How to Raise Scorpions? A Detailed Guide to Scientific Breeding Techniques
The scorpion is a venomous animal that likes to live in dark, damp places. Despite being venomous, the scorpion is an animal with high nutritional value and a wide range of uses. That is why more and more people are raising scorpions. Below, the editor will introduce how to raise scorpions scientifically!
Scientific Scorpion Breeding Techniques
Master the scorpion's living habits: The scorpion is a special economic animal that prefers shade and fears light, and likes moisture but fears dampness; it also has the habit of squeezing into small cracks. Therefore, when building a scorpion farm, the scorpion's wild living environment should be simulated as much as possible. Planning a scorpion farm in terms of area per unit and the number of scorpions stocked comes down to two types: communal rearing and isolated rearing. Practice has proved that the communal rearing method has some shortcomings that are hard to overcome. The survival rate of scorpions is relatively low, so when building a scorpion farm, the isolated rearing method should be adopted as far as possible, as this helps raise the survival rate of artificial breeding.
Breed good breeding scorpions, and keep the stocking density suitable: Breeding good breeding scorpions is the foundation for developing artificial scorpion farming; and the size of the scorpion stocking density is directly related to the key to success or failure in scorpion farming. Therefore, breeding scorpions should be selected as medium-sized, robust male and female scorpions, and scorpions are cold-blooded animals with no mutual affection; they are born with a nature of killing one another. To avoid this nature of mutual killing among scorpions, the scorpions' activity area must be limited, using sealed, fixed, limited-quantity greenhouse-style breeding methods, or the “three-part” model of basin rearing, bottle breeding and pond rearing, integrating basins, bottles and ponds into one, which is easy to manage, easy to observe and convenient to clean. Practical breeding has proved that this method can raise the survival rate of 2nd-instar scorpions, is suitable for the development of breeding scorpions, and is beneficial for constant-temperature three-dimensional breeding of 4th-5th instar scorpions, among other advantages; the success rate is relatively high, and it is a fairly ideal rearing model.
Diversify the feed: Scorpions are carnivorous animals and like to eat soft, juicy insects. When feeding, carnivorous feed should be the main type, and the more kinds of small insects fed, the better. Different kinds of insects contain different amino acids, and different amino acids can all play a good role in promoting the scorpion's growth, development, reproduction and molting. So the more kinds of feed there are, the more comprehensively the scorpion's nutrition can be increased. Feeding time should generally be 1 hour before dark. Each feeding amount should be supplied in an appropriate quantity according to the size of the scorpion colony and the scorpion's instar. In short, when supplying feed, the following two principles should be grasped well: insect feed should follow the principle of “meeting supply, better to have surplus than shortage”, and compound feed should follow the principle of “limited matching, better to have shortage than surplus”; water should be supplied two hours before feeding.
Separate rearing by instar: During the rearing process, even scorpions bred at the same time differ greatly in growth. If they are not separated in time, the larger individuals will kill the smaller ones, and those that have not molted will kill those that are molting. Therefore, when building a scorpion farm, more scorpion ponds should be prepared, scorpions of the same age should be placed together, and their growth should be observed frequently, always separating them in time and keeping them uniform in size, so as to facilitate synchronized growth.
Constant-temperature rearing: To raise the survival rate of artificial scorpion farming and also make scorpions grow quickly, the scorpion's hibernation period must be eliminated and constant-temperature rearing carried out. The scorpion's hibernation period is caused by the rise and fall of air temperature. In early spring, when the temperature reaches above 10°C, scorpions begin to revive and come out to move about and seek food; when the temperature is below 10°C, they begin one after another to seek out burrows to hibernate. Experiments have proved that at 28°C-38°C, scorpions have the longest activity time, the largest food intake, and the fastest growth and reproduction. Therefore, in winter, heating equipment should be installed in the scorpion farm so that the temperature inside is kept between 28-38°C and the relative air humidity is kept between 60%-80%, with feeding, water supply and other aspects the same as in summer.
Why do so many people want to raise scorpions?
Raising scorpions is not a hugely profitable industry; the amount of profit depends on quantity. The scorpion breeding cycle is long and the difficulty is great, so why do so many people want to raise scorpions? Because scorpions have a large reproductive capacity, the market is good, the prospects are fine, and there is great potential for development. Constant-temperature farming generally produces 2-3 litters a year, with an average of 30 per litter. As long as you master the breeding techniques and then slowly expand the scale, the risk is very small, and profits will increase as the scale expands. Generally, every 3000 breeding scorpions require an investment of about 15000 yuan, and the profit is about 10000 yuan. Some people may think that earning ten thousand yuan a year is not even enough for wages, but one person can raise a very large number; as long as you have the technique, you can raise several hundred thousand. The advantage of raising scorpions lies in its development potential: expand the scale and the profit becomes higher. In fact, this profit ratio is quite high. It is just that the breeding cycle and breeding environment have defeated countless people.
In recent years, the scorpion speculation boom has led many people to breed blindly, without preparation, without technique, and even without food; the failure of breeding is easy to imagine, so it has also frightened countless people.
Where is scorpion breeding technology complicated?
Variable temperature. Scorpions, like snakes and frogs, are poikilothermic (cold-blooded) animals; their body temperature changes with the air temperature in nature, and their activity decreases as the temperature rises and falls. At high temperatures (30-38), their activity is strongest, their food intake is largest, and they grow fast; mating, giving birth and so on all take place within this range. Below 25°C, food intake decreases, and below 18°C they basically do not eat. Therefore, if you want scorpions to grow quickly, you must keep the environment above 28°C.
Silent. Scorpions are lower, silent animals; they cannot express their wishes, and in breeding everything depends on careful observation by people.
Eating live food. Scorpions like to eat small live animals, such as yellow mealworms, ground beetles, earthworms and so on. These animals also need to be raised. Therefore, raising scorpions is not breeding alone; at the same time, the above small animals must also be raised as scorpion feed.
The risks of scorpion breeding
1. Purchase of superior breeds: Never mistakenly buy commercial scorpions, injured scorpions or old scorpions as breeding scorpions.
2. Provision of environmental conditions: In the breeding process, whether the conditions meet the requirements, and whether survival, reproduction and high yield can be guaranteed.
3. Whether market information is accurate and reliable, and whether sales channels are smooth.
Having said so much about scorpion breeding techniques, I believe everyone has gained a certain understanding of raising scorpions. In fact, the prospects for raising scorpions are relatively broad, and their use value is especially wide, so there are also relatively many sales channels for scorpions. Relatively speaking, the profit is also quite objective!