Winter heating and hibernation analysis (2) hibernation

Judging hibernating turtles according to the region There is more discussion about whether turtles can hibernate some species, if a certain turtle can hibernate in the right way, it can not only save electricity bills and various additional labor costs of winter care, but also reduce the risk of pneumonia, enteritis, heating equipment failure caused by heating, and also benefit the development of turtle gonads. To determine whether a turtle can hibernate, we should first analyze the climate of its origin area and origin. Geography is still very useful. For example:

1. Turtle species that are distributed north of the Tropic of Cancer or south of the Tropic of Cancer are undoubtedly 100% possible to hibernate at 4 to 15 degrees Celsius.

2. The distribution area north is not more than 10 degrees north latitude, south is not more than 10 degrees south latitude, that is, pure tropical turtles, the possibility of hibernation is unlikely, heating is the safest, of course, some varieties have strong tolerance can be no less than 15 degrees Celsius environment hibernation, but need to be verified by practice.

3. There are also more controversial varieties distributed in the gray area from the Tropic of Cancer to 10 degrees north latitude and the Tropic of Cancer to 10 degrees south latitude. Although it is tropical, there will still be months below 18 degrees or even 15 degrees in a year, such as Hainan Island in China. Most of these ground-based tortoises can hibernate at 10 to 15 degrees. To ensure that nothing goes wrong, it is possible to conduct further investigations into the changes in the average annual temperature of the production area.

Attempts at tropical turtle hibernation are gradual.

1. Prefer healthy and strong individuals, and clean the intestines must be thorough! Many failure cases and controversies are that the intestines are not completely cleaned, rotten skin and enteritis occur during hibernation, and hunger strikes violently after sleep.

2. The temperature in the first year is controlled at 15 to 18 degrees Celsius, and 3 months of unharmed can be increased to 5 months.

3. The temperature control in the second year is not less than 10 degrees Celsius, about 15 degrees Celsius, and 3 months is appropriate. No more problems can normalize hibernation. The hibernation temperature of tropical turtles is recommended to be no less than 10 degrees Celsius.

2 Hibernating turtles according to the species The following examples are the more controversial turtle species that I can hibernate after practice (bar, grass, flower, throat, crocodile, etc. will not be repeated):

1. Water turtles

1. Diamond turtle, I practice the northern small flower diamond can hibernate normally, in fact, in theory, the entire diamond turtle genus should be able to hibernate.

2. Red-faced mud turtle, 1-year-old red-faced egg turtle can hibernate at 10 to 15 degrees, and the seedlings have not yet tried. In theory, mud turtles such as the nearby white-lipped can also hibernate.

3. African side-necked turtles, East African or West African side necks of 5 cm larvae with dorsal carapace can hibernate at 10 to 15 degrees, of course, seedlings have not tried. The same goes for the swamp side neck.

4. Long-necked turtles, Australian and flat-headed long-necked seedlings are generally listed from December to January, and healthy individuals can hibernate after a summer.

5. Hillary toad head turtle, the seedlings of the year can hibernate at 5 to 15 degrees in the summer, extremely hardy. Other water turtles such as the striped toad head distributed in northern Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay can hibernate.

2. Half-water turtle

1. Anbu box turtle, black an 5 ~ 15 degrees can hibernate, flat an known 15 ~ 18 degrees under the winter no problem, next year will be a deep attempt.

2. Wood grain turtle, (Honduras, black wood grain, oil paint wood grain) can hibernate at 5 to 15 degrees

3. Tooth margin turtle, hibernating at 10 to 15 degrees without problems.

4. Saw edge, the controversy should not be big, Vietnam saw hibernation as stress-free, the premise is to cultivate & healthy and strong.

5. Maple leaves with saw edges

3. Tortoises

Myanmar has tried a 3-month hibernation, and there is no record of continuous long-term hibernation.

Status of current trials of other varieties:

1. Ink eggs and sa eggs can tolerate 18 degrees of water temperature for a long time

2. Leopard turtles and Sulcata larvae can tolerate a low temperature of about 18 degrees for several days (an accidental discovery of a power outage accident)

3. Subju can tolerate water temperature of about 18 degrees

Turtle known to be non-hibernating: Mata (the absolute tropical region between 10 degrees north latitude and 10 degrees south latitude, the minimum tolerance is 18 degrees but not longer than 20 especially turtle seedlings)

3The three better methods of hibernation are explained in detail

Thin mud hibernation method.

Water sand method.

Coconut soil method.

A slime hibernation method simulates the caves on the banks of the river, inspired by the hibernation of crocodiles, lobsters, crabs, and water snakes, all of which spend the winter in mud caves on the banks of the river. How to do this:

Take a sturdy non-leaking large box and wash it. Collect camphor tree leaves in a pile spread at the bottom of the box, no fallen leaves can be replaced with fresh camphor leaves.

Camphor leaves are taken because camphor leaves do not mold, the degradation process is slow when buried in the mud, and the broken leaves help keep the mud loose and not easy to compact. The process of slow decay and degradation of leaves produces a certain amount of heat, which can ensure that the temperature in the cave is higher than the freezing point. If you use fresh camphor leaves, there is also a sterilization effect, but the camphor trees in our community are too high for me to climb up and pick. Bamboo leaves can also be used if there is no camphor tree. 2. Lay a layer of 3 to 5 cm thick fine soil on the fallen leaves, and then buckle up a large broken flower pot to create a cave. Soil is best used near the roots of camphor trees, and the fresh topsoil dug under the camphor tree will have a camphor scent, which has fewer harmful bacteria and molds. If there is no camphor tree, you can also choose bamboo forest soil, soil under the roots of palm trees, soil near the roots of pine cypress ginkgo biloba, and so on. 3. Water thoroughly, the water surface is not higher than the mud surface, as long as the soil becomes soft and wet, the turtle can dig smoothly. The pot is then covered with dry soil to fill in and fixed, and the opening of the cave is also filled with dry soil, reducing the size of the hole to enough for the turtle to turn in and out. The cave head is too large and the temperature is poor, and the cave entrance is too small to be poor in ventilation and is not convenient for observation during hibernation. 4. Finally, lay another layer of fallen leaves (camphor leaves, bamboo leaves and other leaves that are not easy to mold, or use bark). Or plant some winter plants such as palm bamboo or rye grass to create a landscape. In this way, a pseudo-ecological hibernation cave environment is completed. The purpose of laying fallen leaves is to moisturize and prevent the soil from drying out and knotting. After the turtle climbs into the cave and hibernates, it can use more fallen leaves to cover the cave entrance near the cave entrance as needed, but it does not affect the moderate ventilation of the cave** Today, the finished box has been exposed to the sun, and the surface temperature of the fallen leaves will soon exceed 27 degrees, but the temperature of the hole is always around 20 degrees, which is the temperature of the water that was poured into the soil yesterday. It shows that the thermal insulation performance is still reliable. During hibernation, it is enough to ensure the moisture of the sub-soil of the deciduous layer, and the hole part does not need to be watered to humidify. If you give a half-water turtle or a turtle with rotten armor to hibernate, you can have less water in the cave. If the turtle hibernates, there can be more water in the cave

This method can be further upgraded to apply to outdoor hibernation in the area south of the Qinling-Huaihe river line. Outdoor hibernation operation method: choose a corner with a wall to block the wind on the north and west sides of the open air, dig a pit about the size of the box, the depth of the pit is equal to the height of the cave, and then half-bury the box into the top of the cave and pile a stack of straw. This method can resist the temperature of -10 degrees Celsius outdoors (the temperature of the hole ** can be maintained above 4 degrees). b Water sand method This method is the same as the thin mud method, but the effect of sand is not as good as mud, the turtle drills in more hard, but the sand is cleaner than mud, this method I generally only give crocodile turtles and razor musk and other strong turtles to use. As for the effect, this method once made 3 crocodile turtle tail seedlings 1 razor seedling and 1 musk seedling survive the winter smoothly, 0 death records. The method is also very simple: 1) Find a clean container

2) Add sand

3) Add water to wash the sand, and finally the water surface is 1-2cm higher than the sand surface and add 2-3 drops of iodine (the adult crocodile turtle water surface is 5cm higher than the sand surface) 4) The container is placed in the shading place and put into the turtle. These are my 3 large crocodile seedlings this year, and when the temperature outside drops to about 10 degrees, they will drill into the sand bottom without leaving a trace. c Coconut soil method This method is equivalent to the dried version of the thin mud method, which takes advantage of the characteristics of the coconut soil loose and easy for the turtle to drill in, which is cleaner and easier to clean than the thin mud method, but it needs to be sprayed frequently to ensure humidity. This method is most suitable for half-water turtles, of course, if the humidity is high, the water turtle can also use. 1) Find a clean container and pour it into the coconut soil, and mix in the iodine volt to disinfect. Leave in the sun for 1-2 weeks (PS: the packaging of the lifeblood of coconut soil smell is not the usual big to dry for a few more days)

2) After drying the sun to remove the smell, add the turtle. On the left is the CB station that I have raised for several years, which seems to have adapted to the low temperature of Shanghai and refuses to enter the hibernation state, and the right downhill platform has already been drilled into the soil and slept for 1 week... There are 2 seedlings and 5 throat seedlings in the small box this year, and the temperature in Shanghai is not very low during the day, and sometimes the little ones are still a little restless

3) After the turtles are buried in the soil and hibernate, they can be covered with a layer of bark (moss is not recommended, easy to mold) Coconut soil humidity determination: grasp a handful of coconut soil, and the humidity of the agglomeration after pinching is just right. The explanation that can't be pinched is too dry. In general, dry areas are to spray water to humidify the soil every week. As for the water over the back method I do not recommend, the water quality is not good in the place of this method hibernating turtle is easy to get rotten skin white eyes. Before hibernation, the turtle should do a good job of disinfection prevention, soak in yellow powder water or iodine dilution to disinfect the whole body.

Finally, it is emphasized that the hibernating turtles should be placed in the cool, shaded, airtight corner of the north wall of the house. Check the situation of the turtle once a month and do not disturb the hibernating turtles very often.