A Detailed Guide to Ground Turtle Breeding Techniques and Methods
AbstractWater temperature: The suitable temperature for the growth of the ground turtle is 20°C-30°C. Disease: Illness in the ground turtle is difficult to detect from external symptoms alone; once symptoms such as the turtle stopping eating, slow responses and weak limbs appear, the condition is already serious. Therefore, the principle of prevention first must be maintained. Density: High stocking density restricts the turtle's growth and easily causes disease; for young turtles (under 250 grams), stock no more than 10 per sq m. Feed: Rationally combine feeds to supplement the ground turtle's nutrition.
Everyone is probably fairly familiar with an animal like the turtle. Many people have seen turtles in daily life, and turtles can be used as an ingredient for eating, while they can also be kept as pets at home for fun; what's more, turtles have always been regarded by people as a symbol of longevity. I wonder whether everyone is equally familiar with the ground turtle?
Ground Turtle Breeding Techniques
1. Water temperature
Turtles are ectothermic animals, and the suitable growth temperature for most turtles is 25°C-30°C.
2. Disease prevention and control
Illness in turtles is difficult to detect from external symptoms alone; once symptoms such as the turtle stopping eating, slow responses and weak limbs appear, the condition is already serious. Therefore, the principle of prevention first must be maintained.
3. Stocking density
It directly affects the turtle's growth rate and survival rate. High stocking density restricts the turtle's growth and easily causes disease; low density allows suitable growth and a low disease rate, but economic returns are also reduced. Generally speaking, for young turtles (under 250 grams), stock no more than 10 per sq m.
4. Feed
Feed plays a leading role in the turtle's growth rate, physical condition and resistance. For example, feeding a diet lacking certain nutrients often leads to malnutrition in turtles and causes disease, because turtles at different growth stages have different requirements for nutritional composition and quantity.
Ground Turtle Breeding Methods
1. Paddy field rearing
Slightly modify a paddy field, dig it into a “field”-shaped trench, and carry out “semi-ecological breeding”; its characteristics are: strong resource advantages, complementary fishery and agriculture, and it is worth promoting.
2. Greenhouse rearing
Build a rearing pond, introduce turtle hatchlings, and control the water temperature at around 25°C (the suitable growth temperature for turtles); within a short period the turtles can be raised into commercial turtles. Characteristics: short growth cycle, quick results, but relatively large investment; under normal circumstances, the market does not easily accept turtles grown with heating, and the price is slightly lower than that of ordinary farmed turtles, so it is not advisable to promote. However, this method can be used for breeding stock turtles.
3. Fish-turtle polyculture
Use an existing pond, modify it slightly, and based on differences in the living habits of the animals form a new food chain, raising fish and turtles together in the pond. Characteristics: full use of the pond, improved feeding efficiency, low cost, not limited by season, and relatively low risk.
What Are the Taboos of Keeping Ground Turtles
1. Avoid losing oneself in playthings: keeping turtles is only meant to add fun to life, not to be one's whole life; neglecting one's career and drifting away from family for the sake of play loses the meaning of keeping pets, so never lose yourself in playthings.
2. Avoid aiming too high: some people always want to keep difficult turtles and want to quickly become an “expert”; in fact, this idea is not advisable, and one must never start by pursuing difficult turtles, so never aim too high.
3. Avoid craving the new and rejecting the old: always feeling that other turtles are better, eyeing other people's turtles enviously, and thinking all day about switching species; in fact, being able to keep one kind of turtle well does not mean being able to keep all kinds of turtles well, and being able to keep one kind of turtle well is already not an easy thing.
4. Avoid abandoning after a brief enthusiasm: having only three minutes of enthusiasm for turtles, and once the novelty passes, tossing them aside and letting them fend for themselves; the joy of turtles is slowly experienced in the process of “keeping”, which requires overcoming boredom and persevering.
Which Turtles Are Easiest to Keep and Also Good-Looking
1. Red-eared slider: The red-eared slider is an aquatic turtle, with extremely high intraspecific density and very strong interspecific competitiveness, tolerant of starvation; its food includes algae, duckweed and other herbaceous plants floating in the water, clams, small fish, shrimp and other crustaceans, snails and various mollusks.
2. Chinese pond turtle: The Chinese pond turtle is an aquatic turtle and can also crawl on land; it inhabits rivers, lakes, reservoirs, ponds and other waters, has a relatively broad diet, and eats corn, small fish, shrimp, snails and so on, among which it most likes to eat small fish and small shrimp.
3. Yellow pond turtle: The yellow pond turtle is also called the yellow-throated water turtle, stone turtle, green-haired turtle, etc.; it lives in waters of mountain basins or river valleys in semi-mountainous hilly areas, often active in nearby small thickets or grass, is omnivorous, and under artificial rearing especially likes to eat fresh meat.
That is all for the introduction to ground turtle breeding methods for now; I wonder whether everyone has a strong interest in keeping them? However, although ground turtles are not difficult to keep, during rearing everyone should still keep them according to their growth habits, which is the most appropriate approach.