Sharing Experience on Four-Season Management of Snake Farms

Snakes are cold-blooded animals, and their body temperature changes with the rise and fall of the environmental temperature. Good management of a snake farm can ensure the normal growth and reproduction of snakes and improve the yield and quality of the snakes. Spring management. For breeding purposes, snakes are generally best introduced in spring, as there is no need to worry about the weather being too cold or too hot during transport, and the egg-laying period also falls at this time. Before introducing snakes into the snake farm, the site should be cleaned in advance, and cleaning and disinfection work should be done well. Snakes that have just emerged from hibernation basically do not eat for the first 2 to 3 weeks. They begin to eat a small amount of food in April, and their food intake increases greatly in May. Sufficient and hygienic feed should be provided regularly, and the snake farm should have clean drinking water. At the same time, snake farmers should frequently observe the snakes' activities and promptly record the snakes' predation, drinking, shedding, mate seeking, mating, reproduction, pests and diseases, and death. Summer management. Summer is the main mating and breeding season for snakes, and also the peak season for predation, activity, and growth. Female snakes should be well cared for, snake eggs should be collected in time, and preparations for reproduction and incubation should be made well. Female snakes and male snakes should be separated and kept individually, and the food supply should be sufficient and diverse. Female snakes that lay eggs should be carefully observed, snake eggs should be collected attentively, and the work of artificially incubating young snakes should be done well. During the intense heat of midsummer, cooling work for the snake nests should be done well. The snake farm should have clean drinking water, and feces should be cleaned up in time. Autumn management. Autumn is the peak predation season for snakes, so the feed supplied to snakes in autumn should be of high quality and large quantity, so that the snakes can store a large amount of fat in their bodies for overwintering and for the physical consumption during the emergence period the following year. At this time, individual snakes with small food intake should be manually force-fed so that they can safely pass the winter. Because wild snakes have a large predation volume in autumn and often come out of their holes to forage, this is also a good time to catch breeding snakes. Winter management. Winter is a key season for artificial breeding and is related to whether the snakes can safely overwinter. In particular, snakes from which venom is extracted before overwintering or snakes with weaker constitutions need even stronger management during the overwintering period. Before overwintering, the snakes should be allowed to eat their fill and drink enough, and the feed should be of high quality, large quantity, and diverse, so that they can accumulate enough fat to meet the needs of overwintering. During the overwintering period, snakes should be kept at an appropriate temperature (young snakes overwintering require an indoor temperature of 2°C to 6°C), and it is strictly necessary to prevent the indoor temperature from fluctuating between high and low, so as not to cause young snakes to wake up during hibernation, which is detrimental to overwintering. In winter, the temperature and humidity of the snake farm should be checked regularly. The snake overwintering pond should be covered with plastic film, and when the temperature rises, the plastic film should be opened so that the snakes can come out of their holes and move in the snake farm where there is sufficient sunlight. Sick snakes should be isolated or killed in time to prevent infection of the whole group. Because snakes are particularly concentrated during overwintering, infectious diseases are likely to spread and cause great harm.