In Michigan, baby turtles even eat plants. They usually do this when there is no food or in summer. When they mature, they will become omnivores and pose no threat to the number of fish. Fishermen praised their fishing ability, ie lured their prey with their tongues. Small fish are usually the food source of small turtles. They eat almost anything. They mainly eat fish and dead fish, invertebrates, carrion and amphibians, as well as snakes or other turtles and birds. The snapping turtle eats all kinds of meat, including beef, chicken and pork, but it must be lured to eat first. Adult snapping turtles have also hunted small crocodiles. Normal living at 2℃~38℃, normal overwintering above 1℃, shallow hibernation below 12℃, deep hibernation at 6℃, a little activity at 15℃~ 17℃, and normal feeding at 18℃.
The basic habits of big snapping turtles and small snapping turtles are similar. Usually it is not easy to fight in water, but it can be rushed and bitten on land. Fingers and toes are webbed, aquatic, inhabiting deep rivers, lakes and bogs, and occasionally touching salt water areas. Crocodile turtles have good adaptability to shallow water and deep water under artificial breeding conditions, but they should be given shallow water environment because of their poor swimming ability in larval stage. Crocodile turtles are carnivorous, feeding on fish, shrimp, frogs, salamanders, small snakes, ducks, waterfowl, aquatic plants and fruit drop. Like night activities and food intake. The reproductive habits of big snapping turtles and small snapping turtles are not exactly the same. The mating period of American snapping turtle is 4- 1 1 month, and there is ovulation. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China, the spawning period is from May to August (the spawning time can be advanced and extended in high temperature areas), and generally, every spawning is 15-40. The actual situation changes according to the size and development degree of the mother turtle, which can be seen in the breeding season. /kloc-0 spawns many times a year. I have seen 9 kg parents lay 1 10 eggs a year, all of which are fertilized and hatched. The mating period of American crocodiles is February-April, and the spawning period is April-June, with each spawning10-52. Under natural conditions, the incubation period of the eggs of the big snapping turtle and the small snapping turtle is 9~ 18 weeks, and it will be longer when the weather is cold and dry. Artificial temperature control can shorten the incubation period of snapping turtle eggs, and snapping turtles can hatch after 60 days at 32℃. Crocodile turtles can breed successfully in China only in North America, but most crocodiles and real crocodiles are imported from abroad, and few breeders can breed in China. Crocodile turtle is the best among many turtle species in the world, and is famous for its highest meat production rate (85% ~ 89%). Its meat is tender and crisp, and its nutritional value far exceeds that of pig, beef and mutton. It is full of treasures, and its meat, liver, gallbladder, blood and bones have many medicinal and health-care functions. Soft and smooth leather can be used to make expensive leather handbags and wallets. Therefore, it will be promising to actively develop crocodile turtle breeding. The highest price per kilogram of snapping turtle is 800 yuan ~ 1000 yuan, which is not available at present.
Crocodile turtles are favored by turtle lovers in China because of their domineering appearance, so they are kept as pets. They don't like to bite people compared with snapping turtles, but they bite people when threatened, and they can easily bite their fingers.
In some states in the United States that are not naturally distributed, such as California, breeding is generally prohibited. Many people abandon this fierce pet in the pool or river because they don't want to keep it anymore. Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan Province, August 20 12, when the school was cleaning up the mud in Chung Hsing Lake, it found two snapping turtles released before 2002. Because of the rich food in the lake, the snapping turtle grows to half a meter long and weighs 20 kilograms. These practices will bring harm to the original species in the release area and must not be released. First of all, it should be emphasized that the snapping turtle is a very timid animal, so don't be fooled by its fierce appearance. The big snapping turtle just bought should be placed in a quiet and dark place, so that it can adapt to the surrounding environment for a period of time. Special attention should be paid to avoiding vibration as much as possible. Crocodile turtles are particularly sensitive to vibration.
It's normal for newly arrived snapping turtles not to eat. Most turtles must eat first. Crocodile turtles must eat live fish and loach. When you see it open its mouth and start fishing, it succeeds. But you feed raw meat when you come up, as if no snapping turtle would eat it. Crocodile turtles that have been kept for 1 1 year have never seen any eating raw meat from the beginning. Although snapping turtles are deep-water turtles, they need to bask in the sun at the same time, which will have a great effect on the absorption of nutrients in their shells. It is a kind of deep-water turtle, which moves in the water by crawling and is not good at swimming. So the water can't be too deep, too deep will drown. The water depth is generally two to three times the height of its shell. The water temperature is around 28 degrees, which is the most suitable temperature for its growth. Also, the big snapping turtle itself is inactive. That's it, normal. If you have ever raised a dead leaf turtle, you will find that it is lazier than a crocodile turtle. In addition, it is impossible to judge the age by the length of its carapace. Its growth rate depends entirely on how much and how long it is fed. So its growth is not completely proportional to time.
In order to adapt to the consumption trend of people's preference for green food, the new green breeding technology of snapping turtles is introduced as follows:
Guichi construction
Choose a quiet place with convenient water source, no pollution and convenient transportation to build the pool. Its shape is suitable for cement plastering ponds with rectangular arc angles in the east-west direction or earth ponds with the same shape but with external escape walls, and each pond covers an area of tens to hundreds of square meters; Pool depth 1.2m ~ 1.5m, water depth 30cm ~ 80cm. The slope of the bottom of the pond is 10 ~ 16 from north to south, and the lowest part is provided with a drainage pipe with an escape prevention net cover; The pool angle is smooth and arc-shaped, and it is covered with an escape prevention plate; There is an escape wall around Guitang, which is 1 m high. A door is left on one side of the wall, and an escape prevention plate (T-shaped escape prevention wall) can be added on the top of the wall. A jack with a diameter of 2 cm ~ 3 cm should be set at the top of the peripheral escape wall every 0.6 m or so. Several overflow holes are reserved on the highest water level line of the outdoor cement pool wall. There are alkaline substances in the newly-built cement pool. The wall and bottom of the pond can be scrubbed with 10% glacial acetic acid, and then soaked with water for 1 ~ 2 days. After release, the alkali can be eliminated again in the same way, and then washed with clean water and injected with new water. Before raising soft-shelled turtles, the whole pond was sprayed with15×10-6 ~ 20×10-6 bleaching powder or 1× 10-6 "strong chlorine essence" for disinfection, and it could be released after two days.
In order to prevent heatstroke, increase shelter and purify water quality, plants such as water peanuts and water hyacinths should be planted in the pool, and the area should not exceed1/4 ~1/3 of the total area of the pool; You can also set up scaffolding and use climbing plants to shade the sun to form an artificial bionic green environment.
In addition to the above general conditions, it is an important measure to artificially create the best growth temperature for snapping turtles. At low temperature, the water (gas) of the smokeless boiler is heated to keep the turtle pond water at about 30℃ and the air temperature at about 365438 0℃; Using automatic temperature controller and electric heating device can also realize constant temperature intensified feeding.
Turtle culture
Adopting high-density green culture is a new technology to obtain high benefits, and it is also an inevitable trend of turtle industry development. Its initial stocking density (about 200g/ animal) is 24 ~ 27 animals /m2, and it should be about 5kg/m2 by weight. But with the rapid growth of snapping turtles, attention should be paid to reducing the density in time. When the average specification reaches 350g/piece to 400g/piece, it should be reduced to 20 pieces/square meter to 22 pieces/square meter; When the average scale reaches 500g/ head, it can be stocked at 15 heads /m2 ~ 17 heads /m2; 600g/ piece, stocking at 12 pieces /m2 ~ 14 pieces /m2; 700g/ hour should be 10 /m2 ~ 12/m2; 800g/ hour is 8-9 pieces /m2.
Feed feeding
It is suggested that snapping turtles use SDG special green compound feed (protein content is above 48%). During preparation, the ingredients are weighed on site, and 5% ~ 10% photosynthetic bacteria and 45% clear water are added to make long particles with a particle size of 2 mm ~ 3 mm If possible, it can be made into floating puffed granular feed with better effect.
The feeding amount of compound feed is 1.5% ~ 2.5% of the total weight of snapping turtles, and 5% ~ 10% of fresh feed. Feed it three times a day at 6: 00 ~ 7: 00, 12 ~ 13, 17 ~ 18 respectively. Feed more evenly and try to make the feed make a sound when it enters the water. Don't concentrate on one place and cause piles of feed. The number of feed tables in each pool should be determined according to the size of the pool, generally 3 ~ 4 per square meter.
Water quality regulation
In view of the large intake and excreta of soft-shelled turtle and the high water temperature under the condition of intensive high-density culture, even if the feed is green, it will pollute the water body faster, and it is easy to produce more harmful substances, especially H2S, which is more harmful. By spraying and applying photosynthetic bacteria at the bottom, water quality can be effectively improved and harmful substances can be reduced. Every time the new pond is filled with water, photosynthetic bacteria are applied simultaneously:10×10-6 ~15×10-6; Changing water is also an effective way to adjust water quality. The water depth of about 20 cm can be changed once a day, and the water depth of 30 cm can be changed once every two days. Don't change the water for a few days, and don't let it stink. Sprinkle quicklime once every 7 days to 10, and the concentration is 70× 10-6. Pay attention to cross application with photosynthetic bacteria, not at the same time.
Water temperature regulation
The scientific control of water temperature directly affects the weight gain and survival rate of adult turtle culture. Under the condition of 65,438+08℃ ~ 20℃, the long-term growth rate of snapping turtle is several times slower than the optimum growth water temperature of 30℃ ~ 365,438+0℃. Therefore, the water temperature for raising soft-shelled turtle must be kept between 30℃ and 365438 0℃. On the other hand, when the turtle pond that is changing water or exposed to the outside encounters bad weather such as heavy rain or sudden change of temperature, preventive measures should be taken in time to avoid water temperature fluctuation greater than 2℃ as far as possible.
disease control
Crocodile turtles are generally mild, but they are prone to indigestion under high-density culture conditions. Sick turtles can be fed with drug bait containing multi-enzyme tablets (2 tablets per kilogram of turtles). Traumatic diseases can be disinfected with iodine tincture cotton wool and cured in 2 ~ 4 days after applying Xiaoyan Shengji ointment.
Breeding of young turtles
After the umbilical cord converges, the newly hatched young turtles are disinfected with 10% salt water, put into a container with a water temperature of 25-30, and change the water three times a day. After three days, you can feed the mixture of cooked eggs and cooked millet. Feed chopped small fish, snails, mussels, animal offal and leftovers for about 50 days. After 90 days, it can be transferred to the cement pool for breeding.
Adult turtle reproduction
Adult turtles mainly feed on small fish, snails, mussels, animal offal and scraps, supplemented by some softened wheat, broken corn, vegetables and aquatic plants. Vitamins, trace elements and calcium should also be properly supplemented. Every morning 10, feed at 5 pm, change water 1 time in spring and autumn for 7 days, and change water 1 time in summer for 3 days. After the end of 10, enter the hibernation period.
Generally, the annual growth rate is 500-1000g. The annual weight gain in winter is as high as 700- 1400g. It can be sold to1000g, with amazing benefits. Raising 10- 12 animals on a small scale can gain about 5- 10 kg a year, and at least make a profit of 5000- 10000 yuan, with considerable benefits.