Softshell turtles are edible, delicious, nutritious, and have nourishing and fitness effects. Their whole body has medicinal value, which indicates a broad prospect for turtle breeding. Below is the method of raising turtles that I have carefully compiled for you. Let’s take a look.

How to raise turtles

1. The feed variety should be fixed. The feed for soft-shell turtles is mainly small fish, shrimps, earthworms, fly maggots, animal offal, cooked animal blood, silkworm chrysalis, clam meat and other animal feeds. They can also be fed some cooked wheat grains, cakes, melons and other plant feeds. After a turtle gets used to a certain feed, if it changes to a new feed, it must be changed gradually so that the turtle has an adaptation process to avoid reducing its food intake and affecting its growth.

2. Feeding should be done regularly. Feeding the turtles on time can help them develop the habit of eating at regular intervals. Under normal circumstances, feeding can be done twice a day on time, one time at 8 to 9 am, and the other at 5 to 6 pm. Failure to feed on time will affect the turtle's appetite and cause disorder of hunger and satiety.

3. Feed the appropriate amount. If you feed too much, the turtle will not be able to finish it, which will waste feed and affect the water quality; if you feed too little, the turtle will not be full and will feel hungry, resulting in slow growth, so the feed must be appropriate. It is best for the turtles to eat the feed they put in every time in about 2 hours. Usually after the beginning of spring, the daily feeding amount accounts for about 5 to 10% of the turtle's weight; after May, the water temperature rises and the turtle grows vigorously, so the amount of feed required increases, and the daily feeding amount should be increased to about 20% of the turtle's weight. During each feeding process, careful observation should be made. If it is found that the turtle has not eaten enough or has leftover food within 2 hours, the amount should be increased or decreased appropriately the next time it is fed.

4. Do not feed bait with too much oil or too large particles. Feeding turtles with too much fat is prone to indigestion, and the fat spreads in the water, covering the water surface of the turtle pond and isolating the air, which will cause hypoxia in the water and suffocate the turtle. In severe cases, it can cause the turtle to die of hypoxia. The turtles often drag the feed away when eating, and throw away the uneaten food. Therefore, large pieces of bait must be chopped before feeding to avoid waste.

5. The leftover residue and waste in the turtle pond must be removed in time. If the turtles are fed too much, some leftovers will be left in the turtle pond. If not fished out in time, it will cause pollution, affect the water quality and cause diseases. Therefore, turtle ponds should be filled with new water regularly and dirt and debris removed in a timely manner to keep the water clean. The transparency of the pool water is required to be about 25 cm, the pH should be maintained at 7 to 8, the color of the pool water should be light green or brown, and the water depth is generally controlled between 0.8 and 1.2 meters. The pool water should not be too deep in spring to help increase the water temperature. After summer, the water depth should be increased to prevent the water temperature from being too high. After autumn, the water depth should be appropriately reduced. Suitable water temperature can maintain the turtle's good appetite and promote its growth and development. Key points for raising turtles

1. Turtles are temperature-changing animals, amphibious on land and water, and breathe with lungs. Therefore, there should be enough land beach around or in the center of the turtle pond to allow it to carry out land activities. Soft-shell turtles are sensitive to sounds in the surrounding environment. As long as there is a slight movement around them, soft-shell turtles can quickly dive into the mud at the bottom of the water, so the breeding environment must be kept quiet. If turtles are often frightened, it will be very detrimental to their growth and reproduction.

2. Turtles like to stay in an environment with good water quality, so the owner must change the water frequently, about once every 2 to 3 days.

3. Turtles should bask in the sun more, because ultraviolet rays in the sun are used to kill pathogenic bacteria on the body surface, promote the healing of the injured body surface, and increase body temperature through basking on their backs to promote food digestion.

4. Turtles are aquatic omnivores and like to eat animal food. Young turtles feed on aquatic insects, water earthworms, tadpoles, shrimps, etc. Adult soft-shell turtles eat snails, clams and other molluscs, fish, shrimp and animal carcasses. They also eat vegetables, fruits, cereals and other plant feeds. For small turtles, you can cut the meat into minced dices and feed them slowly, and it will be fine.

5. When using fresh ingredients for feeding, they must be disinfected, cleaned, and prepared for immediate use to avoid spoilage. Feeding should be done in the form of feeding, and the bait should be 2 to 3 cm away from the water surface. Turtles are timid, so interference with them should be minimized when feeding.

6. Turtles hibernate at the end of November in the south, and about a month earlier in the north. There is no need to prepare a separate place for hibernation, just lay half of the sand in the basin above the water surface. It may crawl out of the water and sleep motionless on the sand for dozens of days, and then unknowingly enter the water and sleep for dozens of days again.

7. Be careful to prevent mosquitoes in summer, turtles are very afraid of mosquitoes.

8. Turtles are fierce and aggressive by nature, and bullying among groups is common. When food is scarce, they will cannibalize their own species. Therefore, during the feeding process, you must feed them enough food and pay close attention to their behavior.

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