Yellow-margined box turtle

The Yellow-margined box turtle is a very famous turtle species in China and is loved by many turtle enthusiasts. It is also known as the Yellow-margined box turtle or simply Yellow-margined, which is completely understandable, given its popularity. In Chi

In China, there are many people who keep Yellow-margined box turtles, and there are also many breeding farms specialized in Yellow-margined turtles. Therefore, this is a relatively large market with a balanced supply and demand. However, this still does not prevent the price of Yellow-margined turtles from soaring, especially for purebred Yellow-margined turtles, which are the most expensive.

Chinese scientific name: 黄缘盒龟

Chinese alias: 黄缘闭壳龟、中国盒龟、食蛇龟和金头龟

Scientific name: Cuoraflavomarginata

English name: Yellow-marginedBoxTurt1e

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Testudines

Family: Geoemydidae

Genus: Cuora

Species: flavomarginata

Geographical distribution: In China, mainly distributed in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Henan, Hong Kong, Jiangsu, Taiwan, Zhejiang, Macao, and Hubei; in foreign countries, mainly distributed in Japan's Kyushu Island and other places.

Habitat: It is semiaquatic, but tends to prefer land.

Behavioral characteristics: The Yellow-margined box turtle inhabits the edges of hills, grasses, shrubs, and places that are relatively quiet, such as under tree roots and in crevices. It prefers shaded areas and is not far from valleys with running water. It likes to live in groups and it is common to see multiple turtles in the same cave. Its activity patterns vary with the season.

Price: The prices vary greatly depending on the distribution. The price for Taiwan species is several hundred yuan, while the price for purebred species is several thousand yuan.

In nature, the Yellow-margined box turtle lives in the forests, grasses, and shrubs of hilly areas. They prefer to live in groups and during the day, they hide under quiet, dark, and moist tree roots and stone crevices. It is common to see multiple turtles in the same cave. Although their habitat is dark, it is not far from clean water sources. They can survive in temperatures ranging from 0 to 43°C and their activity patterns vary with the seasons. From April to May and September to October, when the temperature is between 18 to 24°C, they are less active in the early morning and evening, but more active around noon. From June to August, when the temperature is between 25 to 34°C, they are mainly active during the night, early morning, or evening, and stay hidden in caves, trees, or sandy soil during the day. During the rainy season, they enjoy being outside to get soaked in the rain. They stop eating when the temperature drops below 18°C and hibernate when it goes down to 13°C or lower. In nature, Yellow-margined box turtles often hibernate on sunny slopes, hidden beneath damp grass or fallen leaves. If the temperature rises above 13°C during hibernation, they will wake up and become active.

It is recommended for enthusiasts to keep it. Is the Yellow-margined box turtle easy to raise? Compared to other pet turtles, the Yellow-margined box turtle is not difficult to raise. They are relatively easy to adapt to the environment, and newly brought Yellow-margined box turtles are not afraid of humans and can quickly adjust. If you are a beginner, you can choose the Yellow-margined box turtle.

(1) Research on prevention and treatment of bacterial diseases

The Yellow-margined box turtle mainly suffers from bacterial diseases.

Pneumonia: The preliminary pathogen is considered to be Escherichia coli, which is a bacterial infection caused by significant temperature changes in summer or winter, leading to decreased appetite, immobility on land, severe blindness in both eyes, redness, swelling, and sunken eyeballs. The main prevention and treatment methods are: thorough disinfection before breeding to kill the pathogens, maintaining a stable temperature and moderate humidity in the winter hibernation period, ensuring fresh water quality, isolating and feeding the diseased turtles, and feeding antibiotics such as chlortetracycline and oxytetracycline. Treatment can also be done through intramuscular injection of oxytetracycline and streptomycin.

Pyodermatitis: The pathogen is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can cause disease in Yellow-margined box turtles due to overcrowding and mutual biting, resulting in necrotic and ulcerative skin on the neck, limbs, and tail, as well as more severe symptoms. The main prevention and control methods are: reasonable arrangement of stocking density, scientific feeding to ensure the freshness of the feed, maintaining good water quality, and sterilizing the turtle house. The treatment measures include: cleansing the affected area with sterile saline solution in the early stage of the disease, applying chlortetracycline eye ointment to the affected area once a day for three consecutive days, or mixing 20-30 mg/kg body weight of norfloxacin with feed for one course of treatment, or injecting 100,000 IU/kg body weight of kanamycin twice a day for five consecutive days.

Cystic disease: The pathogen is Burkholderia cepacia, which is a human opportunistic pathogen. When there are debris in the turtle house and the turtle limbs are punctured, the pathogen invades the turtle's body, causing a cystic tumor with a diameter of 0.8-1.0 cm at the base of the forelimbs, which appears swollen on the surface. The tumor can be incised and filled with milky pus. The diseased turtle will be lethargic, slow in movement, and have decreased appetite. The main prevention and control methods are: regular cleaning of the turtle house and regular disinfection and sterilization. The treatment measures include: extracting the pus from the cyst using a syringe, applying povidone-iodine to the affected area every other day, or injecting 15,000 IU/kg body weight of ampicillin and fishy-smelling herb mixture (volume ratio of 1:5) into the muscle as a treatment.

Gastrointestinal ulcer disease: The pathogen is Clostridium perfringens. The diseased turtle reacts slowly, and there is congestion in the abdomen and ulceration in the intestines. The prevention measures are: thorough disinfection and sterilization of the turtle house before breeding, keeping the feed fresh, not feeding rotten or spoiled food, and maintaining fresh water quality. The treatment measures are: for mild gastrointestinal ulcers, feeding oxytetracycline at a dose of 1g/kg body weight for six consecutive days; for severe cases, intramuscular injection of oxytetracycline or chloramphenicol at a dose of 50,000 IU/kg body weight.

(2) Prevention and treatment of other diseases

Withered disease: The main symptoms are weak activity, emaciated physique, and loss of appetite. There are many causes of the disease, firstly, congenital deficiency, and the last batch of hatched individuals are smaller with poor competitive ability, which is the main reason for inducing the disease. Secondly, if the feeding area is too small, the density of juvenile turtles is too high, or the feeding is uneven, malnutrition may also induce withered disease. Effective treatment methods for this disease are currently lacking, so prevention should be strengthened through improved feeding management.

Winter hibernation death syndrome: This disease occurs during the hibernation period and in the 4-5 months after hibernation. The death mainly occurs in late-hatched juveniles. Weak and small juveniles die due to the prolonged metabolic consumption during the hibernation period, while juveniles with milder symptoms may barely survive the hibernation period but gradually weaken and die due to extreme physical weakness and inability to feed after the spring. Therefore, strengthening management and increasing nutrition are necessary.

The Yellow-margined box turtle has a wide range of food choices. After being fed, the Yellow-margined box turtle is not picky about many foods, but eating well does not mean keeping well. It is important to provide excellent food while also ensuring the turtle's health.

First, the food choices for the Yellow-margined box turtle:

The Yellow-margined box turtle primarily consumes animal-based feeds. Under natural conditions, it mainly eats earthworms, slugs, centipedes, beetles, snails, geckos, butterfly larvae, as well as various vegetables and fruits. In artificial breeding, the Yellow-margined box turtle prefers live feeds such as earthworms and mealworms, as well as plant-based feeds such as tomatoes, bananas, and apples. The key to a healthier turtle lies in the balanced nutrition, avoiding both excessive and deficient diets.

Second, how to make the turtle's carapace more red:

The color of the turtle's carapace is related to the following factors: nutrition, sunlight, and exercise.

1. Nutrition: Eat more calcium-rich foods such as small shrimp. For urban breeding, you can buy shrimp flakes from the supermarket. Live frozen shrimp is even better, followed by earthworms and mealworms for faster growth. Tomatoes and bananas should also be supplemented, especially during the egg-laying period.

2. Sunlight: Carry out photosynthesis and absorb nutrients. Adequate sunlight is particularly important for the growth and calcification of the turtle's shell, making the turtle's carapace higher.

3. Exercise: As the saying goes, life lies in movement, and movement lies in persistence. If you want the turtle seedlings to have a higher and rounder carapace, in addition to strengthening nutrition, exercise and body shaping are even more important. More and larger spaces are beneficial to the turtle's movement.

The postnatal care of the turtle is very important, just like a newborn baby. Some people become athletes, some become bodybuilding champions, and some become geniuses. The key lies in postnatal training.