Also known as: red-eared turtle, Brazilian colorful turtle, beautiful turtle, mahjong turtle and colorful turtle.

Size: the total length is about 15-25cm.

Origin: North America is rich in America.

Eating habits: carnivorous omnivores.

Classification of families and genera: reptiles, turtles, tortoises.

The longest nail is 27 cm, which is widely distributed. It is divided into 16 subspecies. Mississippi red-eared turtle, commonly known as Brazilian turtle, is also one of the subspecies of this species.

abstract

According to many records, this species is omnivorous, but in the actual large-scale reproduction, some individuals have never even eaten a bite of plants in their lives, and omnivorousness can only be regarded as a very rare case at best. In fact, the captive Brazilian tortoise is a veritable carnivore. Brazilian tortoise likes to eat soft minced meat (muscle), shrimp and fish without bones and thorns, and likes fresh shrimp best. Fat meat, hard-dried meat, cooked meat and all kinds of crude fiber foods are what they hate most.

Like other reptiles, Brazilian tortoises like soft sunlight when their body temperature is low, but they are afraid of sunlight when their body temperature is high. Farmers should be careful not to blindly illuminate the Brazilian tortoise with strong light. In fact, turtles bask in the sun just to raise their body temperature and make their bodies move freely. Don't force them to bask in the sun if the temperature reaches. Everything is voluntary.

Red-eared turtles, native to the Mississippi River in the United States, are easier to raise than Brazilian colored turtles, and their young turtles are very similar to Brazilian colored turtles, gradually replacing Brazilian colored turtles in international trade. ) The Brazilian tortoise was first introduced. Its shape is the same as that of a red-eared turtle, except that it has no red ears. Now it has been replaced by a red-eared turtle, and people call it a Brazilian turtle. The domestic Brazilian tortoise sold in Hong Kong and Taiwan in the early days was indeed a South American Brazilian tortoise. Later, due to transportation costs and other messy reasons, the authentic Brazilian tortoise was removed from the list and replaced by its close relative, no, it should be said that it is a subspecies of Mississippi red-eared tortoise living in North America.

The only difference between the authentic South American Brazilian turtle and the North American red-eared turtle is the erythema on both sides of the head. North American red-eared turtles have this pair of erythema, but South American Brazilian turtles don't. These two kinds of turtles belong to the same family and can cross to produce offspring.

Brazilian tortoise is named after two pairs of thick red stripes on both sides of the back of its head. Red-eared turtles are more often called Brazilian turtles in the market. Most species come from Brazil, and a few species come from the Mississippi River in the United States. The Brazilian tortoise was first introduced. Its shape is the same as that of a red-eared turtle, except that it has no red ears. Now it has been replaced by a red-eared turtle, and people call it a Brazilian turtle. These two kinds of turtles belong to the same family. There are typical red stripes on both sides of the glans penis, and sometimes there are red spots on the top of the head. Red stripes sometimes break into two or three spots with different shades, ranging from orange to crimson. Some red-eared turtles don't have these red stripes! A typical newly hatched red-eared turtle has a charming green shell and skin. The carapace is covered with a perfect pattern composed of yellow-green to dark green stripes. As the tortoise grows up, the color of its shell will change. The green background of young adults will be replaced by yellow, and finally become a deeper brown olive color. The pattern on the shell is composed of black lines, stripes and smoke spots, sometimes mixed with white, yellow or even red spots. In elderly individuals, their crustaceans look more consistent because the differences between the patterns and colors of the crustaceans are reduced.

morphological character

The head is small, the kiss is blunt, the head and neck are inlaid with yellow and green vertical stripes, and there are 1 red patches behind the eyes. The carapace is flat, each shield has a circular green pattern, and the trailing edge has serrations. The bellybutton is light yellow with black ring patterns, like copper coins, and the patterns of each turtle are different. The trailing edge is not serrated. There are plenty of webbed toes and fingers. There are big black spots on the belly of the flower turtle, which is fierce, flexible and aggressive. And the skin is smooth, the figure is thin, and the skirt is wide. There are plenty of webbed toes and fingers. There are big black spots on the nails on the abdomen. Every Brazilian turtle has a different personality. Some individuals are fierce and aggressive, but others are docile and timid. Compared with human beings, it has rough skin (but smoother than other turtles), flexible movements, thin shell (compared with tortoises and yellow-edged box turtles), wide edges and golden fat color. The shell of Brazilian tortoise is not hard among turtles. In the wild, common carnivores (dogs, bobcats, leopards, etc. ) can bite open the shell of Brazilian tortoise. You shouldn't step on it. The hardness of Brazilian tortoise shell can't bear the weight of human body.

Main organs and physiological functions

skin

The biggest feature of turtle skin (except the front end of the head) is rough, and the epidermis has fine or fine scales, which can protect the dermis, reduce friction with the outside world and reduce water evaporation in the body.

Breathing pattern

The expansion and contraction of the neck and limbs directly affect the size of the abdominal cavity, thus affecting the expansion and contraction of the lungs. When the tortoise breathes, it exhales first and then inhales. This special way of breathing is called "swallowing" breathing, also known as "turtle breathing". The process of turtle's breathing movement can be observed from the contraction of the skin membrane of turtle's hind limb fossa.

smell

There are two nostrils on the glans penis, but only one nasal cavity, and the bone in the nostril is covered by epithelial mucosa, which has olfactory function. Among them, the pear nose is their main olfactory organ. Because, when looking for food or crawling, turtles always stretch their heads and necks very long to explore the smell and then decide the direction to go.

sight

Turtle's eye structure is typical, with convex cornea, round lens and well-developed ciliary muscle. You can adjust the sight distance by adjusting the curvature of the lens, because the turtle's field of vision is generally wide, but the clarity is poor. Therefore, turtles are sensitive to moving objects, but slow to respond to still life. According to the experiments of British zoologists, most turtles can distinguish colors like humans, and are especially sensitive to red and white.

(sense of) hearing

The turtle's hearing organs only have ears and middle ears, but no outer ears. The outermost layer is the eardrum. Therefore, turtles are not sensitive to airborne sounds. But it is very sensitive to the vibration conducted by the ground. So generally speaking, turtles are almost regarded as deaf-mute animals.

Alien invasive species, remember not to release them.

Professor Chang Hong from the School of Life Sciences of Sun Yat-sen University pointed out in an interview that Brazilian tortoises should never be released into the wild, and government departments should prohibit citizens from buying turtles and releasing them into the wild. It is listed as the most dangerous invasive species in the world because it plunders a lot of similar biological resources.

"Brazilian tortoise" was originally introduced for the same purpose as "Pomacea canaliculata", which has the characteristics of large size, wide feeding habits, strong adaptability, rapid growth and reproduction, high yield, strong disease resistance and high economic benefits. Since its introduction, it has been cultivated all over China. Because of its high overall fertility and high survival rate, "Brazilian tortoise" is better than any native turtle species in China in foraging and grabbing food. ! If released, it will seriously threaten the survival of native wild turtles and similar species in China, because there are basically no natural enemies and the number is huge. And as long as it is a tourist attraction suitable for survival and the people's "active release", they can basically see the shocking scene of "Brazilian turtles" all over the pond!

Although the life span of "Brazilian tortoise" is only over 20 years, as long as it reaches the breeding period, it can mate, hatch and survive smoothly. In recent years, the "Brazilian tortoise" has grown geometrically in all parts of China, occupying a large area of wild living space belonging to China native tortoise species! Therefore, people who like to release animals must remember not to buy Brazilian turtles to release them, or they will become "killing"

food

Red-eared turtle is an omnivorous turtle. He can eat very much. Try to provide them with normal and regular food. It is suggested that adult turtles do it three times a week and young turtles can do it once a day. Commodity turtle food and cat and dog food on the market are more balanced in nutrition. This turtle has a keen sense of sight and smell, so it is good at grabbing food. Under artificial feeding conditions, they like to eat animal food, such as fish, pork, animal offal, mussels, snails and blood worms (chironomid larvae), filariasis (water worms), Tenebrio molitor (breadworms), fly maggots and so on. Food should not have thorns and bones, so as not to hurt turtles. It is best to feed fresh raw meat. Cooked meat becomes hard, and turtles don't like to eat hard things. Brazilian tortoise likes shrimp best. Adult turtles or elderly Brazilian turtles will eat vegetables, rice, soft fruits and other plants when they are extremely hungry, but rarely. Young turtles basically only eat meat. The feeding time of red-eared turtle is not selective, and it is eaten day and night. In the state of hunger, there is food grabbing behavior, and there is a phenomenon of eating. Pork should not be fed too much, otherwise it is easy to suffer from white eye disease.

Breeding of young turtles

Young Brazilian tortoises can be kept in flat-bottomed containers without any difficulty. Plastic pots, plastic jars, glass jars or boxes, and aquariums are all suitable. The water should not be too deep, the depth is suitable for them to swim. The flat and shallow plastic pot with an island and a plastic coconut tree in the middle is the most unsuitable because (1) is too small. (2) The electric heater cannot be installed. (3) misleading users to use the island as a feeding place. Because the Brazilian tortoise is completely foraging in the water, the result may be that the island is full of feed, while the Brazilian tortoise is starving.

An ideal nursery must have some specific minimum elements. Each young turtle should have five liters of water, and the water depth should not exceed the length of the turtle, so that the turtle can support its feet when breathing on the water. At the same time, they must be made of bricks and stones, or buy a terrace so that turtles can bask in the sun on their backs. Floating islands are not suitable, because young turtles often can't climb up and waste energy. At present, the resin floor on the market is a good choice, and heavy wood is also a good natural land. On the other hand, we should also pay attention to islands and decorations not to become dangerous obstacles, which will jam the turtle and drown it.

The water temperature that young turtles can adapt to is about 23-28 degrees Celsius. When it is cold, the air above the container should also be heated. Adding a cover lamp to the breeding box can kill two birds with one stone. If the water temperature is still too low, you can put a heating rod in the water-the temperature can be adjusted as much as possible. If you buy a heating rod with higher heat energy (above100W) now, it will be enough to cope with a bigger sink when the Brazilian tortoise is bigger. The electric heating pipes sold in aquarium stores should be placed underwater, and it should be noted that the electric heater and power cord will not get stuck on the Brazilian turtle.

For Brazilian turtles, direct exposure to the sun is particularly important. The incubator can be placed on the balcony or windowsill. If this is not possible, young turtles should be exposed to ultraviolet rays once or twice a week for about three to five minutes each time. The ultraviolet lamp should not be too close to the Brazilian tortoise, so as to avoid injury caused by too strong light. It is best to irradiate with sunlight, but be careful not to filter out the required ultraviolet rays from the container glass. Little turtles can be kept on the balcony all summer. In order to prevent birds from taking it away, you can cover the box with a net. It is absolutely necessary to prevent the Brazilian tortoise from climbing out of the breeding box, otherwise one day you will find the "mother turtle" under the bed or in a corner. The wiring of the electric heater may even be a bridge for the Brazilian turtle to escape, because the Brazilian turtle's "climbing skills" are very clever. It doesn't matter if algae (moss) grows on the culture box, but you can't make the water in the box stink. It is very important to change the water regularly, otherwise, due to the high temperature in the water, excrement and leftover feed, young turtles will live in a pool of smelly water, which will promote the growth of germs, so change the water at least once every two days. If a filter is equipped, the frequency of water change can be reduced according to its power.

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Breeding of adult turtles

Adult turtles need a much larger incubator so that they have enough room to move. In order to create an ideal environment, a pair of adult Brazilian turtles need at least 100 liter of water. If the incubator is too small, the Brazilian tortoise will soon become fat and dull. If you fall into the water, you will drown because you can't turn over.

There are also cases where the turtle shell is stunted due to the size of the culture container. Large plastic pots, aquariums or wooden boxes covered with plastic sheets can all be used as turtle tanks. The water tank with drain hole is the most convenient, because it is easy to change water and it is often cleaned. If the cement tank is new, for the sake of caution, it can be coated with safety paint or thoroughly cleaned for many times to prevent harmful substances from seeping out of the cement and entering the animal body after dissolving in water. There must be a fixed (non-floating) land area in the sink, or it can be suspended, so that turtles can climb up easily. You can use wood, plastic plates or ready-made terraces as land, or you can put stones or sand in plastic pots and hang them in grooves as land.

Part of the land or island in the trough can be filled with soil, peat or sand, and this part will be heated up every few days. The eggs laid by female turtles in this land have the best chance to hatch, and it is best to illuminate this land with light (when it is cold). It is best not to use sand or stones to assist in the bottom of the tank, because it will increase the difficulty of changing water and cleaning. In addition to changing water frequently (changing water every day if necessary), adding filtration equipment can remove suspended solids from water. Because the dissolved substances in water have a great influence on the health of soft-shelled turtle, filtering equipment can only reduce the frequency of changing water, but can not completely replace changing water.

In order to make the water temperature in the culture tank reach the temperature that the Brazilian turtle likes, the heating rod used in the aquarium should be used, and the equipment and lines should be prevented from blocking the Brazilian turtle. An electric blanket can also be placed at the bottom outside the breeding box, and the electric blanket is padded with synthetic resin rubber as insulation material. However, the water temperature should not be higher than the outdoor temperature (about 25 to 30 degrees Celsius), so as to avoid the Brazilian tortoise catching cold. On land, turtles also need warm places, because they are warm animals, and they need sunlight to reach a proper body temperature. If there is not enough sunshine on the balcony or in the open air, the land part should be heated by lampblack machine lamps. Colored turtles raised indoors or in places with insufficient sunshine lack ultraviolet rays, so they should be irradiated with ultraviolet lamps two or three times a week for five minutes each time. This kind of lamp tube is best installed on the lid of the culture tank.

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Feeding environment

Red-eared turtles live in water most of the time and like to live in clear water. So water quality is very important. Change water every 1 ~ 3 days in summer 1 time. If the water color is brownish green or blue-green, it means that the water quality is too "fat" and all water should be changed in time. From June to September, due to the high temperature, changing water should be carried out 3 to 4 hours after feeding. In winter, turtles can change water less or not during hibernation. Turtles always grow when they are young. When you buy them, you will feel that they can be kept in a small low-priced box, but it is not uncommon to grow to a considerable size-30 cm. At this scale, they need spacious space, good filtration system and time spent on it. If you bought them because they were cheap, they weren't worth it. Because if you want to keep it well, you have to spend 100 times more money to maintain it, including containers, heaters, filters, lighting, food and your hard work. This is not an exaggeration. How much food does it take from larva to adult? This does not include their illness and the cost of running these devices. For amateurs, don't just provide equipment because it's cheap, but raise it seriously.

The integration of red-eared turtles with other turtle species such as yellow-bellied slippery turtles increases the difficulty of species identification, and they often cross with other water turtles in captivity. Red-eared turtle may be the first turtle species with color variation (such as whitening and colorization) through artificial breeding. It has the characteristics of large individual, miscellaneous eating habits and few diseases, and has great development prospects in edible, ornamental and economic utilization. Red-eared turtle is lively and active, which is more lively and active than any domestic freshwater turtle. It is sensitive to underwater sounds and vibrations, and will dive into the water once it is frightened. Red-eared turtles belong to aquatic turtles and like to live in clear ponds. At noon, when the weather is fine, they like to lie on the shore and dry their shells. The rest of the time, they float on the water to rest for grass turtles, rest for Brazilian red-eared turtles or swim in the water. The activity of red-eared turtle changes with the change of environmental temperature. The optimum temperature for hibernation is 20℃~32℃, 1 1℃, and the deep hibernation is below 6℃. According to the experience of raising this turtle in Longtouge Amphibians and Reptiles Research Institute, Haining City, Zhejiang Province, the feeding and management techniques of red-eared turtle are introduced as follows:

The breeding environment of red-eared turtles in the domestic market is almost 50 grams of young turtles. Young turtles can generally be kept in glass tanks, which are arranged in an amphibious way. Two-thirds of the tank area is water, and 1/3 is land, which can be paved with pebbles and rockeries. You can also use a piece of glass to spread sand and grass on the 1/3 area divided by the cylinder.

There is no significant difference in appearance color between men and women, but there is a great difference in weight. When the female individual weighs1000g and the male individual weighs 250g, sex identification can be conducted. The weight of female individuals can reach 65438 0000 g ~ 2000 g, the abdominal nail is flat, and there are cloacal holes at the rear edge of the dorsal nail. Male individuals weigh less than 500 grams, have long claws and a long tail. The cloacal foramen is located at the tail outside the posterior margin of the dorsal nail. The female body is wider, the tail is shorter, and the cloaca hole is close to the base of the tail; The male is narrow and long, the tail is long and thick, the cloaca hole is far from the base of the tail, and the claws are long.

Although raising red-eared turtles is omnivorous, they are partial to animal food. Under the condition of artificial feeding, the internal organs, maggots and breadworms of poultry, pigs and other animals are mainly used. Properly mix fruits, vegetables and mixed feed to enhance nutrition in the body. Vitamin E powder and antibiotics are added in spring and autumn to increase the amount of eggs conceived by turtles and enhance their physique. Daily feeding should be regular, fixed and qualitative.

The regular feeding time is fixed, generally from 10 to 14 in spring and autumn, and from 7: 00 to 9: 00 or 18 to 19 in summer. When the temperature is too high or too low, the tortoise will eat less or not.

The fixed feeding position should be fixed, which is convenient for observing the eating and activities of turtles. When feeding, healthy turtles can climb to the food table to eat. Those turtles who are slow to respond or don't eat should pay attention to observation, and those who are serious should be kept separately.

Fixed feed must be fresh and tasteless, leftovers should be washed first, and then extra tendons, skins and other things should be removed to avoid indigestion.

Disease and prevention

Etiology of white eye disease

Eye injury or poor water quality irritates the eyes, causing sick turtles to wipe their eyes with their forelimbs and get infected with bacteria. The disease is more common in red-eared turtles, soft-shelled turtles, yellow-throated soft-shelled turtles, yellow-edged soft-shelled turtles, eye-spotted soft-shelled turtles, etc., and the incidence of young turtles is higher. The onset season is spring, and autumn and spring after wintering are the epidemic peaks.

diagnose

The eyes of the sick turtle are inflamed, congested and swollen. The cornea and nasal mucosa of the eye are eroded by inflammation of the eye, the outside of the eye is covered with white secretions, and there is inflammation inside the eye. Sick turtles often wipe their eyes with their forelimbs, which makes them slow down and stop eating. In severe cases, the sick turtle becomes blind, and finally the turtle becomes thin and dies. Some sick turtles have only one eye at the beginning of the disease. If no measures are taken, symptoms will soon appear in the other eye.

prevent

1. Strengthen feeding management. Before and after overwintering, when eating, strengthen nutrition and enhance disease resistance.

2. Disinfect the utensils for feeding turtles. Glass jars and aquariums for raising turtles are soaked in 10% salt solution for 30 minutes, and then washed with clear water before raising turtles.

3. Soaking in penicillin or potassium permanganate solution is not only a preventive measure, but also an early treatment. The concentration of young turtles is 20 mg/L, and the concentration of young turtles to adults is 30 mg/L. The soaking time depends on the water temperature. If necessary, soak 1 time (40 minutes) every day for 3-5 days.

treat cordially

1, feed more animal livers.

2. Disinfect. Rivano; Also known as Rever's ears. Soak the surgical drugs in 1% water solution once a day for 40~60 seconds for 3~8 days.

3. Soak in furacilin (or furazolidone) solution. The concentration of 20 mg/L is used for turtles and 30 mg/L for young turtles. Adult turtles are like young turtles. 40 minutes each time, once a day for 3~5 days.

4. Dakening Eye Ointment.

In addition, chloramphenicol eye drops can treat white eye disease very well.

Other eye diseases

1. Eyelids can't be opened:

Etiology: Mainly caused by dry environment.

Treatment: Take a bath and increase humidity.

2. Eye swelling (eyelid swelling):

Cause: vitamin A deficiency, or contact with foreign bodies.

Treatment: 1) Wash eyes with disinfectant.

2) If vitamin A deficiency is suspected, local use or intramuscular injection of water-soluble vitamin A can be used once a week.

gastroenteritis

The cause of disease

After feeding the turtle, the environmental temperature drops suddenly or the feed is not fresh and frozen, and the water quality deteriorates, which will lead to the turtle's illness.

symptom

There is a small amount of mucus or soft stool in the feces of mild turtle, which is yellow, green or dark green, and the turtle eats less. Severe turtle excrement is watery or mucus-like, sauce-colored and blood-red. Blood can be seen when feces are smeared on white paper, and the tortoise refuses to eat. Turtles pull and float anything they eat.

treat cordially

The treatment of gastroenteritis focuses on anti-inflammation, protecting gastrointestinal mucosa and stopping diarrhea. Mild turtles can be fed berberine and oxytetracycline, and mixed with food for turtles to eat. In severe cases, directly soak in antibiotic solution for 24 hours, observe the recovery of the disease twice a day, see the turtle's reaction to food, and reduce the medicine as appropriate.

Choke water

The cause of disease

The main reason is that turtles who can't get timely rescue after suffocation have serious drowning sequelae. Because of sequelae, the muscles of the neck and limbs atrophy, and the neck atrophy is the most serious. Turtles have a strong desire to exercise after suffocation, but they often fall easily without physical support. You can't turn it back if you turn it over. This is the most serious problem! The choking turtle couldn't breathe in the water like this, and finally drowned. The drowning of normal turtles is mainly due to environmental reasons. Some turtles have short necks, so it is not easy to turn them over in a glass jar (shallow water) and cause drowning.

symptom

Similar to "die unsatisfied", the pupils are dilated, and there is no response when touching the turtle's sensitive eyes or pinching its limbs. The head and neck of the limbs droop without any reaction, but the muscles are not stiff. If it is already hard, it is dead.

prevent

This is especially important for choking turtles. The water depth must be greater than the body width or slightly less than the water, and the land cannot be connected with the inner wall of the container.

succour

Just like choking first aid, turn the turtle upside down, head down and feet up. It's best to open its mouth (easily) and gently press its limbs rhythmically to see that there is liquid flowing out of its nose and mouth. Place the turtle for another minute or two (in the process of placing, lift the turtle neck flush with the bellybutton and put something under it), then pick up the turtle neck and gently press it until mucus flows out of the turtle's nose, indicating that most of the water in the lungs has been squeezed out, and the rest is bound water. The process usually takes more than half an hour, and the tortoise may have been saved in the process. Pay attention to its reaction, usually with its mouth open. You can do activities for a few days afterwards.