Chinese Trionics is one of the most famous specimens of soft-bodied turtles. This is a small freshwater creature that the Terrumists greatly appreciate for its charming appearance. The Far Eastern amphibian does not require specific conditions of withdrawal. The turtle is under water for most of its life (it can stay there for up to 15 hours). She is able to inhale oxygen from both water and air.
In the natural environment, trionics lives in freshwater lakes, rivers and reservoirs, where the prevailing conditions are sloping shores, weak currents and a sandy bottom. The activity of the turtle manifests itself at night, and in the daytime it rests. This Chinese creature has an excellent speed response - it moves quickly in water and on land. And that's why in the wild it’s very difficult to catch her.
Description
Like all turtles, the Chinese Far Eastern trionics has an oval shell of 30-40 cm in length, but unlike other varieties, it is not so hard, because it does not have rigid horn plates. The color of the shell of these amphibians is brown-green, with small yellow spots, the lower part of the body is sand-colored, the head is small.
The eyes of the turtles are slightly convex, come in different colors. A thin, elongated neck emerges from the shell. Compared with females, males grow a longer striped tail (after three years). In females, he remains short. Each Trionix limb has five fingers. One of the qualities of the appearance of a turtle is a trunk with nostrils. They can even reach their tail to them. Amphibian weighs no more than 4 kg.
Trionix habitat
Turtles of this breed live in Taiwan, in Japan, on the Hainan Islands, in northeastern China, Korea and Vietnam. Most likely, seafarers brought these individuals to the Hawaiian islands , who used them as food. In Russia, turtles extend to the South Amur and Primorye.
Chinese Trionics lives in large and small rivers and lakes on a muddy bottom. The shores should be sloping, with strong vegetation. On the coast, turtles crawl out to soak up the sun, and their water protects them from dangers, and there they feed. In the fall, these creatures burrow into the silt, where they spend the whole winter, and they wake up by May-June.
Lifestyle
Sufficiently heated reservoirs with a sandy bottom and a sparse flora are chosen. Do not tolerate rivers with a fast flow. In intense heat, the Far Eastern tortoise hides in the wet sand or goes into the water. If a threat appears, the amphibian will immediately creep out into the bottom silt. These wonderful creatures can warm up not only on the banks, but also burrow into the ground aground at the water line. If necessary, they dig and disappear in depth.
Existence under water
The main part of the time the Chinese Trionics spends in the water, dives perfectly, swims. The turtle is adapted to take a portion of oxygen from the water using pharyngeal breathing. In the throat of an amphibian there are ligaments of villous growths of the mucosa, covered by a mass of vessels, and here air is swallowed directly from the liquid. Under water, a Chinese turtle opens its mouth so that the liquid rinses the hairs in the larynx. The cleaner the water in the river, the less open the mouth of the trionics plunged into it.
A Far Eastern tortoise can extend its elongated neck into the distance to breathe air. This gives her the opportunity not to rise to the surface of the water and remain inconspicuous for predators - just worth showing a proboscis from the water. Despite such an adaptation to aquatic life, an amphibian is capable of wonderful running on the ground. In particular, young trionics move quickly. Photos of turtles are presented below.
May bite
The caught turtle behaves very hostile, trying to grab by the hand, and its long neck makes it possible to reach the back of the carapace. The bites of even tiny turtles can be very painful, large specimens can inflict quite serious injuries with their sharp teeth on the horny jaw.
What eats
Chinese trionics are predators and eat worms, fish, insects, amphibians, mollusks and crustaceans. They expect the prey in ambush, hiding in silt or in the sand, and grab the approaching victim with a sharp movement of the head. Most food activity is seen at night or at dusk. During this period, the Chinese Trionix does not hide in ambush and can hunt vigorously, intensively surveying its territory and looking for food at the bottom of the lake. If the caught fish is large , then the turtle does not swallow it immediately, but first bites off its head.
Breeding
Puberty in turtles begins at the sixth year of life. They mate from March to April, and lay eggs in May and until the end of August. In particular, their action has been active since mid-June. Trionix digs an oval fossa to a depth of 15-20 cm and a diameter of 8-10 cm at a distance of 10-35 m from the water, covering it with grass. The eggs in the nest lie together or in 2-3 rows. Females lay 20 to 70 eggs 2-3 times during the summer period. Their eggs are covered with a white shell, have an oval shape with a diameter of 17-23 mm and a weight of 5 g. The duration of hatching at a temperature of 28-30 degrees is 40-60 days. The size of the newborn creatures is approximately 30 mm. Photos of turtles are presented below.
Chinese tortoise at home
It is better to keep such moving amphibians in a large aquarium and preferably with a lid, since turtles often run away. An island with land they need exclusively for laying eggs. Trionics themselves almost never climb on it.
Turtles living in the aquaterrarium need a uniform water temperature of 20-26 degrees. They are very picky about sunlight and high air temperatures. Ground sand or small rock that must be present in the aquarium plays the role of a shelter for the amphibian.
Soil also reduces hostility. The height of the interlayer is 10-15 cm. In the daytime, Chinese Trionics rarely sneaks out of the water from the turtle, however, it likes to soak up the sun by sticking its muzzle out of it. The scale of the aquaterrarium should be at least 60 liters, it all depends on the size of the amphibian. Bright lighting annoys him.
Aeration in the aquarium of the Far Eastern tortoise is necessary, since it breathes in not only ordinary air, but also that which is dissolved in water. She breathes this air with the help of special hairs deep in the larynx. This allows the Trionix to be under water for a long time.
Do not get along with anyone
Chinese Trionics are considered predators and hermits. They should not be kept with other non-food animals, as conflicts between individuals can begin, which will lead to serious consequences with serious injuries, loss of limbs and even death. Giving food to the turtle is only necessary in isolation from other creatures.
How to handle
Communicate with adults should only be in special gloves. They need to be taken exclusively for the back of the carapace. They have an elastic and oblong neck, which flexes well, and this provides the tortoise with dodgy bite.
If Trionics nevertheless inflicted a wound, then in no way should it be delayed. It is simply best to lower the turtle into the aquarium, and it will immediately detach itself. There were times when the amphibian did not want to let go of his hand, it was necessary to open the mouth with an additional iron scoop, sticking it in from the side.
Mature individuals caught up in captivity retain their anger and savagery, but young turtles easily get used to eating from their hands, although they also differ in a hostile character.
In Japan and China, Trionics are caught and eaten; their meat is very much appreciated. Most often, amphibians are caught on a jail or on a fishing rod. Tortoise eggs are also edible. There are even some Japanese monasteries that contain Far Eastern creatures in the lakes as sacred animals. The Chinese Trionics tortoise also fell into the Red Book. The price of a copy in the eastern countries is low - about $ 10.
Drying is very harmful to the amphibian. As much as possible he can stay on land for no more than two hours.
What to feed
In terms of nutrition, Trionics are completely undemanding and eat various animal foods. Young creatures can be fed:
- insects (flour worms, cockroaches, crickets);
- bloodworm;
- gammarus;
- small aquarium fish;
- large daphnia;
- coretra;
- earthworms.
Adult turtles eagerly eat:
- shrimp
- squid;
- snails;
- clams;
- sea and small freshwater fish;
- offal (liver and heart);
- baby rats;
- mice
- frogs
- pieces of meat;
- chickens.
Only sometimes Trionics can eat plant foods: bananas, lettuce and cabbage. From time to time with food, it is necessary to give turtles vitamin-mineral supplements.