Breeding Florida softshell turtles becomes a new path to wealth

At the Jigongchong Florida softshell turtle breeding base in Tianchangtun, Zhongdong Village, Huangyao Town, technicians were busy cleaning the pond and spraying water on the Florida softshell turtles to "bathe" them. In the pond, Florida softshell turtles of different ages were crawling everywhere, and a technician excitedly picked one up to show the author.

According to technician Zhou Yongxi, the breeding base has tried to maintain the environment and living habits of Florida softshell turtles in the wild. The water in the pond is diverted from mountain springs into a fish pond before use, so that the water temperature, microorganisms and other conditions are close to those in the wild; feeding is mainly based on live fish, which not only increases the turtles' activity and promotes growth, but also makes the turtle meat delicious.

The breeding base was established in July 2013, with a total investment of more than 3 million yuan, an area of about 800 sq m, and a breeding scale of 3,500 turtles. It mainly breeds breeding turtles and sells turtle hatchlings, and is currently the largest Florida softshell turtle breeding base in Hezhou City.

"Setting up a large Florida softshell turtle farm in such an inland environment, we also encountered some breeding difficulties," said Liu Ning, who is in charge of managing the breeding base. Due to inadequate technical skills, more than 100 turtle hatchlings died in the early stage of breeding, and later more than 10 breeding turtles died for unknown reasons. To address these problems, the technicians posted pictures in a WeChat group exchange platform for friends who breed Florida softshell turtles to ask breeding veterans across the country for advice, while also exploring solutions through breeding practice.

After three years of exploration and breeding, the base has currently sold about 2,000 turtle hatchlings. Calculated at a market price of 150 yuan each, sales have reached 300,000 yuan, and the economic benefits of this long-term project are beginning to show.

The good economic benefits have attracted the interest of surrounding residents, and 25 nearby households have joined the ranks of breeding Florida softshell turtles. The base not only provides turtle hatchlings and technical guidance to breeders, but is also responsible for buying back and selling turtle hatchlings and adult turtles. "My family now raises 40 turtles, and the big ones already weigh four or five jin!" breeder Liu Daochuan said confidently, adding that once hatchlings are produced, there will be income.

"We don't worry about selling the Florida softshell turtles we breed, as orders from Guangdong and Zhejiang are constantly increasing." According to Liu Ning, next they plan to establish a professional cooperative to increase breeding varieties, expand the breeding scale, and drive more people to join the breeding team.