What are the living habits and distribution range of the golden coin turtle, and is it a protected animal?
The golden coin turtle, belonging to the class Reptilia, order Testudines, family Geoemydidae, also known as the golden coin turtle, golden-headed turtle, and red-bellied turtle, is an ornamental turtle. It lives in water and mainly feeds on earthworms, and also eats fish, shrimp, insects in rivers, as well as some plant-based food. Let's take a look below at what the living habits of the golden coin turtle are, where it is distributed, and whether it is a protected animal.
I. What are the living habits of the golden coin turtle?
The golden coin turtle is omnivorous. It likes to inhabit mountain rock crevices or mud burrows near water areas, and after being startled it dives to the bottom of the water, often going to mountain streams or damp places to forage for various aquatic animals. In nature it mainly preys on snails, fish, shrimp, tadpoles and other aquatic animals in the water, and also eats young rats, small fish, shrimp, snails, young frogs, scarab beetles, earthworms, snails and fly maggots, and sometimes also eats pumpkin, bananas, tender plant stems and leaves, and seeds. Under artificial rearing conditions, it likes to eat animal offal, earthworms, lean meat, small fish and mixed feed.
The golden coin turtle is a poikilothermic animal, with a growth temperature between 24-32°C. When the water temperature is 28°C, it must float up to breathe about once every 20 minutes in the water; when the water temperature is 25, it floats up to breathe about once every 26 minutes; when the water temperature is below 12, it enters a hibernation state.
II. Where is the golden coin turtle distributed?
The global distribution range of the golden coin turtle is very narrow, mainly distributed in China's Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Hainan, Hong Kong, China, Macao, China, as well as northern and southern Vietnam and other subtropical countries and regions.
III. Is the golden coin turtle a protected animal?
The golden coin turtle is a national second-class key protected animal, listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora as a protected species, and is a critically endangered species on the IUCN Red List.