Efficient artificial culture technology of crocodile tortoise

Abstract: crocodile turtle efficient artificial culture technology, crocodile turtle has the characteristics of fast growth and delicious meat, the meat content is the highest among similar turtles, and its meat-to-bone ratio is as high as 85%. It is an omnivorous animal, mainly animal food, but also eat vegetables and other miscellaneous grains, so some pellet feed can also be used in the breeding process.

Crocodile turtles, also known as meat turtles, can weigh up to 511 kilograms. He is gentle and does not take the initiative to hurt others. Crocodile turtles are native to America. Under the condition of artificial breeding, the average annual weight gain can reach 1000 grams, and the meat yield is high, which is twice that of ordinary turtles. Crocodile tortoise is a new species introduced in the past two years. Through the introduction in recent years, the breeding of seedlings, the breeding of adult turtles and the cultivation of parent turtles have broken through the technology of artificial culture. Crocodile turtles are more suitable for intensive farming, but also suitable for family-style farmers, is a good variety for farmers to get rich.

Crocodile turtles have the characteristics of fast growth and delicious meat, and the meat content is the highest among similar turtles, with a meat-to-bone ratio as high as 85%. It is an omnivorous animal, mainly animal food, but also eat vegetables and other miscellaneous grains, so some pellet feed can also be used in the breeding process. Crocodile tortoise muscle contains a large number of essential amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids, so its nutritional value is very high. Its market price is 4-5 times that of soft-shelled turtle. One kilogram of crocodile tortoise can be sold for about 300 to 400 yuan on the market. The economic benefit is remarkable.

Biological characteristics

1. Morphological features: the crocodile turtle looks like a crocodile, its head is triangular, it cannot be completely retracted into the shell, the mouth is split up to the back of the eyes, the snout is pointed, the eyes are round and bright, the adults are mostly brown (larval black), and the back is divided into multiple mound-shaped, unit prismatic, and radial stripes outward from the top of the ridge. The posterior edge of the dorsal nail is serrated. The abdominal nail is small and light yellow, with cross stripes in the middle, the limbs are fat and stout, can not be completely shrunk into the shell, the claw band groove is long, the intertoe is webbed, the tail is long and pointed, and there is a spinous process on it.

2, living habits: aquatic turtles, like to live in fresh water, often in the water sediment and weeds, in the wild in winter often dig holes to live in groups, like quiet, once alarmed will run away, when found that can not escape will turn to attack the enemy. The survival temperature is 3: 45 ℃, active frequently at 20: 35 ℃, optimum growth at 28-31 ℃, decreased activity at 15-17 ℃, hibernation below 10 ℃, deep hibernation below 5 ℃.

3. Growth characteristics: the growth rate of crocodile turtles is much faster than that of ordinary turtles. According to the experimental observation, the body weight of newly hatched young turtles can reach 250kg 500g after 5 months, and that of 500g turtles released in spring can reach 2000 grams at the end of autumn. In southern China, warming measures can be taken in winter to promote their continued growth, the annual weight gain is even greater. It can be raised at natural temperature in the south of China. In the north of China, it can be raised in the greenhouse, and the heat preservation measures can be taken in winter to keep the water temperature at the left side of 28-31 ℃, such as geothermal water, in order to improve the growth rate of crocodile turtles and increase economic benefits.

4. Breeding habits: crocodile turtles can sexually mature and lay eggs in the third year under artificial breeding conditions. Except for the hibernating period, it can mate under moderate temperature all year round. The peak spawning period is from May to August. Female turtles often lay eggs at night and can lay eggs during the day in cloudy and rainy weather. Before spawning, the female turtle goes ashore, looks for a suitable location to dig the hole, digs the hole and lays the eggs into it. After laying eggs, the female turtle covers the hole mouth and flattens it with claws. The whole process can last 2-3 hours or even longer. A female turtle lays several eggs a year, ranging from dozens to about 30 on average. The number of eggs laid is determined by the size of the female tortoise.

Culture techniques of crocodile turtles

1. Turtle pond construction

The turtle farm should be built in a place with good water source, quiet environment and convenient transportation. the main body of the turtle pond includes the turtle pond itself, food table, land, inlet and drainage system, overflow, etc., in which the land is mainly used as a place to rest with the tortoise. in the land part of the parent turtle pond, it is used to build spawning grounds.

The turtle pond is made of brick and cement, and the inside of the pond is polished with cement paste to prevent the tortoise's skin from being scraped. It is generally a rectangle that is long from east to west and wide from north to south, and it can also be made into a circle. Size according to local conditions, the depth of 50~80cm, the deepest do not exceed 120cm. The perimeter of the pool is made into the anti-escape side of 8~10cm, also known as Calendering.

The rectangular pool bottom is set into a high and low inclination slope, and the circular pool bottom is set into a pot bottom shape, which is convenient for sewage discharge. In fact, the underwater part is also called the slope, and the water part is the food table. If it is a turtle pond, the water part of the table also has the function of guiding the turtle to climb to the spawning ground. It is reasonable for the table to be set on the north side of the turtle pond facing south. The width of the table is about 2m and the length is 80% of the length of the pool. The spawning ground is 2cm wide and the length is the same as that of the food table, and the spawning ground is filled with 20~30cm deep sand. A rain shelter is built above the spawning ground to help turtles lay eggs on rainy days. The diameter of the inlet and drain pipe is at least 10cm, in order to speed up the speed of inlet and drainage and facilitate the discharge of sewage, it should be noted that the outlet must be located under or near the table, because there is the most dirt near the table, and turtles like to discharge near the table after eating. The overflow outlet is arranged at the highest water level above the wall of the turtle pond to facilitate the discharge of organic suspended matter and flood discharge during the rainstorm season. After the turtle pond is completed, it should be soaked in clean water repeatedly for at least 1 week to remove alkalinity. Then disinfect it with 150ppm quicklime and put it in fresh water before stocking.

2. Crocodile turtles breed

① parent tortoise selection: parent turtles generally choose wild original species, require health, no trauma and internal injury, age more than 5 years, specification 2.5kg or above, preferably 4~5kg. If you use farmed crocodile turtles to breed, you must choose healthy turtles over 4 years old and specifications above 6kg as breeding turtles. Whether the pregnant condition of sexually mature female parent turtles is good or not can be examined by eye observation, hand touch, light penetration and other methods. Male parent turtles are lively and active. Both female and male turtles should move quickly and gently touch their heads. Crocodile turtles should immediately open their mouths and shout, showing their ferocious nature. The retraction of the legs and feet of the parent tortoise by hand is a strong indication of a better physique. Carefully observe whether the head and neck of the turtle is flexible, check whether the neck is swollen, open your mouth to see if there are fish hooks in the throat tube, and use a metal detector to check whether there are fish hooks inside the tortoise body. The male-to-female ratio depends on the size of the tortoise. Take wild turtles as an example, the general size of small 2.5kg parent turtles is 2:1, medium-sized 4kg parent turtles is appropriate at 3:1, and larger parent turtles with 5kg or above can be proportioned at 4:1.

② parent turtle cultivation: in order to promote the gonadal development of parent turtles, keep the environment quiet, have good water quality, discharge sewage and add new water in time, carry out necessary disinfection of turtle ponds, parent turtles and water, and use microecological agents to make beneficial bacteria dominate, disinfectants and microecological preparations can not be used at the same time. Commonly used drugs are quicklime, chlorine dioxide, PVP-I, norfloxacin, anrofloxacin, etc. The commonly used microecological agents are photosynthetic bacteria, EM and so on. Use fresh animal bait, such as miscellaneous fish, shrimp, snail clam, earthworms, etc., to avoid feeding spoiled bait. Animal bait can be soaked and disinfected with salt. If they are wild parent turtles, the feeding time is mainly at night, accounting for 70% of the daily feeding, and the remaining 30% is released in the morning and gradually domesticated into daytime feeding, if not domesticated, but only to increase the work at night. Farmed parent turtles can be fed once in the morning and once in the afternoon, 40% of the diet in the morning and 60% in the afternoon. Parent turtles have higher nutritional requirements for feed, vitamins and minerals can be added to the feed by injecting the supplementary nutrient solution into the bait fish, and green additives conducive to the gonadal development of parent turtles can be used. such as traditional Chinese medicine, enzyme preparation, bioactive chromium, microecological preparation.