Fast Breeding Methods and Key Technical Points for the Golden Coin Turtle

The three-striped box turtle (Cuora trifasciata), also known as the golden coin turtle, is a national second-class protected animal with high medicinal value. As wild turtles are becoming increasingly scarce, our farm carries out artificial breeding to protect wild resources. The techniques are as follows:

1. Construction of the turtle pond

Depending on the type of turtle pond, one may choose the burrow style or the land-and-water combined style. Since the latter is convenient to manage, it is more readily adopted. It consists of a water pool, land area, egg-laying pool and turtle nest. The turtle nest must be shaded from light and must prevent escape, prevent predators and be easy to clean and replace. The rearing density for adult turtles is about 20 per sq m, with a water depth of about 10 cm; for breeding turtles, hatchlings and juveniles, adjust accordingly. The pond water should just be enough to submerge the turtle's shell.

2. Feed requirements

Given that the golden coin turtle is omnivorous with a mainly carnivorous habit, using artificial compound feed can make it grow quickly. The daily intake is 3-5% of the turtle's body weight, fed in 1-2 portions. Animal-based feeds include: fish, shrimp, frogs, lean pork, chicken, duck, eggs, raw and cooked crushed bone, animal offal, @#@254@#@, etc. Plant-based feeds include: peanut cake, potato, sweet potato, cooked rice, corn, wheat flour, vegetable leaves, melons and fruits, etc. Mix animal and plant feeds in a ratio of 7:3 or 6:4, grind them with a meat grinder, and make artificial compound feed containing about 35%-40% protein for feeding. The reasonable content of protein, phosphorus, calcium and sodium in the feed is the key to rapid growth.

3. Daily management of the turtles

Because of intensive artificial rearing, daily management is very important, and the quality of management is the key to successful breeding. This is especially true of water temperature, water quality, feed, sunlight and disease prevention and treatment. Keep the water temperature at around 28-32°C as much as possible, clean the turtles' bodies and the turtle pond every day, strengthen sunbathing, and feed medicated bait or give medicated baths once every half month or every month. Earnestly do a good job of preventing theft and escape.

4. Disease prevention and treatment

The golden coin turtle has a strong disease resistance, but improper artificial rearing can also make it prone to illness, and once ill, it is difficult to detect and treat. Therefore, one should observe the turtles' activity, appetite and droppings regularly. Drugs used for medicated bait and medicated baths include oxytetracycline, potassium permanganate, penicillin, furazolidone, etc. Achieve prevention before disease and early treatment when disease occurs. Artificially reared turtles no longer fear people; when you catch them or feed them, they will stretch out their necks and look at you. If a turtle is found retracting its head, refusing food, having abnormal droppings, being light in body weight or often soaking in water, one should suspect whether it has gastrointestinal disease, esophagitis, parasitic disease, water mold disease, etc., and should promptly administer medication or intramuscular injection.

5. Breeding of the turtles

A male-to-female ratio of 1:3 is reasonable for golden coin turtles. After sexual maturity, golden coin turtles lay eggs every year, and the egg-laying period is from the 4th to the 9th month of the lunar calendar. Each clutch is 1-8 eggs; well-reared turtles mostly lay 4-6 eggs per clutch, and a few turtles can lay eggs twice a year. If egg production is low or absent, it is mostly caused by unreasonable feed or insufficient light. The author's practice has proved that egg production and fertilization rate are determined by feed, water quality, water temperature and light, while the hatching rate is determined by hatching technique, and artificial incubation is the best method. Whether using electric incubation or water incubation, management should be frequent to prevent oxygen deficiency, mold and overheating of the eggs. According to the author's practice, with constant-temperature incubation, the turtle hatchlings can break out of their shells in about 60-75 days.

6. Safe overwintering

Wild golden coin turtles overwinter on land, and generally they can overwinter safely indoors. During the overwintering period, turtles still have the habit of drinking water, so water must be provided for them. It is best not to soak the turtles in water during overwintering; using a land-and-water combined setup or a turtle pond is the most reasonable overwintering method. Alternatively, raise the temperature for the turtles during hibernation; changing the hibernation period into a growth period is an important decision for fast-growing, efficiency-increasing breeding of the golden coin turtle. The method is to raise the room temperature so that the pond water temperature reaches around 28-32°C.