Is it really impossible to raise turtles in deep water? In fact, this is a misunderstanding of turtle drowning, and there are many benefits to raising turtles in deep water.
Many people are afraid to keep turtles in deep water for fear of drowning.
1. What is turtle breeding in deep water?
Turtles live in rivers, lakes, ponds and other water bodies in the wild, and the water level is divided in meters. In the domestic environment, the water level obviously can not meet this standard, belonging to the shallow water category. The deep water mentioned here is only aimed at the popular "shallow water crossing the back" in turtle breeding. Because most people think that the best water level for raising turtles is just over the back of the turtle, according to this calculation, its water level depth is about 2-5cm (depending on the size of the turtle). According to the standard of "shallow water crossing the back", we can calculate the depth of 5 times, that is, the depth above 10-25cm, which can be considered as deep water in the domestic environment.
Is it really impossible to raise turtles in deep water? In fact, this is a misunderstanding of turtle drowning, and there are many benefits to raising turtles in deep water.
The deep water in the domestic environment is aimed at shallow water.
At present, most articles or information about the depth of turtle culture water level on the Internet advocate "shallow water over the back". As long as someone asks questions such as "How deep the water is good for turtle breeding", they are all "the water level on the back is good", thinking that it is safe and will not drown turtles. For deeper water, everyone is deeply afraid that the turtle will be drowned. This word of mouth has made "shallow water crossing the back" almost the creed and truth of raising turtles. People who raise turtles in deep water have become different. Is it really that dangerous to raise turtles in deep water and drown easily?
Second, can deep water really drown turtles?
Deep water can really drown turtles, and so can shallow water. Although the tortoise lives in water, it is not a fish after all. Turtles breathe with their lungs (fish breathe with their gills), and they need to surface to breathe air every once in a while. If for various reasons, the tortoise can't float up in time, then it will drown. It's just that this kind of drowning is not a patent in deep water. Shallow water can also drown turtles, just for different reasons.
Is it really impossible to raise turtles in deep water? In fact, this is a misunderstanding of turtle drowning, and there are many benefits to raising turtles in deep water.
Turtles breathe with their lungs and really drown.
The main causes of turtle drowning in shallow water are overturning (that is, falling on all fours) and suffocation. Turtles are clumsy, because they are easy to overturn when they escape from prison, climb, stack arhats, get on and off platforms, etc. Normally, the tortoise will stick out its neck, touch the bottom with its head, and then turn over. If the turtle is in poor physical strength at this time (such as a sick turtle or a weak turtle), its neck is unable to support and turn over, and it is easy to drown. In another case, if the water is shallow enough, the turtle's head can't touch the bottom, and it is easy to drown if it is semi-suspended in the water. Most domestic turtles are drowned because of rollover, which is basically the case for turtles drowned in shallow water. Because of the buoyancy in deep water, it is generally not drowned because of rollover.
Is it really impossible to raise turtles in deep water? In fact, this is a misunderstanding of turtle drowning, and there are many benefits to raising turtles in deep water.
Turtles will choke or drown when they turn over.
Choking water is also a cause of turtle drowning, which can occur in both deep water and shallow water. The main reasons for choking water are falling down while climbing out of prison, being scared and diving on the terrace, or because we didn't play well and so on. As a result, when the turtle enters the water, the water chokes into the lungs from the nose and mouth, causing stagnant water. After suffocation, the tortoise may swim wildly in the water at first. After a long time, its hind limbs will gradually become paralyzed and can only move by its forelimbs. Turtles choked to death by water are usually drowned because of weakness of neck and limbs. Choking water is the main reason for deep-water cultured turtles drowning.
Of course, there are other "myths" about drowning turtles in deep water, which seem reasonable on the surface, but actually can't stand scrutiny. These statements mainly include the following contents:
(1) The water was too deep to breathe and drowned.
People who hold this view believe that if the water is too deep, the turtle will be very weak when swimming, and will suffocate or drown directly because of the lack of strength to float. For this statement, it can only be said that these people may not have seen the living environment of wild turtles, but they just take it for granted. If the so-called "deep water" with a depth of more than ten, twenty or thirty centimeters at home could not float and drown, it should have been extinct in the wild long ago, because rivers, lakes, ponds and other water bodies are all measured in meters, and the shallow ones are one or two meters deep. For example, Mr. Cherokee's lake, known as the largest royal garden lake in China, has an average water depth of about 1.5 meters, and you can often find released Brazilian turtles, grass turtles and flower turtles. According to this view, I really don't know how they survived. For the statement that turtles can't float and exhale when the water is deep, healthy turtles don't need to worry too much about it except for the above-mentioned choking situation.