‘Turtle Dad’ delights in an odd menagerie of pets
Print Edition
Cheng Bo has been nicknamed “Turtle Dad” because he raises more than 100 turtles in his home.
The clerk at the Minhang District Health Supervision Institute spends all his time on his reptile “pets.”
His online moniker “Black Coffee” on the public social network WeChat is well known to turtle fans.
“After all these years, my interest in turtles has never faded,” Cheng said. “In fact, it is growing stronger all the time. They never cease to amaze me.”
Cheng’s fascination with terrapins began at an early age. Thirty years ago, when Cheng was around two years old, his family had a Reeve’s turtle as a pet. A common breed, the turtle accompanied his boyhood for a decade.
In 2003, Cheng went online for the first time. He registered on several forums related to turtle raising and his obsession was cemented.
When most of his classmates in the college were absorbed in online games, Cheng immersed himself in turtle forums. He read everything he could find about turtle raising and breeding, exchanging information with fellow aficionados both at home and abroad.
“My obsession knew no bounds,” Cheng said. “Even when I sat in a class, my mind was on turtles. If one of my pets was sick, I rushed home during lunch break to check up on it.”
Cheng became especially interested in egg turtles, or those with oval shells. When the turtles retract their head, legs and tail, their shells look like eggs when viewed from above.
Egg turtles typically have elegant patterns on the shells, and they seem to thrive in Shanghai climate.
There is actually a lot to learn about raising turtles. Cheng said he had turtles die on him during his first years of keeping them. It may have been illness, drought or heat. He wasn’t quite sure what he was doing wrong.
“Although turtles have very strong vitality, they still need intensive care,” said Cheng.
The primary factor in keeping them healthy is changing their water frequently. If the water goes bad, turtles fall ill quickly. And when turtles lay eggs, the eggs may be buried in the sand, so the owner needs to poke around the sand every day to see if there are new eggs or the eggs may spoil quickly.
Cheng now has more than 100 egg turtles in 28 tanks. He knows them so intimately that he houses them according to their particular living habits. Everyday he spends hours feeding them, changing the water, washing them and taking them out for a bit of sun.
If a turtle is sick, he still rushes home during his office lunch breaks to check up on it. He also stays up very late sometimes to watch turtles lay eggs, recording the process on camera.
“I love to travel,” Cheng said. “But I am never away for long because I don’t feel right leaving the turtles alone.”
He is especially proud of his talent in breeding turtles. Every year, more than 150 turtles hatch at his home. Some are born with rarely seen shell patterns.
“I usually share them with my turtle buddies,” he said.
Selling fledgling turtles helps Cheng defray the cost of his hobby.
His WeChat account says, “Black Coffee will teach you how to raise turtles.” It attracted more than 800 followers the first week after it began. He shares his experiences and answers questions without charge.
“I don’t want to make a lot of money raising turtles,” said Cheng. “I just want more people to discover the beauty and fun of turtles.”
Black Coffee teaches you
how to raise turtles
Feeding
Common fish food is fine for turtles. They especially like fresh fish bits and shrimp, but don’t give them frozen or cooked food.
Water changing
The best time for changing the water is half an hour after feeding. The fresh water should be of similar temperature to the old one, especially in the winter, or the turtles will catch cold.
Living environment
A tank filled with water, sand and a large stone will keep most turtles happy. The depth of the water should be twice the height of the turtles. The surface of the stone should be above the water level so that the turtles can climb onto it to dry out their shells.
Hibernation
Don’t put the turtles in places where the sun might shine during their hibernation periods. Don’t feed them until the low of the day is above 15 degrees Celsius.
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