Nowadays, with the improvement of people's quality of life, more and more people like to keep a small pet at home. Turtles are the first choice for many people, because people think that turtles are easier to raise, but turtles are also There are many types of turtles. The turtle I will talk about below is very strange. It is called the dead leaf turtle, also known as the Mata turtle. The dead leaf turtle is one of the oldest reptiles in existence.

The Mata turtle is a large aquatic turtle and one of the oldest existing reptiles. It is a sedentary turtle with a triangular flat head, a tubular nose and a horn-like part. The chin has three tentacles and four filamentous tentacles. It is shaped like a dead leaf and is yellow in color. Visible in the lake. Because its shell resembles a dead leaf, it is called a dead leaf turtle.

2. How to raise leaf turtles

1. Water quality

Mata is a turtle species that prefers slightly acidic water (PH5.5~6.5). In fact, this is not absolute. Mata is basically raised from seedlings now, and it can be fully adapted to ordinary household water, but chlorine must be removed. In the first month of raising new turtles, it is recommended to add Terminalia leaves and adjust the water to a slightly acidic state. This has two benefits. The first is to prevent rotten skin and help the turtles adapt to the water quality as quickly as possible. The second is to create a dim environment to allow the turtles to adapt to the water quality as soon as possible. Marta felt safer.

2. Environment

Marta is a kind of turtle that is very afraid of light. Because its eyes are small and its way of hunting is disguised hunting, it rarely moves. Therefore, the environment should be as low as possible during the seedling stage. Dark, if you can add driftwood that can be avoided, black sand is the best, so that Marta can easily feel safe. If there are no landscaping conditions, you can paste black paper on the bottom of the plastic box.

When Marta is a seedling, her swimming ability is not high, so the water should not be too deep when raising her. For turtles below 10cm, the water should be as deep as the back or twice as much. For turtles after 10cm, the water depth should be based on the length of the carapace. same. Of course, if there is landscaping and climbing objects, the water level can be deepened. In addition, everyone should pay attention to the fact that during the seedling period, try to avoid direct sunlight for a long time. This will cause the mata to lose its armor, which is very troublesome. It will later affect the appearance.

3. Food

Leaf turtles are live eaters, so in the early stages of seedlings under 10cm , we can feed small live fish and let them hunt on their own. Don’t worry about nutritional deficiencies, because the dead leaf turtle is the only turtle species that can survive healthily by eating only fish. Loach is also good. The length of the fish and loach should not exceed the carapace. Try to avoid disturbing the dead leaf turtle that has just arrived home. After putting in live food, leave and wait for it to start eating on its own.

When a turtle becomes fat, it is easy to overload the liver and cause the death of the turtle. Feeding is enough for seven minutes. Half an hour after feeding, the remaining food at the bottom of the water must be cleaned up to affect the water quality.