What should beginners pay attention to in scorpion farming

  Since ancient times, scorpions have been an important medicinal material in traditional Chinese medicine, with rich medicinal and nutritional value, and can treat conditions such as convulsions, epilepsy, stroke, hemiplegia, facial paralysis, migraine, tetanus, lymphatic tuberculosis, and rubella sores and swelling. In recent years, due to long-term mountain clearing and land reclamation, road building and mining, and the heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the natural ecological environment on which scorpions depend for survival has been severely damaged. In addition, heavy human capture has caused wild scorpion resources to gradually become depleted and be on the verge of extinction. The demand for scorpions is growing ever larger. Supply falls short of demand, the price of dried scorpions rises year by year, and this shows good market prospects. Many people rush in because of the high returns of scorpion farming and join the ranks of scorpion farming without any experience, but not all artificial farming successfully obtains high profits. According to estimates, the success rate of scorpion farming is no more than 30% at most, and most farmers end in failure for various reasons. Successful farmers keep their farming techniques closed or secret, while failed farmers, once bitten and twice shy, no longer dare to engage in this industry. Therefore, a minority succeed in scorpion farming. The current situation in which most people fail determines that market demand cannot be met in recent years. Here are several points that those new to scorpion farming and those taking a wait-and-see attitude toward scorpion farming should pay attention to during the scorpion farming process:

Issue one for beginners in scorpion farming: how do scorpion farmers get started

The first thing to determine in scorpion farming is the farming scale and farming method. When first starting, the scale of introducing breeding stock should not be too large; generally, as few as 300 to 500 or as many as 2,000 to 3,000 is appropriate. Too few scorpions makes management costs relatively high, while too many makes it easy, due to lack of experience, to cause accidental losses through poor management. In terms of farming method, from the perspective of the farming environment it can be divided into indoor scorpion farming and outdoor scorpion farming, and beginners should choose the indoor scorpion farming method; in terms of farming tools, there are bottle farming, basin farming, box farming, pool farming, pit farming, and so on. When introducing breeding stock, beginners had best use basin farming, then transition to pit farming or pool farming. In addition, scorpion farming can also be divided into normal-temperature and constant-temperature methods, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, which can be chosen according to one's own circumstances. Besides this, one should also attend training and visit farms. Although scorpion farming is not complicated, it is a rather meticulous job, and many details are hard to express in writing; it is very difficult to understand thoroughly just by reading materials. Those who want to farm scorpions must receive systematic training and go to professional farms for on-site visits and study in order to truly master scorpion farming techniques.

Issue two for beginners in scorpion farming: why scorpions die easily

According to surveys, the main reasons scorpions easily become ill and die are that beginners do not understand scorpions' living habits well and do not know how to adjust scorpion farming techniques according to climatic conditions. Especially in northern regions, temperatures in winter and spring are abnormal, sometimes dropping to around 10°C and sometimes rising above 20°C, making it difficult for scorpions to adapt, which leads to a large number of scorpions becoming ill and dying (commonly known as “spring death”); in addition, in late spring and early summer, there is a lot of rain, the air humidity is relatively high, food easily becomes moldy, and the newly awakened scorpions tend to binge eat, making them prone to dying in large numbers due to causes such as indigestion. Moreover, scorpions are extremely sensitive to various unusual odors. Some scorpion farmers often unconsciously bring unusual odors such as perfume, alcohol, medicine, and stench into the scorpion room, disrupting the scorpions' olfactory system and causing them to become ill. For this reason, scorpion farmers must carefully observe the scorpions' living habits, ponder carefully and tend them meticulously, fully understand what scorpions like and dislike, and then meet their requirements for environment and food as much as possible.