Prevent money turtles from laying sand shell eggs and soft shell eggs

Money turtles mate and fertilize from March to April every year, and lay eggs and hatch from May to July. A sexually mature female turtle lays 9 eggs per year, while the money tortoise lays less eggs in turtles. Improper feeding and management or affected by other factors will also cause some money turtles to lay two or even a whole litter of sand shell eggs (the surface of the eggshell is sandy, not smooth) or soft shell eggs, affecting the hatching rate and causing certain economic losses to the breeding of money turtles.

1 causes the money tortoise to lay sand shell eggs or soft shell eggs

A) lack of minerals that produce eggshells in the feed, mainly calcium, or lack of vitamin D, which makes it difficult for the turtle to absorb enough calcium.

B) aging of turtles. At present, most of the female money turtles are mountain turtles caught in deep mountains and forests. This kind of tortoise usually lays eggs in nature for more than a decade or even decades. Because the eggs have been laid for a long time, resulting in the decline of egg gland function, they lay sand shell eggs or soft shell eggs. According to the author's observation, the female turtles that caused the decline of eggshell gland function were all over 30 years old. from the appearance, the growth rings on the back of the turtles were very dense, the movement was slow, and the food intake was less. And there has been an abnormal history of laying eggs in the past.

C) the egg shell secretory gland can not secrete calcium normally due to the inflammation of the fallopian tube of the female turtle.

D) soft shell eggs are laid due to the contraction of female turtles' fallopian tubes caused by strong external stimulation, resulting in the incomplete formation of eggshells.

2 prevention and control measures

A) timely supplement of calcium and vitamin D, some calcium-rich foods can be added to the turtle feed, such as shrimp shell powder, shell powder, egg shell powder, etc.; at the same time, vitamin D should be often added to the turtle feed to improve the calcium absorption rate of female turtles; you can also feed some feed with high vitamin D content, such as animal liver.

B) female turtles whose breeding age is too old should be eliminated.

C) the female turtles with tubal inflammation can be fed with compound sulfamethoxazole tablets, the dosage of each female turtle is 0.25g for 3 days as a course of treatment. Or one-time injection of gentamicin and vitamin B, the injection volume is 1 stroke 5 of the human dosage, and the continuous use of 3 days is a course of treatment. In addition, it can also be treated with Chinese herbal medicine. The method is to take honeysuckle, Phellodendron Phellodendri, licorice and other parts to bake and grind the end. Each female turtle should be mixed into the feed with a dosage of 2g for 3 days as a course of treatment.

D) keep the turtle pond quiet to prevent the female turtles from being frightened, especially do not easily move the female turtles before laying eggs, let alone long-distance transportation. In order to reduce the stress reaction of female turtles to the environment, a certain amount of vitamin C and a small amount of vitamin E can be added to the feed of female turtles. Some diets with high vitamin C content, such as bananas, pingguo, etc., as well as a certain amount of wheat husk and corn meal can be fed properly to facilitate the intake of vitamin E by female turtles.