What is a suitable stocking density for softshell turtle farming? How many should be stocked per mu?

Speaking of softshell turtles, I think everyone is quite familiar with them. As people's living standards continue to rise, softshell turtles have gradually made their way into more households and more hotels, so the market demand for softshell turtles is also growing. More and more people are taking up softshell turtle farming as well.

Softshell turtle farming density

For many years, most farmers have adopted low stocking densities in outdoor pond softshell turtle farming in order to make the turtles grow quickly, but this often fails to achieve the desired results. There are two reasons for this: first, the softshell turtle is a highly competitive animal when it comes to food, and at low densities its competitiveness for food declines, which is actually detrimental to growth;

second, because the number of turtles is small, feeding is hard to control: feed too little and their intake is insufficient, feed too much and the turtles easily overeat, causing disease. Therefore, when stocking softshell turtles in outdoor ponds, the stocking density should be increased according to different size grades to 8 turtles/sq m to 13 turtles/sq m.

Living habits of the softshell turtle  

The softshell turtle is a poikilothermic animal, amphibious between water and land, and breathes with its lungs. It likes to live in rivers, lakes and ponds. It often floats to the water surface, extending the tip of its snout to breathe, and also often moves about on land to bask its back. The softshell turtle is very sensitive to changes in outside temperature, and its life pattern is closely related to changes in outside temperature. At 10 to 12 degrees C, the turtle enters hibernation; in the Hangjiahu area, the hibernation period runs from mid-November each year to around mid-April of the following year. When the water temperature rises to about 15 degrees C in spring, it gradually awakens from hibernation and begins feeding. Above 20 degrees C, male and female turtles mate and lay eggs.  

The softshell turtle has the habit of guarding its eggs; after laying eggs it keeps watch in the water not far from the nesting site to prevent harm from natural enemies. 25 to 30 degrees C is the most suitable temperature range for feeding and growth of the softshell turtle, and also the best season for artificial farming. Above 33 degrees C, it seeks out burrows to "escape the heat." In artificial farming, because softshell turtles are naturally aggressive, large and small turtles should not be mixed together. Among softshell turtle groups, the strong bullying the weak is very common, and when food is scarce they will eat their own kind.  

The living habits of the softshell turtle can be summarized as the "three likes and three fears": it likes quiet and fears disturbance, likes sun and fears wind, likes cleanliness and fears dirt. The softshell turtle is sensitive to sounds in its surroundings; at the slightest noise nearby, it will quickly dive into the mud at the bottom of the water.

How to select softshell turtles  

1. Grasp: grasp the turtle by the soft recess behind its hind legs. If it moves quickly, kicks its four legs wildly and is fierce and strong, it is a superior softshell turtle; if it moves sluggishly, barely moves its four legs or does not move at all, it is an inferior softshell turtle.  

2. Look: mainly look at every part of the softshell turtle. Any turtle with a complete shape, no injuries or disease, thick and plump muscles, a glossy plastron, indistinct ribs on the carapace, a thick and upturned skirt, thick and strong four legs, and agile movements is a superior softshell turtle; otherwise, it is an inferior softshell turtle.  

3. Check: mainly check whether there are hooks or needles in the turtle's neck. A softshell turtle with hooks or needles cannot be kept for long or transported over long distances. The method of checking: use a hard bamboo chopstick to stimulate the turtle's head and let it bite down, then pull the chopstick with one hand to stretch out its neck, while the other hand feels carefully along the neck.  

4. Test: turn the softshell turtle on its back and place it flat on the ground. If it can quickly turn itself over and flee swiftly with agile movement, it is a superior softshell turtle; if it turns over slowly and moves sluggishly, it is an inferior softshell turtle.

Methods to shorten the softshell turtle farming cycle  

1. Intensively cultivate parent softshell turtles to promote earlier breeding. The main methods are: release shallow pond water to raise the water temperature; place floating boards on the water surface to increase the turtles' opportunities to bask in the sun, thereby raising their body temperature and boosting their appetite;  

2. Control the temperature for hatching young turtles. Under normal circumstances, the time for softshell turtle eggs to hatch into young turtles is 20 days. If the incubation temperature is controlled at about 32 degrees C, the young turtles can hatch 20 days earlier;  

3. Ensure the temperature required by young turtles to promote their normal growth. Generally speaking, the suitable temperature for young turtles is above 25 degrees C, but in early summer and late autumn the pond water temperature is often lower than this. An effective method is to concentrate the young turtles in temporary holding ponds and artificially raise the temperature, so as to maintain their growth rate at normal water temperature;  

4. Make full use of hot spring water and unpolluted waste hot water from factories to farm softshell turtles. Even in the cold winter, as long as feed can keep up, they can still grow normally;  

5. Where there are no warm water conditions, the heat-collecting effect of plastic greenhouses can be used to effectively extend the growth period of softshell turtles. Using the above methods can shorten the softshell turtle production cycle by 40-80 days, and the benefits are invisibly improved.

Softshell turtle farming is a very well-developed type of farming in today's aquaculture industry. When farming, we should pay attention to the number and density of the softshell turtles stocked: stocking too few will reduce the benefits of farming, but stocking too many will instead reduce the yield of softshell turtles.