Black-necked Turtle

The Black-necked Turtle is a unique species in China. It emits a strange smell, so the locals also call it the stinky turtle. For a long time, this turtle species has not been bred by anyone. However, in recent years, more and more people have started to like eating turtles, so the medicinal price of the Black-necked Turtle has been brought to the fore, leading to a rise in its price and a depletion of wild resources.

Chinese name: 黑颈乌龟;

Latin name: Chinemys nigricans;

English name: Red-necked pond turtle;

Alias: colorful turtle, mud turtle, three-line turtle, watermelon turtle, Guangdong grass turtle;

Kingdom: Animalia;

Phylum: Chordata;

Subphylum: Vertebrata;

Class: Reptilia;

Order: Testudines;

Suborder: Cryptodira;

Family: Geoemydidae;

Subfamily: Geoemydinae;

Genus: Cuora;

Species: Black-necked Turtle;

Distribution area: Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi, China;

Typical body length: 20cm;

Food attribute: The Black-necked Turtle is omnivorous, including insects, snails, small fish, and aquatic plants. The main foods of the Black-necked Turtle are fish, shrimp, earthworms, yellow mealworms, snails, clams, and animal offal;

Temperature for rearing: The Black-necked Turtle likes warmth and is afraid of cold. It cannot live in a low temperature environment (below 15°C) for a long time (more than 3 months). The suitable temperature is 25°C, and it hibernates when the environmental temperature is around 18°C;

Reproduction mode: The Black-necked Turtle lays 2 eggs each time, with a long diameter of 51 mm and a short diameter of 27 mm. The weight of the eggs is unknown.

This species is unique to China and has a narrow distribution range, so its future is worrying without protection. There have been no reports of captive breeding. Only a few dozen individuals are known to be raised in Liuzhou City Zoo, Guangxi. In 1964, Shanghai Natural History Museum obtained a female individual in Haikou City, Hainan Island, which laid two eggs. This species was included in the "List of Terrestrial Wild Animals of Beneficial or Important Economic and Scientific Research Value Protected by the State" released by the State Forestry Administration of China on August 1, 2000.

Suggested for enthusiasts to keep, the Black-necked Turtle is a relatively expensive species of turtle. They can be bred in captivity, but the difficulty of raising them is quite high. The Black-necked Turtle has certain requirements for its surrounding environment, and if the environment is not suitable, their growth rate will slow down. In extremely harsh environments, they may even die directly.

1. Red-necked disease

It is an infectious disease, and its pathogen may be a virus or a kind of inflated Bacteroides. The disease often occurs in the rainy season. The symptoms are red spots appearing on the turtle's abdomen, swelling of the throat and neck, elongation of the neck and inability to retract, slow movement, loss of appetite, and dull response. When it is severe, there may be bleeding from the mouth and nose. The intestines become inflamed and ulcerated, the whole body becomes red and swollen, the eyes become cloudy and white, leading to blindness, and death occurs soon after. Therefore, once this disease is detected, immediate isolation and treatment should be carried out, and the turtle pond should be disinfected with lime and replaced with fresh water. Use antibiotics such as oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol, or tetracycline for treatment, with a dosage of 150,000 international units injected at the base of the hind limbs per kilogram of turtle weight. If the treatment is ineffective, the original medicine can be repeated or other antibiotics can be used. Sulfonamides can also be mixed with human feed and fed to the turtles. The dosage is 0.2 grams of sulfonamide on the first day per kilogram of turtle weight, halved on the second day, and fed continuously for 6 days.

2. Water mold disease

It is most likely to occur in juvenile turtles in spring. The pathogen is a kind of fungus, with white mycelium, soft and fluffy like white cotton, parasitic on the turtle's neck, limbs, plastron, and carapace. Affected turtles have initially reduced appetite, restlessness, emaciation, and weakness. In severe cases, the back shell is corroded and becomes soft and thin, leading to cessation of feeding and eventual death. Therefore, it is important to allow affected turtles to exercise on land, bask in the sun, and suppress the growth of water mold. The turtle pond should be completely replaced with fresh water, and the turtle's body should be soaked in a 0.015 ppm solution of malachite green for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Shell rot disease

The pathogen is bacteria. The skin of the turtle's limbs, neck, and tail can be seen to become ulcerated, the skin tissue necrotizes, and turns white and yellow. When it is severe, the skin on the limbs rots away, claws fall off, and the bones are exposed. If this disease is discovered, timely isolation should be carried out, and the turtle's body should be soaked in a solution of a 10 ppm sulfonamide or antibiotic for 48 hours. The turtle's body should be soaked in a solution of 2-3 ppm bleach for about two weeks, and measures should be taken to prevent turtles from biting each other, thus causing shell rot disease.

4. Turtle neck ulcer disease

It is an infectious disease caused by a virus and water mold. There are cotton-like clumps on the turtle's neck, making it difficult to move the neck, and the appetite is reduced. Some affected turtles do not eat or move. If not treated in time, death can occur within a few days. Prevention and control methods: soak the affected turtle in a 15% saline water for 1 hour; soak the affected turtle in a 0.5% malachite green solution for 15 minutes; apply antibiotic ointment such as tetracycline or oxytetracycline to the affected area of the turtle.

The Black-necked Turtle, like other water turtles, has different environmental requirements during its juvenile and adult stages, but it still needs clean water. Below is a brief introduction to the environmental arrangement for the Black-necked Turtle.

1. Indoor Environment for Black-necked Turtles

In artificial environments, Black-necked Turtles are generally treated as water turtles. Turtles can adapt well to life in aquariums, and shallow aquariums or plastic T-shirt boxes are the most suitable places for turtle hatchlings. Due to their poor swimming skills, it is recommended that the depth of the water should not exceed 2 inches (about 5 cm), and a dry high ground for basking should be built at one end of the habitat. This way, they can stand on the bottom of the water and breathe without difficulty. Since it is difficult to filter shallow water, leftover food will quickly pollute the water quality, so this arrangement requires frequent water changes.

In natural environments, Black-necked Turtles usually bask on logs and rocks. In artificial environments, a basking area can be set up using a reflector light purchased from a hardware store. The light should be placed at an appropriate height to maintain the temperature in the lighted area at around 32 degrees Celsius, and a full-spectrum fluorescent light should be provided to provide the necessary UVB light for the synthesis of vitamin D3 (an essential substance for calcium metabolism).

2. Outdoor Feeding Environment for Black-necked Turtles

Once the length of the turtle's carapace exceeds 7.5 cm, keeping them in outdoor habitats with protective measures can provide many benefits that indoor keeping does not have. Since Black-necked Turtles do not hibernate completely, in areas where the outdoor temperature in winter may approach zero degrees Celsius, a habitat that will not freeze must be provided for them.