How to Raise Golden-Headed Turtles? Breeding Methods and Key Technical Points

Turtles have been regarded as auspicious creatures since ancient times, and the golden-headed turtle is a very superior breed among turtles, combining good looks, flavor, nutrition and medicinal properties. Many people have started raising golden-headed turtles, so how do you raise a golden-headed turtle?

1. Feeding

The golden-headed turtle has a very broad diet and can be fed any kind of food, with the amount eaten being 2%-5% of its own body weight. The golden-headed turtle is a terrestrial turtle and rarely enters the water; it can live away from water sources for long periods. In captive breeding it can be kept anywhere; if no pool is built, simply place a water basin. Captive breeding is possible within 0°C-43°C; it eats feed above 16°C-18°C, and below 13°C it enters hibernation. You can let the turtle burrow into sand, mud or a pile of grass to overwinter, or place it in a container indoors to overwinter; both are very safe.

2. Growth

The golden-headed turtle grows relatively fast, gaining an average of 30-40 grams per month during feeding periods, with the fastest reaching 80 grams. It begins to reproduce at a body weight of 400-500 grams, and occasionally a 250-gram turtle can also reproduce. A female turtle produces 8-20 eggs per year, with the largest egg weighing 36 grams; the natural hatching rate is about 80%, and with artificially controlled-temperature incubation the hatching rate can reach about 96%. The golden-headed turtle generally grows to 1-2 kg, has extremely strong vitality, is rarely seen falling ill or dying, and can live for more than 200 years at most. The golden-headed turtle cannot be used as a base turtle for green-haired turtles, because in water its upper body floats on the surface, so the green hair (basic algae) cannot take root and parasitize on its back.

3. Breeding Site

Captive golden-headed turtles can be raised as an add-on in orchards, bamboo groves and vegetable gardens, letting them forage for crop pests with no need for feeding; they can also be co-raised with frogs, toads and other turtles. In a corner of a site where chickens, ducks and geese are raised, use poultry manure to cultivate insects and release golden-headed turtles there; there is likewise no need for separate feeding, and the turtles can also eat mosquitoes, flies, midges, cockroaches and other pests in the poultry area, while also preventing young poultry from being attacked by snakes, achieving multiple benefits at once.

The golden-headed turtle is still a very easy turtle to raise, has low demands on the environment, and is very convenient to breed.