What are the causes of and preventive measures for soft-shelled turtle deaths during overwintering?

Overwintering death syndrome is a death phenomenon that occurs in soft-shelled turtles after hibernation. Its causes vary, and the symptoms produced also differ. Some soft-shelled turtles float on the water surface after death, some sink to the bottom or into the mud and sand, and some die after climbing onto the bank. So what are the causes of soft-shelled turtle deaths during overwintering? What preventive measures are there?

1. Causes of soft-shelled turtle deaths during overwintering

1. Malnutrition and weak constitution

Hatchling soft-shelled turtles that emerge from their shells in autumn have not stored sufficient nutrients in their bodies after only a short period of rearing before entering the overwintering period. At this time their constitution is weak, and their cold resistance and disease resistance are both relatively poor, making them highly prone to death. It is not only weak hatchlings that die after overwintering; female soft-shelled turtles do as well. In the 1-2 months before overwintering, female soft-shelled turtles lay their last batch of eggs, which consumes a large amount of physical strength and nutrition, so their constitution becomes extremely weak. However, the temperature drop that follows immediately often means they enter the overwintering period before they have recovered, which can easily lead to death.

2. Injury and freezing

If a soft-shelled turtle's body is injured or damaged by freezing before or during overwintering, it will often float on the water surface or sink to the bottom and rot after overwintering. Even if it does not die during overwintering, it will die very quickly after overwintering.

3. Improper management and poor water quality

Every year from June to August is the peak breeding season for soft-shelled turtles and also the period of greatest food intake. Some farmers, in order to increase breeding efforts, tend to focus on the incubation and rearing of hatchlings while neglecting the cultivation of broodstock, resulting in the death of broodstock after overwintering. During overwintering, water quality management is not maintained, and the water is not changed in time, which causes more and more harmful substances to accumulate in the water, leading to poisoning and death of the soft-shelled turtles.

2. Preventive measures

1. Strengthen feeding management

Before overwintering, feeding management should be strengthened for soft-shelled turtles by feeding concentrated feed and animal-based bait, especially adding animal internal organs, to maintain and accumulate nutrition so that they have sufficient nutritional reserves to consume during overwintering. Before overwintering, the water temperature is relatively low and the soft-shelled turtles' food intake is relatively small, so feeding should be intensified when the water temperature is 30 degrees. At this time, the soft-shelled turtles have a large food intake and high feed utilization.

2. Adjust the water temperature

After autumn, when the water temperature begins to drop to 25 degrees, artificial measures should be taken to raise the water temperature to 30 degrees and carry out insulated culture for 1 month, extending the growth period of the soft-shelled turtles so that they can accumulate sufficient nutrients for overwintering, especially newly born hatchlings and females after laying eggs.

3. Take good protective measures

Before and during overwintering, it is forbidden to disturb, catch, or transport the soft-shelled turtles, so as to avoid scratches, frostbite, or, in severe cases, death caused by these operations.

The above is an introduction by Tuliu.com to the causes of and preventive measures for soft-shelled turtle deaths after overwintering. The soft-shelled turtle is a breeding project with relatively high economic returns. In today's period of market scarcity, it can bring extremely high economic returns to farmers, and the breeding prospects are good. During the breeding process, protective measures must be taken and careful management carried out in order to obtain good returns.