tortoise is a variable temperature animal (cold-blooded animal), unable to adjust body temperature autonomously, and its activities are completely controlled by the external environment. When the ambient temperature is below 10-15°C, the tortoise will gradually enter a hibernation state. This is a means of survival that the tortoise has evolved to adapt to the severe winter weather. During hibernation, most of the tissues and organs of the tortoise are almost closed, the metabolism level is extremely low, and it enters a state of low energy consumption. In nature, hibernation is a great survival test for turtles. Many tortoises that are frail or sick may not survive the long cold winter and die directly in hibernation. Only a tortoise that is healthy and strong enough can survive. This is the cruel survival of the fittest by nature.
The living environment of domestic turtles is not as cruel as wild turtles, but death in hibernation is common. Turtle is a pet, and everyone basically regards it as a member of the family, so naturally they don't want to die in hibernation. Therefore, how to prevent turtles from dying in hibernation has become an issue of great concern to pet owners every winter. At the same time, the tortoise is in a state of "fake death" during hibernation. The head, tail, and limbs are all squeezed into the shell, almost motionless, as if dead. Many unidentified pet owners can't distinguish the situation. From time to time, people ask questions such as "how to distinguish between hibernation and death of a tortoise". Because it is impossible to distinguish between hibernation and death, the tortoise’s hibernation "fake death" is mistaken for real death, and it is not rare that it is thrown or buried.
As to the difference between tortoise hibernation and death, there are many and chaotic statements on the Internet. . Some of these methods of judgment are ridiculous. For example, it is proposed to use methods such as pulling the turtle’s legs, pinching the turtle meat, bamboo sticks or acupuncture to see if the turtle can move; putting the turtle in the water to see if it breathes; or soaking the turtle in warm water to see if it can wake Wait. In fact, it is not necessary to take these extreme methods to determine whether a tortoise is hibernating or dying. Today we will talk about the causes of turtle hibernation and death, and how to distinguish between hibernation and death of tortoises, for the reference of interested friends in raising turtles. The tortoise mentioned in the article refers to aquatic or semi-aquatic turtles that need to hibernate, excluding tropical tortoises and tortoises.
1. Common causes of death of tortoises during hibernation
Generally speaking, the tortoise's physical fitness, whether the hibernation environment is suitable, and whether the pet owners are properly hibernated and maintained, etc., will affect the tortoise. The safety of hibernation has an impact. Tortoises with poor physique, unsuitable hibernation environment, and improper maintenance during hibernation can easily cause tortoise hibernation death.
1. The tortoise has poor physical fitness and is easy to die during hibernation.
From the perspective of energy budget, turtles in hibernation do not eat or drink. The process of pure consumption of nutrients and energy is not supplemented during the period, that is, it is typically only going out and not going in (just like a person is unemployed, there is only expenditure, no income, how long you can live depends on previous savings). This feature determines that hibernation is selective to tortoise . Only turtles that are strong and physically strong, have enough nutrients and energy accumulation, can cope with continuous hibernation consumption and survive the hibernation period safely. Turtles with weak physique and low stored nutrients and energy have a higher hibernation risk; once the accumulated nutrients and energy are not enough to meet the consumption during hibernation, the possibility of death during hibernation is high.
Therefore, to reduce the mortality of tortoises during hibernation, the primary condition is to ensure that the tortoise is healthy and disease-free before hibernation, and that it has accumulated enough nutrients and energy. This is directly related to the raising level of the pet owners in summer and autumn. In fact, hibernation is only an assessment of the previous raising results . Only those tortoises that have been properly fed and exercised can be healthy and strong, and pass the hibernation examination smoothly; while those that are fed unreasonably, lack of exercise, weak or even sick turtles have a high probability of being eliminated. If you want to reduce the loss of tortoises during hibernation, you must pay more attention to normal breeding to ensure that turtles with good physique, healthy and disease-free are raised.
2, the hibernation environment is unstableFixed and unsuitable
Whether a tortoise can hibernate safely, in addition to its physical fitness, also depends on whether the hibernation environment is suitable. Maintaining a good hibernation environment is a necessary condition for the tortoise not to die in hibernation, mainly including temperature and humidity.
From the perspective of temperature, most turtles start to hibernate below 15°C. Among them, 10-15°C belongs to light hibernation , in the state of waking up when sleeping, the effect of hibernation is not good; long-term staying in this state will cause excessive consumption of nutrients and energy, which will lead to death. 5-10℃ belongs to deep hibernation , which is the most suitable temperature, low energy consumption, and good hibernation effect. If the temperature is lower than 5℃, the tortoise may be frozen; if is lower than 0℃ for a long time, the tortoise may freeze to death . Therefore, if wants to avoid the tortoise dying in hibernation, the temperature should be kept stable to maintain it in the range of 5-10℃; if is too high, it will die due to excessive consumption of nutrients and energy, and if it is too low, it will suffer. Frozen to death. But it is important to note that the temperature mentioned here refers to the temperature of the tortoise's hibernation environment, not the temperature or room temperature. For example, hibernation in shallow water, this temperature refers to the water temperature, and hibernation in river sand refers to the temperature of the sand.
From the point of view of humidity, the hibernation environment should be moist and not dry. This is mainly because, although the body organs of the tortoise are close to shutting down during hibernation, the metabolism has not completely stopped, and a certain amount of water is needed to maintain vital signs. Once there is a lack of water, the tortoise will gradually dry out due to loss of water until it dies. In addition to shallow water and muddy water hibernation, other solid media for hibernation, such as soil, sand, coconut soil, moss, wet towels, etc., may lack water. Many turtles die every year due to negligence in checking and replenishing water during hibernation. During the Spring Festival last year, the three little turtles raised by Mr. Thrush died directly because of lack of water. The lesson was very profound. During hibernation, it is recommended to check the medium once a week, and replenish water in time when there is water shortage to keep the humidity stable and prevent long-term water shortage.
3. The pet owner is improperly maintained, and hibernation is frequently interrupted
Turtles die in hibernation. In many cases, it is not a simple hibernation problem, but a hibernation problem. The former pet owners are directly related to the tortoise getting sick and the frequent interruptions during hibernation.
(1) Improper feeding before hibernation causes the tortoise to hibernate with disease
When the tortoise is hibernating, the immune system is close to shut down, and there is almost no immunity to disease. If you hibernate with the disease, your condition will usually get worse and you will easily die in hibernation. The main reasons for the hibernation of tortoises with disease are pre-hibernation conditions such as blindly "sticking autumn fat" and warming the intestines.
It is a long-standing practice to stick autumn fat on the turtle one or two months before hibernation. Through large and frequent feeding, it is hoped that the tortoise will be fattened and fed quickly so as to safely hibernate. The idea of posting autumn fat is good, but it is not a scientific approach . The tortoise is a temperature-changing animal, and its digestive ability is directly related to the temperature. The overall characteristics are high temperature, fast metabolism, and good digestion ability of the tortoise; on the contrary, low temperature and weak digestion ability. In the autumn before hibernation, the temperature gradually drops, and the digestive ability of the tortoise also weakens. At this time, sticking autumn fat will cause an inevitable contradiction. On the one hand, the temperature drops and the digestive ability of the tortoise becomes weaker; on the other hand, it is fed in large quantities and frequently. The two are superimposed together. The tortoise can have indigestion from indigestion to chronic enteritis and other diseases. Then it enters hibernation and is easy to die from disease.
Intestinal cleansing is also a long-standing practice. The so-called intestinal cleansing is to soak the tortoise with warm water a few days before hibernation to stimulate its bowel movement and make it hibernate in an empty intestine to prevent intestinal diseases during hibernation. Like Tieqiufa, this method of warming and clearing the intestines is also unscientific. Deliberately soak in warm water, easy to bringExcessive temperature difference can also easily cause the tortoise’s digestive system disorder, which may cause the tortoise to get sick.
(2) Frequently disturb the tortoise during hibernation
When the tortoise is hibernating, its organs are close to shutting down, which is a low energy consumption mode, instead of being fully open during hibernation, it is a high energy consumption mode. Many pet owners worry that tortoises will get sick during hibernation and have the habit of regular inspections. However, too frequent inspections or unreasonable methods will cause the tortoise to wake up during hibernation, and often wake up during sleep, which will cause a large consumption of nutrients. The nutrients and energy accumulated before hibernation are limited. There is no problem in coping with low-energy hibernation, but it cannot cope with the high energy consumption in the waking state, and it is likely to die due to depletion of nutrients. Therefore, during the hibernation process, we should disturb the turtle as little as possible and let it sleep peacefully to avoid death.
In summary, tortoises are weak or sick, the hibernation environment is not suitable, improper feeding before hibernation causes sick hibernation, and frequent interruptions during hibernation can easily cause tortoise hibernation death. Only avoiding the occurrence of the above conditions can reduce the chance of death of tortoises in hibernation. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that turtles will die occasionally during hibernation. So how do you tell if the tortoise is hibernating or dying?
2. How to judge whether the tortoise is hibernating or dying?
When the tortoise does not eat, drink or move during hibernation, it enters the state of "feign death". Some pet owners can't distinguish the situation, and treat the hibernating tortoise as death and throw it away or bury it. However, the identification methods provided by many articles on the Internet are not so reliable, and some are even wrong. For example, the following methods:
(1) Pull the leg, pinch the meat, acupuncture and other methods, To see if the tortoise can move, it will mean that it is alive, and that it will be dead. These methods can indeed distinguish the life and death of the tortoise. For example, the tortoise’s legs will retract, but due to excessive irritation, the hibernating tortoise will wake up and may cause death.
（2) Probe the turtle nose breath with your hands, feel whether there is airflow, if there is no airflow, it will be dead; or put the turtle into the water , observe whether it will stretch your head to breathe, not stretch your head to die . In fact, this method is wrong, it confuses the difference between normal sleep and hibernation of the tortoise . The tortoise uses its lungs to breathe during normal sleep, and it can indeed feel the airflow through the nostrils; when placed in the water, it will indeed stretch its head to breathe every once in a while. But this is not the case when the tortoise is hibernating. The lungs are closed and the breathing depends on the skin and anus. You cannot feel the airflow with your hands. It is impossible to stretch your head to breathe when you put it in the water.
（3) Soak the tortoise in warm water to see if it will wake up. The tortoise is a temperature-changing animal. After being soaked in warm water, the body temperature will rise, and it will indeed wake up. If it does not, it may die. But soaking in warm water makes it easy to catch a cold and get sick due to a large temperature difference, and waking up too early may also lead to death.
In fact, judging whether a tortoise is hibernating or dying is a very simple matter and does not need to be so complicated. The head, tail and limbs of the tortoise shrink into the tortoise shell during hibernation. Although it is in a state of "fake death", it is not really dead. Except for the closed eyes and almost motionless, other things are no different from the usual tortoise with a shrunken head. The body is moist and the skin is compact and elastic. Although the eyes are closed, they are round and not dry and have the characteristics of a living body.
The tortoise that died in hibernation is obviously different. Under the condition of not lacking water, the tortoise that has just died, the head, tail and limbs muscles are loose, limp, and slumped outside the shell; after a long time of death, as the internal organs decay, the limbs are stiff and swollen, and at the same time There is a rancid smell. In the case of dehydration and death in hibernation, although the head and tail and limbs are still shrunk in the shell, due to loss of water, the muscles are atrophy, shriveled, stiff, and the eye sockets are sunken. It is a standard corpse-shaped turtle.
To sum up, although the tortoise hibernation is in the state of "fake death", it still has the characteristics of a living body, but the head and tail and limbs are curled up while sleeping. The tortoise that died in hibernation is really dead. When there is no shortage of water, the head, tail and limbs are all out of the shell;Down, muscles atrophy, shriveled, and eyes sunken.
III. Conclusion
Hibernation is a means of survival for tortoises to cope with the severe winter weather. During hibernation, the tortoise’s body tissues and organs are almost shut down, the metabolism level is low, nutrients and energy Low consumption. Therefore, as long as the hibernation environment is suitable for healthy turtles, it is not easy to die during hibernation.
The death loss of tortoises during hibernation is caused by many reasons. Tortoises are weak and unhealthy, hibernation temperature and humidity are not suitable, improper feeding before hibernation leads to sick hibernation, and frequent interruptions during hibernation, etc., may cause the tortoise to die in hibernation. It is not complicated to distinguish whether a turtle is hibernating or dying. Hibernation is just a state of "pseudo-death", with the characteristics of a living body, with compact and elastic muscles, and swollen eyes. The tortoise is just sleeping in the tortoise shell at a low energy consumption. When the tortoise is dead, the head, tail and limbs stick out of the shell when there is no water shortage. When the tortoise is short of water, the tortoise’s muscles become dry due to loss of water and the eyes are sunken.
[Special Note]: Mr. Thrush, insist on sharing valuable experience and insights on the breeding of blackbirds, tortoises and native fish. Welcome to pay attention.
