Vietnam is the marine country with the long coast as well as a rich system of rivers and lakes, which is the ideal environment for animals to live and grow. In terms of turtle, they have various types easily found in Vietnam and three of them will be introduced below.
Vietnamese Turtles
Living in deep water, at places where water is stagnant or flows slowly (pond, mere). Feeding on shellfish, crab, fish, algae, moss, duckweed. Each season, it lays 50-60 eggs, the egg is round, has a shell of white lime, and is as big as a pigeon egg.
The turtle climbs the bank to make its nest and covers the eggs with earth or dry humus. It remains nearby to guard the eggs. Its meat is delicious, fortifying, and used in the treatment of a number of ailments such as dysentery, liver or spleen condition, backache, asthma. There are two kinds of common marine turtles.
Scaled Marine Vietnamese Turtles
Scaled marine turtles have a carapace of imbricated scales like the tiles of a roof, yellow, transparent, and embellished with dark brown spots like the surface of the veined wood. The scales serve to make spectacle frames, mirror supports, combs, fans, brooches, bracelets, rings.
A specimen weighing 70-80 kilograms has large scales covering a carapace of several meters in width. The scales are taken off in two ways: after killing the animal for its meat; or detached from the living turtle using a piece of cloth soaked in a solution of hot alum water placed on the carapace. It takes two years for new scales to grow. Marine turtles can be reared in pools of saltwater; within three years, the scales are about 30-40 centimeters long.
Small Marine Vietnamese Turtles
Small marine turtles live near the coast, rarely coming into estuaries. Feeds on seaweed and many kinds of sea life. From May to October, on moonlit nights, the female crawls on the beach, digs a hole in the sand, lays eggs, and covers them with sand.
Each year, the female lays 2-5 times (every 100-150 eggs). Later, hundreds of small tortoises appear and scuttle to the sea (they can be taken to be reared). The grilled meat is succulent. The inside membrane covering the lower part of the carapace is very expensive. Soup is prepared with the meat and this membrane. Boiled eggs are similar to hen’s eggs. The fat is used in the production of cosmetics. The skin of its neck and feet can be tanned, The animal can be easily caught by turning it on its hack.
