The key technology of saw-edge closed-shell turtle introduction, breeding and breeding

The key technology of saw-edge closed-shell turtle introduction, breeding and breeding

1 Introduced to the saw-edged closed-shell turtle

At present, there is no breeding unit with a certain scale of saw-edge closed shell turtles, so the seed source mainly relies on rescue from illegal catches and smugglers; it is caught in its distribution area in accordance with laws and regulations after obtaining relevant certificates such as "hunting permits"; and purchases from markets or other farmers. However, most of the saw-edged closed-shell turtles that can be introduced at present come from Southeast Asian regions such as Vietnam, and are often affected by strong stress factors such as long-term high-density transportation and ice contact cooling after being transported to China. Some turtles were bitten by hounds during capture, punctured by fishing hooks, mechanically damaged by traps, and even some traders injected water and other liquids into the abdominal cavity of the turtle before selling in order to improve the body quality of the saw-edged closed-shell turtles. Therefore, we must strictly control the quality of the introduction to avoid disease or even death after the introduction.

2 Introduction time

The saw-edged closed-shell turtle is a strong terrestrial turtle that mainly inhabits tropical and subtropical areas, but when the temperature is below 16 °C, it can obviously observe a decrease in individual activity and its stress resistance will also become worse. Therefore, the time of introduction in the two Guangzhou areas of China is recommended to be carried out in the spring from April to June and from September to November in autumn (the temperature is 20 to 28 °C is appropriate). After 4 years of exploration, the most suitable time for introduction is September to November, because during the introduction in April and June 2016, it was observed that females with eggs died due to transport bumps that caused intra-fallopian turtle eggs to compress the liver and cause liver mechanical damage.

3 Appearance selection method

Before selecting the introduction of the parent turtle, the focus is on the health of the parent turtle, first confirm that the body surface (skin and shell) of the parent turtle is free of wounds, ulceration, scale shedding and inflammatory redness; secondly, observe whether the eyes of the parent turtle are god, red and swollen, not sleepy, no erosion in the mouth, and whether the tongue color is a healthy pink; finally, gently pinch the front legs of the parent turtle, whether the muscles are full and strong, and observe whether its crawling posture is coordinated, and whether it can support the body crawling on all fours instead of dragging on the forelimbs.

When selecting a saw-edge closed-shell turtle, priority should be given to mature individuals with obvious ring-shaped concave carvings on the dorsal armor shield, large, robust individuals, both eyes, smooth and undamaged body surface, full and powerful muscles, free head and neck expansion, and round and open cloacatomy holes.

Its sexually mature male individuals generally have a body mass of 400 to 800 g, and the female individual body mass is 600 to 1000 g, which is better for individuals with large individuals and uneven annual ring-shaped concave carvings of dorsal armor shields. Occasionally, large individuals with extremely smooth annual rings and thick skulls on the dorsal armor shield are occasionally seen on the market, which are often elderly pro-turtles and have no value for breeding.

4 Measurement method selection

In the breeding test of saw-edged closed-shell turtles, it was found that there was a correlation between the body mass of saw-edged closed-shell turtles and the length, width and shell height of their abdominal carapace. Moreover, by measuring 10 individuals with wild and captive rearing for more than one year, it was concluded that the correlation between the mass of the saw-edged closed-shell turtle and the length of the abdominal carapace was the highest.

5 Identification of gender

The sex of sexually mature individuals with saw-edged closed-shell turtles can be distinguished by appearance, in which males tend to have a narrow and long shell, have a more pronounced depression in the ventral carapace, and the male tail is relatively large, which can often be distinguished by these visible features. However, under actual conditions, gender differentiation still depends more on the experience and proficiency of the operator, and there will still be errors due to individual differences. Therefore, after reviewing a large number of literature, it was found that the sex of saw-edged closed-shell turtles could be accurately identified by using an endoscopic detection method of entering the cloaca hole.

6 Quarantine and epidemic prevention

Newly introduced broodstock, especially wild individuals, generally carry parasites and other pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, after the introduction of broodstock turtles, it is necessary to keep them in isolation from healthy individuals, isolate the area as far away from the feeding area as possible, and ensure that the tools cannot be mixed. The general isolation and quarantine time is 2 months, and during the isolation period, uniform disinfection and parasite extermination are required, and records are checked regularly, and abnormal situations are dealt with in a timely manner.

7 Artificial bait

Most saw-edged closed-shell turtles will have a strong stress response after stimulation of the introduction process and changes in the living environment, at this time, the newly introduced pro-turtle vitamin C medicinal bath should be given after disinfection to enhance its anti-stress ability, and feeding is not recommended for the first three days after the introduction of the broodstock.

Newly introduced individuals are usually timid, with strong negative phototropism (seeking to avoid), and when the broodstock begin to adapt to the environment, no longer tightening the shell but beginning to explore the environment, artificial pretention can be carried out. After experiments, the most attractive baits were ringworms, ripe bananas, tomatoes and peristaltic barley worms. Healthy individuals after baiting feeding will gaze, sniff, and attempt to eat, while observing that when one individual begins to feed, other individuals in their field of vision are also attracted to begin baiting.

8 Mating and mating trauma

Saw-edge closed-shell turtles will bite the female turtle's neck shield during mating, which will often lead to female skin rupture or even neck shield defects (figure), while male saw-edge closed-shell turtles will also have a more serious courtship fight phenomenon. Therefore, when raising saw-edge closed-shell turtles, especially during the mating period, females and males need to be raised separately, and male individuals should be isolated and raised separately if possible to avoid unnecessary losses.

9 Spawning and hatching records

The breeding of saw-edged closed-shell turtles is mainly divided into four stages: courtship and estrus; crawling back mating; nest laying; turtle egg hatching. Under artificial breeding conditions, saw-edge closed-shell turtles in estrus and crawling back mating occur every year from April to November, the peak period is From May to June each year, the average mating success rate is 11.7%; the nest spawning time is June to August every year, adult female individuals lay 1 to 4 nests per year, each clutch lays 1 to 3, the normal turtle egg quality is (13.59±2.03, n=65) g, egg length diameter (38.985±7.335, n=65) mm, egg short diameter (23.22±2.43, n= 65) mm, turtle eggs incubation time (91.5±5.5, n = 15) days.

10 Common diseases and analysis

10.1 Parasitic infections

10.1.1 Body parasitic infection

The common ectoparasites of saw-edged closed-shell turtles are mainly mountain leeches and soft ticks, of which soft ticks are the most common, which are most common in the leg sockets or necks of parent turtles. Leeches can be directly killed with sodium chloride, quicklime, etc., and soft ticks can be pierced into the roots of the skin part with a thin line, carefully removed to prevent infection caused by fracture of the mouthparts, and the wound needs to be disinfected and anti-infection treatment.

10.1.2 Protozoa infections

Newly introduced broodstock due to the presence of various stimuli, are prone to decline in immunity, at this time the digestive tract protozoa are very easy to outbreak, infection, common protozoa infection sources are: trichomonas, coccidiosis and amoeba. In the course of the test, oral nitroimidazole antibiotics - ornidazole (dosage 100 to 250 mg/kg) were used to expel protozoa in the digestive tract, and at the same time, it could also kill and inhibit the outbreak of some harmful bacteria in the intestine.

10.1.3 Gastrointestinal parasitic infections

The number of digestive tract parasites in wild individuals of saw-edged closed-shelled turtles is usually large, and the common species are mainly roundworms and pinworms of the nematodes phylum, tapeworms of the phylum obpenoids and echinococcosis of the phylum Echinococcus. In this trial, oral levamisole (dosage 15 mg/kg) was selected with intramuscular ivermectin (dose 0.05 mg/kg) for the treatment of gastrointestinal parasitic infections, and good feedback was obtained in practice.

10.2 Pathogenic microbial infections

10.2.1 Skin infections and carapace injuries

During transportation, turtles are very prone to skin infections and carapace damage caused by trauma caused by collisions, frictions and pulling, which cause infection. In addition, as a turtle with strong land habitat habits, if it is kept in an overly humid and closed environment for a long time, it is also very easy to cause shell and skin infection and ulceration. Therefore, saw-edged closed-shell turtles should be given the freedom to choose a dry humidity environment when rearing, such as a combination of drier environments and drinking basins.

10.2.2 Bacterial gastrointestinal infections

Intestinal bacterial infections in newly introduced individuals of saw-edged closed-shelled turtles often co-occur with protozoal infections, the most important symptoms of which are fatigue, drowsiness, foul-smelling feces, and jelly -- (egg white) in the sick turtles. The main pathogens are punctate aeromonas, Escherichia coli, Aeromonas hydrophila, etc., ornidazole that drives protozole has a strong killing effect on anaerobic bacteria, and if the infection is serious, it can be fed together with antibiotics such as enrofloxacin.

10.3 Gastric intubation

Individuals with severe infections with protozoa or bacteria in the digestive tract are often drowsy and have symptoms of loss of appetite, and even symptoms such as blood in the stool and swelling of the limbs. At this time, the medicinal bath and the feeding of the bait are difficult to cure, and the gastric tube should be used to administer the drug through the stomach. The experimental team has dissected the digestive tract of the saw-edged closed-shell turtle, and its structure is very similar to that of the ground turtle, so the digestive tract structure of the turtle can be referred to when the gastric tube is inserted, and a non-toxic soft latex tube is inserted, and the other end of the hose is connected to the syringe for administration. In 2016, it was recorded that farmers were directly injected with the liquid through the mouth, causing the liquid to enter the lungs and cause pneumonia in the saw-edged turtle.

11 Analysis and discussion

11.1 Ratio of males and females

Theoretically, under the condition that the number of females with saw edge closed shell turtles is certain, the fertilization rate and hatching rate of turtle eggs are directly proportional to the number of males, but considering that males need to be isolated and raised, the space cost is higher. Therefore, the ratio of male and female breeding in this test is 1:2.5, and according to statistics, the reproductive rate, fertilization rate and mating rate of saw-edge closed-shell turtles are much higher than the data recorded in other articles, but the optimal male-to-female ratio needs to be further studied.

11.2 Restoration of the gastrointestinal microbial community

In the process of intestinal pathogenic microorganism extermination, the community structure of beneficial microorganisms (probiotics) will also be affected, and there are also differences in the intestinal probiotic community structure due to the difference between the feeding environment and the native environment of the broodstock turtle. Therefore, how to restore and maintain the homeostasis of the digestive tract probiotic community has always been a problem that plagued the experimental group. After reviewing the data and sorting out, the experimental team boldly tried to mix the feces of the healthy saw-edged closed-shell turtles with artificial breeding for more than one year and feed the newly introduced saw-edged closed-shell turtles. This method proved to have a very good effect, and the introduction survival rate of saw-edged closed-shell turtles exceeded 91%, which was much higher than the records of similar articles. In the next step, we intend to determine the species and composition of the intestinal microorganisms of the saw-edged closed-shell turtle to try to further understand its intestinal microbial structure.