Detailed Explanation of Artificial Breeding Methods and Technical Key Points for the Chinese Giant Salamander

Giant Salamander Rearing Methods

1. Choosing a Suitable Environment

Whether artificial breeding of the Chinese giant salamander succeeds depends crucially on the rearing environment.

1. The rearing water temperature must be suitable. According to many years of observation, the most suitable water temperature for giant salamander growth is 16-22°C. In low mountain areas, summer temperatures are higher; if the water temperature exceeds 26°C, giant salamander growth will be affected, sometimes causing a “summer dormancy” phenomenon, and excessively high temperatures can even cause death; however, if the altitude is too high and the ambient and water temperatures are too low, the effective growth period of the giant salamander is short and its growth rate is slow, making breeding unprofitable. Therefore, for breeding giant salamanders, the site should preferably be chosen in areas at an altitude of 500-800 m with no severe cold in winter and no extreme heat in summer.

2. The rearing water quality must be good. Giant salamanders like cleanliness and fear dirt, and have very strict requirements for the water quality of their environment. Wild giant salamanders generally inhabit streams and rivers in deep mountain valleys with good natural vegetation, no environmental pollution, and few human visitors. For artificial breeding of giant salamanders in mountainous areas, the water source should preferably be small streams or springs with year-round flowing water; the bottom water of clean large and medium-sized reservoirs can also be used. In short, the water quality must be fresh, lively, pollution-free, high in dissolved oxygen, and neutral in pH. Water flowing from mountain farmland and mines, as well as urban tap water, may contain excessive amounts of some chemicals and cannot be used as water for giant salamander breeding.

3. The rearing environment must be quiet. Giant salamanders have the habits of liking quiet and fearing disturbance, and liking shade and fearing wind, so a quiet environment is very important for raising giant salamanders well. When building a giant salamander breeding farm in mountainous areas, it is best to choose a place surrounded by mountains, with lush trees, sparse population, and a relatively independent, quiet, and shady environment, with appropriate screening. Some farmers use natural rock caves, or artificially excavate tunnels in places with water sources for breeding, which can maintain a constant temperature, avoid light, and stay quiet, while also preventing escape and theft; the breeding results are very good.

To meet the above conditions, it is best to build the farm in a suitable environment in the original habitat of the giant salamander. In addition, mountain areas are prone to sudden flash floods in summer, so when selecting a site for the farm, work to prevent washout and escape should also be done well.

2. Scientifically and Rationally Building Ponds

1. Building ponds. After the breeding site is determined, breeding ponds should be built in a shaded, light-avoiding place convenient for management and water inlet and outlet. Because giant salamanders have the habit of bullying the weak, preying on the small, and cannibalizing one another when bait is insufficient and they are extremely hungry, breeding giant salamanders requires building a large number of small ponds, classifying by size, and raising them separately. Breeding ponds generally use a brick-concrete structure; the area of each small pond is determined according to the size of the giant salamanders, 1-2 sq m when small and 2-4 sq m when large. The pond shape is not restricted, but the pond height must be more than 1 m. Stone slabs are placed at the bottom of the pond to form gaps, or foam boards are placed to float on the water surface, providing places for giant salamanders to hide and shelter underneath. The inner walls of the pond need to be smoothed and polished with cement to prevent giant salamanders from escaping or being scratched. Walkways are set between rows of breeding ponds to facilitate feeding and other daily management.

2. Water inlet and outlet system. Each breeding pond must be provided with a water inlet and a water outlet, generally set at the two ends of the pond. To prevent cross-infection when giant salamanders contract disease, the water inlet of each breeding pond must be directly connected to the main water inlet pipe and receive water from the main pipe. In addition, a drainage outlet must be set at the bottom of the breeding pond to remove giant salamander feces and metabolic waste and keep the water clean.

3. Stocking Seedlings

1. Purchasing. Breeders should preferably buy healthy, disease-free seedlings from artificial breeding centers for giant salamanders nearby. At present, giant salamander seedlings are relatively expensive. To ensure the survival rate of breeding, beginners should preferably buy giant salamander seedlings weighing more than 100 grams; such seedlings are not only easy to keep alive but also grow rapidly.

2. Stocking. Because giant salamanders have a fierce and combative habit, especially adult giant salamanders, when they feel hungry due to lack of food, they often bite and fight at night; in mild cases they are injured, and in severe cases they even bite small giant salamanders to death and eat them. Therefore, breeding giant salamanders must be carried out by classifying and stocking according to size and strength, with appropriately sparse stocking. Generally, according to the size of the breeding pond and the seedlings, 5-10 giant salamander seedlings of the same specification are stocked per pond; when the fish are small they can be denser, and when large they should be sparser. It should be noted that because the bricks, cement, and lime used in building the pond are all alkaline, a newly built breeding pond cannot immediately be stocked with giant salamander seedlings. The pond must first be filled with stream water and soaked for 2-3 days; after washing and scrubbing it clean, the dirty water is drained, then the pond is soaked and rinsed repeatedly with water more than 3 times, until the water poured into the pond is neutral (pH around 7), only then can giant salamander seedlings be stocked. If there is no pH test paper for testing, rice field eels or other fish seedlings can first be placed in the pond for trial rearing for 2-3 days, and after confirming there is no problem, giant salamander seedlings can then be stocked. If an old pond is used for rearing, it must be disinfected and dewormed in advance by soaking with 1 PPM bleaching powder and 0.5 PPM crystalline trichlorfon, and only after repeated rinsing with clean water can giant salamander seedlings be stocked.

4. Feeding Management

1. Feeding. The giant salamander's diet is very broad; various fish, shrimp, crabs, loach, eel, frogs, earthworms, insects, as well as offal and scraps such as the internal organs of pigs, cattle, sheep, and chickens can all be fed, but the bait must be fresh. To solve the problem of long-term bait feeding in mountain artificial breeding, small miscellaneous fish can be raised as a supplementary crop, or earthworms, yellow mealworms, snails, and so on can be raised. Giant salamanders have a strong ability to endure hunger and will not starve to death even if they do not eat for a long time, but after prolonged hunger they have a habit of overeating, and when food is lacking they may also engage in cannibalism among their own kind. Therefore, artificial breeding of giant salamanders should pay attention to observation and, according to water temperature, weather, and the feeding situation of the giant salamanders, feed the bait regularly, quantitatively, and in a balanced manner to promote healthy growth of the giant salamanders.

2. Management. First, manage the water well: always keep slight flowing water in the pond, with the pond water fresh, lively, free of pollution, and high in dissolved oxygen, and maintain an appropriate water level, preventing both drying of the pond and escape of the fish when the water is too full; second, control the water temperature well, especially strengthening water changes in high-temperature seasons so that the water temperature is always kept below 25°C; third, pay attention to avoiding light, and when sunlight is strong, promptly set up shade sheds to provide shade and prevent strong light from shining directly on the breeding pond; fourth, keep the pond clean, and promptly remove impurities such as giant salamander feces and regurgitated residual bait and bone fragments to prevent water quality from deteriorating and causing various diseases; fifth, prevent escape and theft, especially in rainstorm seasons, carefully inspect anti-escape facilities to prevent giant salamanders from taking the opportunity to escape.