Chinese Golden Turtle (detailed introduction)

       Breeding Chinese golden turtles can be considered a risky investment. Once they get sick, it is believed to be a troublesome issue for many breeders. Therefore, how to prevent Chinese golden turtles from getting sick is a concern for many breeders. Actually, the most important thing to keep pet turtles in good health is to ensure their living environment is suitable.

       In fact, turtles are like humans. When sick, medicine is used. When medicine is used frequently, the bacteria develop drug resistance, requiring higher doses next time. Since medicines have a certain toxicity, such repeated use causes a large accumulation of chemical toxins in the turtle’s body, which leads to deteriorating health.

       So, food therapy is better than medicinal therapy. As long as the Chinese golden turtles are provided with sufficient and balanced nutrition regularly, their immunity will be greatly strengthened, killing many pathogens at the early invasion stage through active antibodies in their bodies. As for how to reasonably arrange the Chinese golden turtle’s diet, the following points should be noted:

       1. The main diet should be fish, shrimp, bananas, grapes, and occasionally snail meat, earthworms, and mealworms can be fed.

       2. Before feeding shrimp, remove the sharp spines on the shrimp head and feed whole with the shell to enhance calcium and provide abundant vitamins. If feeding dried shrimp, soak them in water before feeding to avoid intestinal diseases.

       3. Feed less lean meat, beef, and animal offal, as they are high in fats and proteins.

       Although food therapy is better than treatment, the turtle needs to have an appetite first. At this point, a high-quality rearing environment is necessary. So, good eating depends on a good environment:

       1. Water quality must be good. To ensure good water quality, a feeding platform can be added to the turtle pond. But since turtles tend to drag food into the water while eating, contaminating it, the pond water needs to be replaced regularly.

       2. The environment should avoid noise. Turtles are naturally timid. Once disturbed by noise, they hide and stop eating. Long-term noise exposure can affect their nervous and auditory systems.

       3. Temperature should be appropriate. Keep the temperature between 20°C-30°C for active turtles. If below this range, use a thermostat to warm the pond or arrange for turtles’ hibernation. If above this range, install sprinkler coolers in the breeding area.

       4. Lighting should be sufficient. The turtle pond’s lighting should be reasonable. Build a transparent organic greenhouse to allow sunlight through while filtering part of the heat and UV rays to make the lighting mild. Growing plants beside the pond can also block some sunlight and create a simulated natural environment, achieving two goals at once.

       5. Cleanliness and disinfection should be timely. Sometimes when one turtle is sick, the entire pond water can be contaminated. Even after water replacement, bacteria remain on the pond bottom and walls. We can disinfect the pond weekly using 10% povidone-iodine. During daily breeding, herbal agents like allicin and gallnut can be added to the water to prevent various bacteria and reduce the negative impacts of chemical drugs on turtle growth.

       6. Suitable breeding density. At high density (more than 10 adult turtles per square meter), Chinese golden turtles often chase and bite each other for food, which easily causes limb and tail injuries. Without timely treatment, these wounds can get infected by bacteria and, in severe cases, spread disease to the entire pond population.

       With a good environment and proper diet, disease in Chinese golden turtles is only an occasional occurrence. However, it is also important to know some basic treatments to care for your turtles when they get sick, for emergencies.