growth of soft-shelled turtles is 30°C-32°C, and their feed intake is directly proportional to temperature, but the temperature must not exceed 32°C at most, and the temperature should be kept as stable as possible.
IV. Selection of Feed
1. Animal feed: Soft-shelled turtle feed can use the internal organs of livestock and poultry discarded by restaurants, leftover scraps from cooking, and field snails, small fish, small shrimp, and loaches caught in paddy fields or ditches, as well as earthworms and insects from fields, and so on. All of these can become feed for soft-shelled turtles.
2. Plant feed: A small amount of plant-based bait can also be added to the soft-shelled turtle feed, such as cornmeal, bean dregs, melons and fruits, and bran, etc. After processing and stirring evenly, feed it to them.
V. Feeding of Feed
When using fresh feed, it must be disinfected and cleaned, and it should be prepared and eaten immediately to avoid feed spoilage and deterioration. When placing feed, feed it 2 cm-3 cm away from the water surface. This is because soft-shelled turtles are timid, so minimize disturbance to them when feeding. The placed feed should be controlled so that it is eaten within about one and a half hours. In hot seasons, feed should be given before sunrise and at sunset.
VI. Water Quality Management
Soft-shelled turtles have strict requirements for water quality, because they mostly live in water, and the quality of the water is very important to their growth. Therefore, the water should be changed once every 8-10 days. Each time the water is changed, drain 20 cm-25 cm of the water level in the farming pond, then fill it up again. The water transparency in the farming pond should be controlled at 30 cm-35 cm.
Adult soft-shelled turtle ponds should have their water changed once every 4 days. A small amount of green plants such as water lettuce and water hyacinth can also be planted in the water, which can improve water quality and allow the soft-shelled turtles to grow better.
VII. Precautions
1. Patrol in the morning and evening every day to check the condition of the escape-proof wall and natural enemies, and at the same time understand the feeding and water quality conditions of the soft-shelled turtles.
2. For ponds where bait is fed, before each feeding, clean them with a low-irritation disinfectant or a disinfected brush, and disinfect once every three days.