Hello everyone, I'm climbing. Click [Follow] at the top right to see more wonderful articles and videos, your attention and likes are my biggest motivation! Side-necked turtles, many friends who have been in the turtle circle for a while are not strangers. Generally when we mention turtles, the first reaction is a thick shell, when encountering danger, the head, neck, limbs will all be shrunk into the shell, "shrunken head turtle" is the most common way to describe their behavior. In the turtle world, there is a group with a very hard neck, although there are also shells, but they do not shrink the neck into the shell, but bend the side of the head shell, as if suffering from cervical spondylosis, this type of turtle is often called side-necked turtles. The round turtle we introduced in the last issue of the article is a member of the side-necked turtle family, and the protagonist we are going to talk about today is another member of this type of turtle - the swamp side-necked turtle.
Variety introduction
Swamp side-necked turtles (subrufa) are family of side-necked turtles that belong to a small, semi-aquatic turtle that usually live in ponds where water has accumulated. The body color is gray, and the adult body length can reach about 30 cm. Swamp side neck turtle, because of its cute, cute and good interaction, has captured the hearts of countless turtle lovers, especially young sisters (also known as the essential turtle species of Miss Bai Fumei), and many turtle lovers will collect a swamp side neck turtle to swim in the tank. Swamp is flatter than its cousin West African side-necked turtle, the swamp color is darker, the overall color is in a dark and shallow pattern, as if with an eye mask, coupled with a smiling face, this cute shape is like a very cute Cartoon Zorro or Batman. If you simply think it's just silly, you'd be wrong; I believe many people have seen a video that a small turtle scares off a lion drinking water by the river. And this little turtle hanging from the sky is the swamp side neck turtle.
Old fashion, we must first understand its native environment before raising turtles, so that we can better set up the feeding environment for turtles and turtles and raise healthy turtle pets. The swamp side-necked turtle is the most widely distributed freshwater turtle in Africa, and its distribution in Africa can be compared with the distribution range of grass turtles on the mainland, and they can be seen in the vast African land, almost all sub-Saharan areas, from the Somali Peninsula in the east to the African country of Liberia in the west, to Cape Town in South Africa in the south, and to the western and southern parts of madagascar. (The red part in the picture below is the distribution range of the swamp side neck turtle) So is the swamp side neck turtle good or not? Can it be raised in deep water? Do you want to sunbathe? And so on these questions I will combine my breeding experience to introduce in detail for you.
1. Water temperature
Their distribution range is so large, which also reflects their strong adaptability and belongs to the turtle species that is very well kept. But that doesn't mean it can hibernate like hardy turtles like grass turtles and musk turtles. Due to the unique geographical location and climate of the African continent, the local temperature is generally higher, most of the area belongs to the tropical climate, and the swamp side-necked turtle that survives in this environment belongs to the typical tropical turtle species, which must belong to the turtle family that holds the warming rod for winter in the mainland, at best, it can only be said that the swamp side-necked turtle is more tolerant of temperature than the West African side-necked turtle (I will be more detailed in a future article) or the round-necked turtle; For example, the suitable temperature for the West African side-necked turtle is around 26 to 31 degrees, while the temperature range for the swamp side-necked turtle is between 20 degrees and 30 degrees. Therefore, for our family-reared players, the water temperature is best maintained above 20 degrees, and it is recommended to maintain the water temperature at about 27 degrees for the sake of safety and to improve their interaction.
2. Water quality
Turtle raising with old water, this is the iron law of turtle raising, tap water needs to be dried for 2-3 days before being used by turtles and turtles. For the maintenance of water quality, it is possible to place enough filter media in the filter box, and it can also be combined with the bottom sand according to preference. In addition, the higher the water temperature, the faster the tortoise's metabolism, while also considering the turtle's feeding density, so reducing the feeding density, proper control of feeding volume and feeding frequency is the key to ensuring water quality. I personally now use a 35 square tank with a swamp side neck turtle and a round Australian side neck turtle, which is fed every two days. At present, there is no problem with the clear water quality.
3. Feeding
Swamp side-necked turtles are omnivorous turtles, and almost all the fish and shrimp snails in the water are its plate, and they also eat some green leafy vegetables. From personal experience, swamp side-necked turtles have a greater desire for meat than West African side-necked turtles. I will feed them some live small fish and shrimp at the same time as providing them with daily turtle food; One is to supplement it with nutrients. The second is to see it prey in the tank to decompress in particular.
4. Water depth
The swamp body is flatter than its cousin, the West African side-necked turtle, which is designed to increase the speed of swimming to prey on prey in the water. In addition, the ventral carapace ligament of the swamp side neck turtle cannot be moved, resulting in it not completing a certain degree of closed shell action like the West African side neck turtle, which also reflects that the water nature of the swamp side neck turtle is very good, which is an excellent choice for friends who want to raise turtles in deep water. If you start with seedlings, it is recommended to start with shallow water, and then increase the water level little by little to provide a foothold.
5. Hair color
In fact, the hair color of the swamp side neck turtle does not need to be as big as the red face, and it does not make much sense to feed the hair color food. If you want to raise a swamp side-necked turtle with a light shell, you can raise it in a white environment, and if you want to be dark, you can raise it in a black environment, there is nothing special. However, in order to cultivate a black-and-white "masked Zorro", in addition to genetic and dietary balance, light is essential. Swamp side-necked turtles belong to turtles that are very dependent on light, so friends with conditions try to provide them with sufficient sunshine. I now feed on the balcony, and there is plenty of light, but due to the concern about the temperature difference, except for the water tanning table provided in the middle of summer, most of the time the sundeck is not exposed to the water.
At present, the breeding of swamp side-necked turtles in the mainland is very mature, and more and more people are starting to raise this cute swamp turtle, and the lifespan of artificial breeding is about 20 years, which is not too long. Some turtle friends say that the adult body of the swamp side neck turtle is not good-looking, and it is necessary to make room when it grows up. I personally think that the appearance retention of the swamp side neck turtle is already good compared to yuan'ao, as for the body shape, the appropriate amount of control over the amount and frequency of feeding, can delay a day is a day, and finally can also raise a suitable size of adults, and the length of 20-30cm is acceptable, it is better than raising crocodile turtles to save places. This content is created by me personally, without permission, can not be reprinted, the original is not easy, please raise your hand, a little attention, a little like!