Florida Reticulated Chicken Turtle, Chordate, Vertebrate subphylum Turtle, Eastern Reticulated Chicken Turtle, native to coastal plains from southeastern Virginia to Ohio , west to Texas and north to Missouri and Oklahoma. It is the oldest surviving reptile. It is not very common in China, because it is not very popular in Florida because of its unsightly appearance, and the eastern chicken tortoise is a tropical species and is also very popular in cold regions. rare. The carapace has broad orange or gold stripes with broad orange edges, and the plastron is orange and bright yellow.

1. Appearance characteristics of the Florida reticulated chicken tortoise

The body length of the Florida reticulated chicken tortoise is 4-10″ (10.2-25.4 cm). The neck is striped and extremely long, almost as long as the carapace, which can be easily identified. The carapace is slightly wrinkled and has a mesh pattern. Light stripes on tail; broad stripes on each forelimb. Males are smaller than females and have a thicker, longer tail. Carapace has broad orange or gold stripes with orange borders It is also very broad, and its plastron is orange or bright yellow.

2. Habits and characteristics of the Florida reticulated chicken tortoise

The Florida reticulated chicken tortoise is a The most ferocious of the domestic freshwater turtles, different from the passive defense of other turtles, chicken turtles often take the initiative to attack. When threatened, their eyes are wide open, their mouths hiss, their mouths open to bite, and once they are caught, their claws are scratched. Bite in the mouth, whip the tail from side to side, and resist violently. Chickens and turtles have long claws and long legs, and they crawl at a fast speed of 7-8m per minute. They also have strong swimming skills. When they are on the water, their tail ends are raised, their limbs are drawn, and they can swim freely. . Mainly lives in clear mountain streams. It also appears in swamps, pools, rivers and fields, and is generally active at night. It can climb stone walls or trees. With the support of its tail, it can climb walls longer than its own length, Branches. According to indoor breeding observations, it is found that: it usually lurks in the pool water during the day, and starts to move at dusk, and sometimes climbs out of the pool to move on the sand. Field observations: it is more common at dusk and early morning hours.

At the same time It is also a typical carnivorous animal; it especially likes to eat live bait. In the wild, it mainly preys on snails, earthworms, small fish, snails, shrimps, frogs, etc., and also eats dead fish, shrimp and animals. Internal organs, do not eat plant-based feed; indoor feeding, can also be fed eel, loach, small crustaceans, rat meat, pork, and other turtle meat; no choice in feeding time, prefer to eat in water, according to its front paws and The strong upper and lower jaws tear the food and swallow it with the help of the front paws. Around November every year, when the water temperature drops below 10 ℃, it enters hibernation, and it will not wake up until the water temperature rises to about 15 ℃ the following year. If this tortoise is artificially raised, fattening should be strengthened before hibernation, because its starvation tolerance is worse than that of the general tortoise (according to feeding observations, if it is not fed for about 1 month during the active season, it will die. Indoors). Raised chickens and turtles mostly hibernate in pools; in the wild, most of them have water hibernating in a rocky cave.

3. Feeding methods of the Florida reticulated chicken tortoise

[Feeding]

Although It is said that the Florida mesh chicken tortoise eats any food, but feeding cheap and low nutritional value food all the time may cause malnutrition and must be especially careful. Chicken turtles need a lot of calcium and should be fed foods rich in calcium. Recently, a nutritionally balanced chicken and turtle special feed has been launched on the market, which can be eaten with confidence. In addition, carp feed and dog food are also very suitable foods. Occasionally feeding some deboned fish, snake meat, mice and other fresh food will surely win the love of chickens and turtles. Feeding only fish and meat slices will cause malnutrition and need to add water-soluble nutrients. The above-mentioned foods are provided to chicken turtles that often inhabit water, such as tortoises that cannot go into water and prefer plant foods, and are less suitable for feeding with artificial feed. Generally, vegetables such as leafy vegetables, cabbage, and carrots can be used, together with nutritional supplements. In order to use the feed of Jiuguan bird to feed.

【Daily】

The Florida reticulated chicken tortoise is not exposed to ultraviolet light, nor can it utilize calcium. Compared with lizards, the facilities to prevent chickens and turtles from escaping are relatively simple. As long as water supply facilities are provided and there is a shaded place to rest, heat stroke is less likely to occur, and sunbathing is also relatively simple. If the calcium intake of young turtles is insufficient, the turtle shell will easily become soft and unbearable; insufficient vitamin A intake may cause the eyes to turn white. When the above phenomenon occurs, in addition to the problem of insufficient vitamin A and calcium, it may also involve long-term feeding of low-nutrient food, insufficient ultraviolet rays and other problems, which may be caused by mistakes in the feeding method. It is necessary to provide nutritious and balanced food attentively, use sun lamp to perform sunbathing, etc., and completely change the breeding environment.