How to Buy Rice Field Eel Fry Without Getting Scammed? A Detailed Guide to Anti-Fraud Methods

  Spring is a good season for raising eels and buying fry. The market for rice field eels has been strong in recent years, with prices rising steadily. By winter, there is basically a price but no supply on the market, so many people are investing or preparing to invest in rice field eel farming. When selecting rice field eel fry, you must be on guard against the following situations to avoid being scammed.

1. Passing off wild rice field eel fry as artificially bred fry. The number of artificially domesticated and bred rice field eel fry is limited, and there are few farms in China that truly domesticate and breed rice field eel fry. Many fry-speculation operations pass off wild rice field eel fry bought on the market as artificially bred fry. There are more than 20 varieties of rice field eel in China, but the varieties truly domesticated and bred artificially are the dark yellow large-spotted eel or the golden yellow small-spotted eel; other varieties are not suitable for artificial farming. Wild rice field eels are mostly variegated eels or gray light-yellow eels. 

2. Passing off ordinary rice field eel fry as "giant eels" or "hybrid eels." Many fry-speculation operations pass off ordinary domestic rice field eel fry as "Thai giant eels" or "hybrid eels," claiming that the so-called "giant eel" fry they sell can grow from 500 g to 1000 g in 3 to 5 months, and that investing in 20 kg of "giant eel" fry can earn 100,000 yuan in a year. The author has been engaged in rice field eel farming research for many years and has been scammed many times. The conclusion drawn is that such high-efficiency farming is not credible. At present, China simply has no "hybrid eels" or "giant eels," and the Thai eels truly introduced from Thailand are also not suited to China's climate conditions. According to investigations, no one has succeeded in farming "giant eels" or "hybrid eels." 

Identification method 1: Body shape and color identification method. High-quality good fry are dark yellow large-spotted eels. This eel has a dark yellow body surface, a well-proportioned body shape, and large black spots. With this fry that has been artificially domesticated and bred, using compound feed for masculinizing culture, a 20 g fry can grow to 150 g to 250 g after 5 to 6 months of rearing. For fry of other varieties, body weight increases by less than onefold after 5 to 6 months of rearing, and some increase by even less. 

Method 2: Compound feed testing method. Under the premise of feeding at fixed times, in fixed amounts, and at fixed locations with rice field eel compound feed or earthworms, truly artificially domesticated high-quality rice field eel fry can feed normally, while wild rice field eel fry or rice field eel fry with poor constitutions cannot possibly feed on compound feed or earthworms. When buying rice field eel fry, you must go to a legitimate farm, and you must never accept rice field eel fry that do not feed. 

Method 3: Drug soaking screening method. Soak rice field eel fry in water with 6 g of copper sulfate added per liter, or use eel disease remedy at 10 g of the drug per cubic meter of water and soak the rice field eels for 15 minutes. High-quality rice field eel fry move in an orderly way in the medicated water and finally become static. Poor-quality rice field eel fry and diseased or injured rice field eel fry do the opposite. 

Method 4: Fry price identification method. Rice field eel fry, like other fry, should have a fair and reasonable price. At present, market commodity rice field eels (large ones) cost about 40 yuan per kg. Because fry require a certain amount of time and equipment during the breeding process, a fry price about 20% higher than that of adult rice field eels is a normal and reasonable price. Some fry-speculation "companies" drive the price of rice field eel fry up to about 100 yuan per kg, and some even as high as 160 yuan, completely violating natural laws. 
But fry priced below the market price should also be treated with caution. Friends who are investing or preparing to invest in rice field eel farming should learn more farming knowledge, explore more experience, and inspect more legitimate suppliers. Then the pros and cons of rice field eels can be distinguished, and farming will go smoothly.