How much does a stone coin turtle hatchling cost, and how do you raise one?

The stone coin turtle is what we also call the three-striped box turtle, broken-plate turtle, red-bellied turtle, golden-headed turtle, etc. It is a rare turtle species and a freshwater turtle with very high food and medicinal value. Nowadays many people keep stone coin turtles as pets, very much in a laid-back way. Below let us take a look at how much a stone coin turtle hatchling costs per turtle, and how to raise one.

1. How much does a stone coin turtle hatchling cost per turtle?

The price of stone coin turtle hatchlings is roughly between ten-odd yuan and fifty yuan, mainly affected by the quality of the product; poor-quality hatchlings are cheaper, while good-quality ones are more expensive.

The market price of the stone coin turtle is generally around 200 yuan per jin, and factors such as the turtle's age and size also cause price differences. In addition, due to differences in regional consumption, the prices on this site are for reference only. It is recommended that you inquire in detail at your local market, and the local price shall prevail.

2. How do you raise a stone coin turtle?

1. Air temperature

The activity temperature of the stone coin turtle is 3-35°C. The main production areas of the Vietnamese breed of stone coin turtle are Vietnam, Guangdong and Guangxi; in other regions, such as the colder north, it can likewise be raised as long as suitable temperature conditions are provided (in areas below 3°C, heated farming can be used).

In recent years, some farmers from Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Anhui and other places have come to our farm to introduce Vietnamese breed stone coin turtle seedlings, and their farming has been fairly successful. Their basic approach is: when summer temperatures are relatively high, they do the same as farmers in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, with no need for heating, letting the Vietnamese breed stone coin turtles forage freely and grow healthily. When the temperature is below 25°C, they raise the hatchlings by heating. When the temperature is below 5°C, they take warming measures for the breeding turtles. From their practice, in the north, as long as corresponding heating and warming measures are adopted, the hatchlings grow quite well, and the egg production, fertilization rate and hatching rate of the breeding turtles (breeding turtles that were already basically mature and stable in production when purchased from our farm) are also relatively high, and the farming profit is good.

2. Site

Raising stone coin turtles requires a site; for example, a balcony, rooftop, room, hall, courtyard, garden or pond will all do.

3. Water body

For raising stone coin turtles, you can use tap water, well water, river water, mountain spring water or natural water, as long as it is unpolluted freshwater.

4. Food

The stone coin turtle has a fairly broad diet; low-priced tilapia, earthworms, yellow mealworms, river snails, mussels, as well as melons, fruits and vegetables, wheat, corn, etc., and even ordinary leftover rice and lean meat can all be fed to stone coin turtles.

5. Seedlings

Choosing seedlings of excellent quality is the key to ensuring success in raising stone coin turtles. At present, the quality of southern breed stone coin turtle seedlings is uneven, and there are many swindlers. In order to earn more profit, some unscrupulous sellers pass off inferior goods as superior, selling turtles unsuitable as seedlings as seedlings; for example, selling northern breed stone coin turtles as southern breed stone coin turtles, selling greenhouse turtles as breeding turtles, and selling sick turtles as healthy turtles. If you choose improperly and buy inferior seedlings, it will cause the buyer to be cheated and suffer losses, directly affecting the quality and profit of farming, and may even lead to a loss. Therefore, you must strictly control the quality of seedlings; better to have none than something inferior, and you must choose seedlings of pure breed and excellent quality. The genetic inheritance of the stone coin turtle is inversely proportional to the number of generations; the closer the generation is to the native generation (wild turtle species), the higher the inheritance of native-generation genes, and the higher the purity and quality of the stone coin turtle. Conversely, the farther the generation is from the native generation (wild turtle species), the less inheritance of native-generation genes, and the lower the purity and quality of the stone coin turtle. Therefore, the first-generation seedling population hatched from wild breeding turtles has high breed purity, high quality and a high survival rate, and is the first choice for farmers buying seedlings; breeding turtles raised from first-generation hatchlings in a simulated wild manner (without heating throughout, letting the hatchlings grow slowly) are the best choice for farmers buying breeding turtles.

6. Technique

In stone coin turtle farming, technique is the guarantee. Some beginners, and even some veteran farmers, cause hatchlings to suffer from diseases such as white eye disease and pneumonia due to unprofessional hatchling-raising techniques or abnormal weather and other reasons during the farming process, resulting in a relatively large number of deaths and causing major economic losses. For this reason, one must strive for perfection and seriously study and improve professional farming techniques. Feeding should be carried out according to professional and scientific farming techniques, avoiding low survival rates of stone coin turtles caused by unprofessional techniques, and avoiding the abuse of food or drugs, so as to ensure the excellent quality of stone coin turtles and ensure the smooth realization of relatively high farming profits.