A Complete Guide to Cobra Breeding Techniques and Methods
When cobras are mentioned, everyone certainly “turns pale at the talk of snakes”, but as the economic value of cobras rises, more and more people are beginning to breed cobras artificially. Below, the editor will introduce to you the breeding techniques for cobras.
I. Feeding Techniques
1. In spring and autumn, cobras are mostly active in caves, with rodents as their main food, while in summer and early autumn (May-September) they disperse to the foot of mountains, fields, riversides, ditches, rice paddies, vegetable gardens, wall bases and other places, and even crawl into houses. They have a broad diet, feeding on rodents, birds and bird eggs, lizards, snakes, frogs, loaches, swamp eels and other small fish.
2. Cobras have a strong tolerance for hunger; it is often seen that they do not eat for several months or even a year. However, when raising snakes, one must not neglect the supply of food, and should try to feed them well and to satiety. Generally, snakes can be fed once about every half month. During seasons when snakes are frequently active, they can be fed 2-3 times per month, or once a week.
3. The food fed to cobras is live animals, for the snakes to prey on. For some young snakes that cannot prey, manual force-feeding can be carried out when necessary. Snakes generally have a large food intake; for example, the black-browed ratsnake (Orthriophis taeniurus) can eat 4-5 small mice in a row at one time. When feeding snakes, clean drinking water should be supplied at the same time, because snakes generally crave water. With water but no food, they can endure hunger for a longer time. If snakes are deprived of both food and water for a long time, their bodies will become weak and they will be prone to illness.
II. Cobra Hatching Techniques
1. Prevent natural enemies
Although cobras are fierce, there are still some animals that are natural enemies of snake eggs. Rodents, domestic dogs, yellow weasels, ants and other animals will enter and prey on snake eggs, so the jar opening should be covered or protected with gauze netting to prevent the snake eggs from being harmed.
2. Do not mix eggs for incubation
The hatching time of different species of cobra eggs differs markedly. Even for the same species of snake, due to differences in living environment or physical condition, the egg-laying time also varies, and the hatching time is also different. In artificial incubation of snake eggs, snake eggs of the same species are mostly placed in the same incubation jar or vessel, which makes it easier to control the incubation temperature and humidity and is beneficial for the snake eggs to hatch. If snake eggs with different incubation periods are mixed together for incubation, it will inevitably make the incubation techniques and incubation conditions difficult to control.
3. Temperature and humidity
Generally, the incubation temperature for snake eggs is more suitable at 20-30 degrees. For convenience of temperature measurement, a thermometer can be hung on the rim of the jar. If the temperature is too high, the lid can be opened to dissipate heat; if the temperature is too low, a hot water bag can be hung to remedy it, but it must not touch the snake eggs. In the process of artificially incubating snake eggs, practice has found that, due to different incubation temperatures, snake eggs will directly affect the male-to-female ratio of the young snakes after hatching.
4. Control male and female
Artificial incubation can completely change the sex of young snakes by human intervention. If you want to increase the proportion of female snakes, you only need to control the incubation temperature at 20-24 degrees and the relative humidity at about 90%; most of those hatched will be female snakes. When the incubation temperature is higher than 27 degrees and the humidity is lower than 70%, most of those hatched will be male snakes. If the temperature is controlled at 24-27°C and the relative humidity of the environment is controlled at 50%-70%, the young snakes hatched will be about half female and half male.
5. Prevent mold on snake eggs
Once mold spots are found on the eggshell, they can be gently wiped away with a flannel cloth. At the place where the mold spots appear, use a writing brush dipped in a little griseofulvin to apply it. After it is completely air-dried, put it back in its original place. Never use antibiotic ointment to apply it, otherwise the grease will block the air pores on the eggshell, causing the embryo to suffocate and die, becoming a dead embryo.
6. Choose covering material
In order to regulate and maintain the suitable humidity for snake eggs during incubation and increase the hatching rate of snake eggs, fresh, clean lotus leaves, parasol tree leaves or moss vegetation should be chosen to cover the snake eggs, generally replaced once every 2-4 days. Some breeders are used to covering snake eggs with wet straw or wet cotton wadding, which often fails to achieve the ideal effect. A slight carelessness can cause the snake eggs to become moldy and deteriorate, affecting normal incubation, so it should not be used.
7. Check eggs at the proper time
During the incubation process, if unfertilized eggs or dead embryo eggs are left for too long, they will swell and rupture due to deterioration, contaminating other fertilized eggs. To avoid this phenomenon, the measure of checking eggs at the proper time can be adopted to ensure normal incubation of fertilized eggs. When checking eggs, a wooden box with a built-in light bulb can be used, with a hole slightly smaller than a snake egg opened on the box. Place the egg in front of the hole and shine light on it to check whether the snake egg is fertilized. If it is difficult to decide whether to keep or discard an individual snake egg for the moment, it can be placed aside separately and rechecked after some time.
8. Learn to keep records
In the process of artificial incubation, detailed records of the incubation situation should be made every day. After the young snakes hatch, records should also be made of the snake species name, body length, weight, feeding, shedding and other relevant data for the young snakes. Doing so helps to continuously improve incubation techniques and feeding methods.
The above is the cobra breeding technique compiled by the editor for you. We hope it can help you!