Practical Methods for Raising Turtles to Increase the Fertilization Rate of Turtle Eggs

Artificial breeding of turtles has sprung up in many places in recent years, but breeders have found that although female turtles of some species lay a lot of eggs, the fertilization rate is not high, especially the fertilization rate of eggs from turtles at their first laying age is even lower. Later, turtle breeding experts discovered that in nature, during the sexual maturation process of many animals, there is a difference in the development time of the two sexes; generally the female gonads develop early and mature early, while the male gonads develop late and mature later. The same is true for turtles: female turtles mature sexually early, while male turtles mature sexually late. This is the reason why sexually mature female turtles in the early period do not receive effective mating from sexually mature male turtles, resulting in unfertilized eggs or a relatively low fertilization rate.

In response to this situation, the following methods can raise the fertilization rate from about 20% to more than 80%, greatly improving the benefits. The specific practices are: 1. Increase the sex ratio of female to male turtles from the conventional breeding ratio of (2-3):1 to 2:(1-2). This allows each female turtle to mate promptly with a male turtle, because a roughly equal ratio of the two sexes can provide more mating opportunities, thereby increasing the fertilization rate of turtle eggs. 2. Mix female and male turtles together in staggered cultivation for one year. Mate sexually mature female turtles with male turtles that matured sexually in the previous year and raise them together in the same pond. This can prevent male turtles from losing effective mating rates because of late sexual maturity. 3. Combine separate and mixed cultivation of female and male turtles. First raise female and male turtles in separate ponds for a long period, and once they enter the estrus age period, immediately mix these turtles together in one place, causing the turtles to become sexually excited, which can stimulate turtles to rapidly complete gonadal development and mating. After the mating period, raise them in separate ponds again. 4. Add nutrition and Chinese herbal medicines. Add vitamin-rich malt, freshwater shrimp, silkworm pupae, and pig, cattle, and sheep placenta to the feed; vitamin A, D, E, and zinc can also be mixed directly into the feed; Chinese herbal medicine powders such as pine needle powder, chive powder, Epimedium, and actinolite can also be mixed into the feed. All of these can effectively improve the sexual function of male turtles, promote successful mating, and increase the fertilization rate of female turtles.