How to Select Breeding Softshell Turtles? Master the Selection Techniques to Choose High-Quality Breeding Softshell Turtles

Breeding softshell turtles refers to softshell turtles used for reproduction. Under natural conditions, due to the influence of climate and the harm caused by natural enemies, softshell turtles not only grow and develop slowly, but also have a low survival rate. In addition, after years of indiscriminate hunting and capture, wild resources are almost on the verge of extinction. Therefore, using artificial methods to intensify the cultivation of breeding softshell turtles is the main key to solving the source of softshell turtle seed and developing softshell turtle farming production. The selection of breeding softshell turtles should pay attention to the following issues.

1. Age: In the Jiangsu area, generally female and male softshell turtles aged over 3 years, that is, weighing more than 0.25 kg, will engage in mating behavior, and their gonads are basically mature. In southern Taiwan, China, Hainan Island, and other places, only 2-3 years are needed; in North China, more than 6 years are needed. In my opinion, the suitable age for breeding softshell turtles should be the age of sexual maturity of female softshell turtles plus 1 year as the minimum breeding age, and generally 5 years is moderate. The age of wild softshell turtles is difficult to determine, so when selecting, pay attention to body weight above 0.5-1 kg as the standard. Softshell turtles of this size lay eggs many times (3-4 times per year), and the number of eggs laid each time is also large (9-22 eggs each time), with a high hatching rate (above 95%), and the hatchlings are robust (survival rate above 98%).

2. Strong physique: First look at whether the appearance is normal and whether the skin is shiny. Also note that breeding softshell turtles should be large in body size, heavy in weight, have thick and plump calipash, and have a hard rear edge of the carapace with wrinkles. This kind of softshell turtle has good nutritional status, a strong physique, and strong reproductive capacity. In addition, when purchasing breeding softshell turtles in the market, attention should be paid to whether the softshell turtles are injured and whether their activity is normal.

3. Choose artificially farmed softshell turtles: Fully artificially farmed breeding softshell turtles are conducive to improving the reproduction rate. Softshell turtles cultivated artificially have basically adapted to the conditions and environment of artificial farming, and their age is easy to identify, so they are better than choosing wild softshell turtles as breeding softshell turtles. The distinguishing characteristics of wild softshell turtles and fully artificially farmed softshell turtles are shown in (Table 1). If wild softshell turtles have been artificially raised for a long time, with reasonable density and fresh water quality, it is relatively difficult to distinguish them from artificially farmed ones.