What are the breeding techniques for sand-burrowing worms? A full analysis of common methods
The sand-burrowing worm is a rare edible and medicinal insect, and in provinces such as Yunnan and Sichuan in China there are many consumers. Moreover, as wild sand-burrowing worms decrease, the price of sand-burrowing worms is rising, and more and more people are breeding them. Let's take a look below at the breeding techniques for sand-burrowing worms.
I. Breeding facilities
1. Breeding pond: the breeding pond is a 2 m * 5 m cement pond, 1 m deep, with river sand and flat pebbles laid on the bottom, a drainage pipe set at the bottom, and a water depth of about 0.5 m. In one corner of the breeding pond, use river sand and pebbles to build a slope. The slope is 45 degrees. The height is 1 m, and the base area must not exceed one quarter of the pond bottom.
Insect-proof net: the insect-proof net is 2 m * 5 m, with a height of 1 m. Use a steel pipe frame to fix it on top of the cement pond, then put the sewn insect net over it, generally sewing the entrance and exit with a zipper.
2. Aeration machinery: each pond is equipped with one aerator to keep the dissolved oxygen in the pond water above 6 mg/L for recirculating aquaculture. For the feeding and habitat environment, from July to September, during the pupation and emergence period of the sand-burrowing worm, some flowers, plants and small shrubs need to be planted in the breeding pond to provide the dobsonfly with insects placed in a foam box.
3. Seedling transport: use oxygen-filled foam boxes for transport; various transport tools such as aircraft for air transport, cars and trains for land transport, and ships for water transport can be used. It causes only slight damage to the seedlings and gives a high transport survival rate.
II. Breeding management
1. Temperature: before the seedlings are transported back and put into the pond, adjust the water temperature and salinity so that when the seedlings are put into the pond the temperature difference is within 2°C and the salinity difference is within 5%. Put the collected sand-burrowing worms of various instars into the breeding pond; the young instars must be raised separately in a concentrated way to prevent them from being eaten by the older instars.
2. Breeding density: the sand-burrowing worm is closely related to the water environment and has high requirements for its living environment, with strict requirements for water quality, temperature, humidity, oxygen content, food and light. The stocking density of seedlings is generally 50-100 individuals per sq m. To promote the growth of the insects, during the breeding process they should be screened and raised separately in a timely manner according to their size.
3. Water quality management: the breeding of sand-burrowing worms is flat breeding, and the water level does not need to be too high; generally a water depth of 40-60 cm is sufficient. In artificial breeding production, river shrimp, yellow mealworms and fish bait are mainly used as feed. The feed fed should be diverse, fresh, free of pathogenic organisms, and free of contamination by toxic and harmful substances.
4. Feed feeding: the sand-burrowing worm begins to forage on its own from dusk, and its ability to forage on its own is strongest at night. Therefore, each time feed is given, yellow mealworms need to be evenly fed around the breeding pond every evening. The yellow mealworms put in each day amount to about 10% of the total amount of sand-burrowing worms.
5. Daily rearing: make sure to achieve fixed times and fixed locations. Purify the water quality, optimize the breeding environment, and enhance the disease resistance of the sand-burrowing worm. Every 2—3 days, regularly remove the residual bodies of yellow mealworms and other perishable impurities. Regularly or irregularly use quicklime water to adjust the pond water. Regularly replace the pond water; in summer and autumn it is generally cleaned once every 2-3 days, and in winter and spring it is generally cleaned once a week. After feeding, on the early morning of the next day, after the sand-burrowing worms have finished eating the remaining feed at the bottom of the pond, pull out the plug of the drainage pipe to drain the water, and wrap the drainage pipe at one end of the pond in advance with a small-mesh gauze.
The sand-burrowing worm currently has a relatively large consumer group, and in Sichuan it is a well-known delicacy that can be eaten in restaurants of all sizes. Its breeding prospects are also relatively considerable.