In August, my little turtle head came to my house for a whole year. Xiaotou is my longest pet so far. I bought chickens and ducklings before, and most of them were fine the night before and died the next morning. Of course, in the course of feeding this year, I also encountered confusion and setbacks, the biggest of which was the sudden death of the big head without warning. So write something here to sum up the experience of this year. finally

If you buy more than one pair of turtles at a time, you'd better keep them separately in the first month or two. If it is impossible to keep them separately, at least let the turtles eat them separately. Because the tortoise is afraid of strangers at first, it often refuses to eat until people leave. When two or more turtles are put together, it is impossible to know which one has eaten and which one has not. I used to find that every time I ate turtle food, I only had a small head. Later, it was found that it was given separately, and the big head didn't eat anything.

Tortoise food is not a good choice. Tortoise food is not fresh and nutritious. Big head may starve to death because he doesn't like turtle food. After all, I'm not as hungry as Xiaotou. I was inexperienced at that time and didn't know how to change other foods for them. After waking up from hibernation in March this year, Xiaotou will only eat turtle food once a week, five to six capsules each time, which is far less than the amount of ten to twelve capsules the day before hibernation last year. At first, my family and I thought that Xiaotou only knew me and would only eat the turtle food I gave him, because he would eat it every week after I came home. Later, we gave it a small piece of fish with a try. I didn't expect it to taste delicious for the first time. Moreover, after eating shrimp and fish, its nose is more sensitive, and its small head sticks out every time it is taken to the side.

I also have some ideas about how to make turtles eat more without wasting. The size of each food must be smaller than the glans, and it is best to be slender and conform to the shape of the glans, so that it is easier for the tortoise to swallow. When feeding, the slender end should be pointed at the turtle's mouth. They don't separate themselves, they just bite on it. When it is too big, they will tear it with their paws, but the torn pieces will not be eaten again unless they are hungry. I also observed that if the food is too big to swallow, even if I have eaten something imported, my head will spit it out. Little head doesn't like to eat without fresh meat. Give a proper amount at a time, and try to let the turtle swallow it in one gulp, which is good for water quality.

Usually, when you buy shrimp, you can put a few in the freezer of the refrigerator, take one out every day and give it to the turtle after melting. You can cut off a small fish, then cut it into a piece that the turtle can eat every time with scissors and freeze it. You can remove the meat bit by bit. When the turtle has finished eating, bring the rest and shake it in the turtle's eyes. Be careful not to touch the turtle's water, so that the turtle can freeze it again if it doesn't want to eat, and give it some more if it wants to eat. It should also be noted that the meat quality of fish is tighter than that of shrimp, so it should be smaller when cutting into pieces, otherwise the turtle's claws will not be torn.

I have observed the characteristics of turtle's emotional changes from my head for your reference. I found that the turtle's pupils will become smaller when it sees food, which shows that it is very nervous when it begins to eat. Like many animals and people, dilated pupils are usually relaxed, while constricted pupils show vigilance. For example, I found that when the tortoise is going to sleep or has fallen asleep at night, its black eyes will become smaller, and sometimes it will open its mouth to show threats. And how to play after it has just eaten or changed water? Its eyes are all black. If you master this characteristic, you can play with the tortoise in an appropriate way without making it angry or bitten.

If there are loose stones on the surface, turtles will grow moss easily, which will make their living environment more natural. After raising a small head for a period of time, I found moss growing on a stone with the roughest surface. Because the small head can secrete a lot of organic matter, moss can easily grow on the turtle shell. In summer, the moss in the water tank will make the water dirty quickly, so clean it regularly with a toothbrush. You can brush along the concave gap in the turtle shell, clean up the moss on the cylinder wall while it is hot, and remove too much moss from the stone. Don't worry that it won't grow back after being removed. In fact, it is difficult to clean up. The sunshine and high temperature in summer can easily make the moss grow back to its original shape in one day.

Finally, talk about the problem of hibernation. Everyone has their own opinions when arguing whether turtles should be covered with sand when they hibernate, and I don't have a definite answer. But Xiaotou's first winter was spent in water covered with sand. With sand, the tortoise would bury its claws in the sand, thus sleeping more stably. When the tortoise wakes up from hibernation, it must remove the sand, otherwise it will be difficult to clean up the excrement mixed with sand. Wash the sand thoroughly before putting it into the water. After a period of time, it will be ok if there is no muddy color of sand in the water.

The above are some of my personal experiences, and I hereby declare that they are all my personal experiences in raising the small head of Mississippi red-eared turtles, which may not be suitable for all turtles, but they are also summarized by my constant observation. I lifted my little head in a very primitive way. Pots are open pots for raising daffodils, and stones are used to fix daffodils. There is no filter, and there is no special dry-wet separation zone. I write this to tell my friends who keep turtles that turtles are so small, fragile and speechless, and we need to spend more time getting to know our own turtles. I believe that turtles are lonely people. We should use our love to communicate with them, explore their characteristics and grow up with them.