The Chinese pond turtle is one of the species farmed in Shunde's turtle industry.

The Chinese pond turtle, commonly known as the turtle, is the most widely distributed and most numerous turtle species in our country. Whether you stop by a flower, bird, fish and insect market, linger beside a park pond, or pass by a restaurant or hotel, it is very easy to spot a Chinese pond turtle. However, even if you have seen quite a few Chinese pond turtles, you may not necessarily understand this turtle's living habits or how to raise it. In response, this article introduces the Chinese pond turtle's characteristics in detail from the aspects of its morphological features, living habits, key points of feeding and management, and farming models, for your reference.

1. Morphological features

The Chinese pond turtle's body is elongated and oval, with a slightly raised carapace bearing 3 longitudinal keels, and a prominent vertebral keel. The top of the head is dark olive, the front skin is smooth, and the rear part has fine scales. Males are smaller in size, with the neck, limbs and exposed skin areas grayish black or black olive, a long tail, and a foul odor. Females, by contrast, have a carapace lighter in color than males, yellowish brown or dark brown, a brownish black plastron, a shorter tail, and no body odor.

In view of the body odor issue between male and female Chinese pond turtles, some turtle keepers who intend to raise Chinese pond turtles for ornamental purposes mostly choose females to raise. But when buying Chinese pond turtles, how to distinguish males from females is also a difficult problem troubling most turtle keepers. This is because Chinese pond turtles are generally hard to sex before reaching sexual maturity, but Master Lin, who has many years of turtle and soft-shelled turtle farming experience in Lunjiao, Shunde, tells us a good way to distinguish them: male Chinese pond turtles have a slight indentation on the plastron, while females are flat, and females of the same age are larger in size than males.

2. Living habits

The Chinese pond turtle has fairly good adaptability to the environment. It breathes with lungs, and its body surface has well-developed horny scutes that can reduce water evaporation, making it an amphibious animal living both in water and on land. The Chinese pond turtle is an omnivorous animal; animal feed can be small fish, shrimp, river snails, mussels, clams, @#@254@#@ and animal viscera, etc.; plant feed is mainly plant stems and leaves, melon and fruit peels, wheat bran, etc. In different seasons, the Chinese pond turtle's food intake changes noticeably. In addition, under natural conditions or high-density artificial farming conditions, the Chinese pond turtle's habit of congregating in burrows is also very obvious.

3. Key points of feeding and management

According to Master Lin, hatchling Chinese pond turtles are rather delicate and should be raised separately and managed carefully. Generally, a separate cement pond should be built to raise the hatchlings, with land accounting for one third of the pond and water accounting for two thirds. At the same time, the hatchlings should be appropriately fed fine feed such as cooked egg white, egg yolk, cooked noodles, rice, minced fish, and shrimp. Generally, hatchlings of the year are best overwintered separately from adult turtles. The usual method for overwintering hatchlings is to place a small wooden tray in the rearing room, put 20-30 cm thick sand in the tray, place the hatchlings in the sand, then sprinkle 0.5 cm thick fine sand over the hatchlings, cover the top with gauze, and spray some warm water, so they can overwinter safely.

Adult turtles, by contrast, are relatively easy to raise, and can eat small fish, small shrimp, river snails, mussel meat, vegetables, rice and wheat, etc. Generally, they begin to eat when the water temperature rises above 15°C, June to September is the peak feeding period, and food intake begins to decline in November. When the water temperature drops below 15°C, they enter hibernation. In spring and autumn, when temperatures are lower, feeding time is set at 8-9 a.m.; in midsummer, turtles are generally active in the morning and evening, and bait should be placed at 4-5 p.m. The Chinese pond turtle swallows its food in the water, and its bait intake is about 4% of its body weight. Generally, feed every other day, and after feeding promptly clean up leftover food and change the water frequently to prevent pollution from harming the turtles. A sunny, quiet place can be chosen as the overwintering pond, the pond bottom should have 20 cm thick mud, and after disinfection is done, let the Chinese pond turtles burrow into the mud to overwinter.

4. Farming models and market for the Chinese pond turtle

Nowadays, purely wild Chinese pond turtle germplasm resources are very scarce, and most of the @#@136@#@ on the market are artificially farmed finished products. There are mainly three artificial farming models for the Chinese pond turtle, namely greenhouse farming, greenhouse-to-outdoor-pond farming, and outdoor-pond farming. Under different farming models, the Chinese pond turtle's growth cycle and quality and other aspects all differ to a certain extent, resulting in different market prices.

According to industry insiders' analysis, the greenhouse farming model is now mostly adopted in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area. This farming model can extend the Chinese pond turtle's growth period and thus shorten the farming cycle; generally, it can grow to marketable size in 1-2 years. However, due to oversupply in recent years, greenhouse turtles are relatively low in price, and market returns are not obvious. According to quotes from the Oriental Turtle and Soft-shelled Turtle Network, at the current stage the price of Chinese pond turtles under the greenhouse farming model is 15-17 yuan/jin.

The "greenhouse + outdoor pond" model is to farm in a greenhouse for half a year or one year, then transfer the turtles to outdoor ponds for two years after they reach a certain body weight; this method takes about three years. In the outdoor pond farming environment, the Chinese pond turtle's body color appears slightly more natural, its body shape is relatively more attractive, and the price is somewhat higher.