Techniques of raising tortoises in orchards

Raising tortoises in orchards is a good way to make full use of the ecological space of animals and plants and improve the economic benefits per unit area. it can save the cost of raising tortoises, reduce fruit forest pests, and improve land utilization.

I. Construction of breeding facilities

(1) build an anti-escape wall. Build a low wall around the orchard, the wall foundation is about 20 cm deep underground, to prevent the turtle from burrowing, the low wall is 60 cm high above the ground, and the corner is made into a circle, which can effectively prevent the turtle from escaping.

(2) build a protective house. In the middle or four corners of the garden, several small houses are designed and built according to the number of turtles. When spraying toxic pesticides to control insects in the orchard, all the turtles can be moved indoors to avoid poisoning, and the turtles will be released after 1-3 days. The selection of pesticides with high efficiency, low toxicity and low residue can also prevent turtle poisoning. In winter, the turtles can be moved indoors for the winter, covered with dry weeds and moisturized with a little water regularly. It is colder in the north, so it should be covered with plastic film, or it can be moved into the basement to survive the winter. In addition, a few more Arbor will be built to help turtles stay in the summer.

II. Selection of turtle varieties

At present, tortoises can be raised in all conventional orchards in our country, but it is best to choose drought-tolerant species, such as golden-headed tortoises, sawedge tortoises, elephant turtles, ground turtles, yellow box turtles, and so on. These turtles have strong drought tolerance and can grow normally without going into the water for months. Such as the choice of semi-dry turtles, colorful turtles, etc., but in advance to dig a few ditches or small pools in the garden for their bath and habitat. The stocking density should be sparse. Generally, 200 tortoises or two-year-old turtles are placed in every 0.067 hectares of orchard for commercial production.

III. Feed delivery

At night, several electric lights are hung in the orchard to lure insects to the lamp, which can lead the harmful insects in the orchard busy laying eggs to the light and allow the turtles to hunt. It can not only reduce the harm of orchard pests, but also reduce the number of times of pesticide application in orchards and save pesticide costs, but also reduce the artificial feed input of turtles by 30% to 50%, because insects belong to high-grade high-protein feed, thus saving feed costs and killing two birds with one stone.

In case of overcast and rainy days or early spring or early winter, the amount of insects trapped can be fed with artificial feed that accounts for 3% or 4% of the tortoise's body weight every day. If the fine weather and summer, attract a large number of insects, can reduce the amount of artificial feed, generally can invest 1% to 3% of the tortoise body weight. It also depends on the number of insects attracted that night, and so on the next morning depends on the situation to replenish some feed.

IV. Prevention and control of diseases

As the tortoise has a large range of activities under the fruit forest, it is rare to get sick, but it should still be mainly for prevention. The turtles are disinfected together once a month and can be showered with 2000 times bleach solution. Gastroenteritis is occasionally seen in summer and autumn, which can be treated with norfloxacin. Young turtles should prevent attacks such as voles, weasels, snakes and eagles.