What to Do When Soft-Shelled Turtles Die After Overwintering? Causes and Prevention Methods

The soft-shelled turtle is a farming project with relatively high economic returns. In today's market, where supply is tight, it can bring farmers extremely high economic benefits, and its farming prospects are good. Deaths often occur during the hibernation of soft-shelled turtles, and the number of deaths is quite large. This phenomenon is called overwintering death syndrome, also known as overwintering disease. So what causes this phenomenon to occur? How should it be prevented? Let's take a look together.

I. Symptoms

Overwintering death syndrome is a death phenomenon that occurs in soft-shelled turtles after hibernation. Its triggering causes differ, 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 crawling ashore. The causes of their deaths are also varied, including internal injuries, external injuries, emaciation, disease, and parasites.

II. Causes

1. Malnutrition: Egyptian soft-shelled turtles that hatch in autumn, after a short period of rearing, do not have sufficient nutrients in their bodies before entering the overwintering period. At this time, their constitution is weak, and their cold resistance and disease resistance are both relatively weak, which can very easily lead to their death.

2. Improper management: From June to August each year is the peak breeding season for soft-shelled turtles and also the time of greatest food intake. Some farmers, in order to increase reproductive capacity, often focus on the incubation and rearing of juvenile turtles while neglecting the cultivation of parent turtles, causing the parent turtles to die after overwintering.

3. Weak constitution: Not only do weak juvenile turtles die after overwintering, but female turtles do as well. In the 1-2 months before overwintering, female turtles lay their last batch of eggs, consuming a large amount of physical strength and nutrients, so their constitution is extremely weak. However, the subsequent drop in temperature means they must prepare for overwintering, and they often enter the overwintering period before they have recovered, making them prone to death.

4. Injury or freezing: If soft-shelled turtles suffer bodily injury or freeze damage before or during overwintering, it will lead to death. They often float on the water surface or sink to the bottom and rot after overwintering. If they do not die during overwintering, they will also die very quickly after overwintering.

5. Poor water quality: If water quality is not managed during overwintering, and the water is not changed in time during overwintering, harmful substances in the water will increase more and more, causing the soft-shelled turtles to die from poisoning.

III. Prevention Methods

1. Before soft-shelled turtles overwinter, feeding management should be strengthened, with concentrated feed and animal-based bait, especially animal internal organs, to maintain and accumulate nutrients so that they have enough nutrition 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°C. At this time, the soft-shelled turtles' food intake is large and the feed utilization rate is high.

2. After autumn, when the water temperature begins to drop to 25°C, artificial measures should be taken to raise the water temperature to 30°C and carry out insulated farming for 1 month, extending the growth period of the soft-shelled turtles so that they can accumulate enough nutrients to overwinter, especially newly born juvenile turtles and females after egg laying.

3. During overwintering, disturbing, catching, and transporting are prohibited, to avoid these operations causing abrasions and freeze injuries to the soft-shelled turtles, and in severe cases causing death.

The above are the causes and prevention methods of soft-shelled turtle deaths after overwintering. We hope it can help you. To learn more about soft-shelled turtle farming knowledge, please stay tuned to us.