Common pests and predators in soft-shelled turtle farming and their control methods

The main predators of soft-shelled turtles include rats, snakes, birds, ants, mosquitoes, etc. They mainly harm turtle eggs and juvenile turtles under 1 year of age; turtles over 1 year old with strong constitutions are rarely harmed. Among them, rats cause the greatest harm to turtle eggs.

In the dead of night, which is the good time for turtles to lay eggs, rats also come out of their holes and move frequently around the egg-laying sites. On one hand, they disturb the normal egg-laying of turtles; on the other hand, rats dig holes all over the sand bed, causing the turtle eggs to vibrate and leading to embryo death.

Juvenile and young turtles are also easily surrounded and preyed upon by rats. Some adult turtles with poor constitutions and slow reactions are also often targets of rat attacks when resting on the bank. When rats eat turtles, they first bite the turtle's neck, then bite through the windpipe, pull out the internal organs and suck the blood, feed on the turtle meat, and then flee.

Once rat damage occurs, if measures are not taken promptly, at least 3 to 4 turtles may be bitten to death in one night, or as many as dozens, with even greater harm to juvenile and young turtles. Next are snakes, which can dig through mud and sand and swallow turtle eggs and newly hatched juvenile turtles, causing great harm.

Birds such as cormorants and kingfishers mainly prey on juvenile turtles, and some birds can also carry pathogens, thereby spreading diseases. Therefore, in turtle farming, the control of these predators must be strengthened. The control methods are as follows:

1. The walls of the turtle egg incubation room and juvenile turtle ponds should preferably be made of cement brick structures, with no holes left, blocking passages and hiding places for rats and snakes;

2. Build ant-proof ditches around the incubation room, about 10 cm deep and wide, and fill the ditches with water to prevent ants from entering the room;

3. Around the egg-laying sites, incubation sites and juvenile turtle ponds, regularly use poisoned bait to kill rats and snakes, or set traps to catch them;

4. Regularly spray insecticide to kill mosquitoes;

5. Birds can be prevented by stretching nets, or driven away with tools such as slingshots.