A Detailed Guide to Scorpion Farming Techniques and Scorpion Disease Prevention and Treatment
The scorpion is also known as the whole scorpion, the whole worm, and the pincer scorpion. The scorpion's body contains scorpion venom, which has high medicinal value and has the effects of calming wind and relieving convulsions, dispelling wind and unblocking collaterals, and attacking toxins.
I. Build the Pools Well
It is best to build the pools in a house where no one lives or in an empty shed. The scorpion pool is built with bricks; the length and width of the pool are unrestricted, and the height is 80 cm. After the pool is built, smooth it with cement. It is best to also line the inner sides around the scorpion pool with plastic sheeting or glass to prevent the scorpions from escaping. The bottom of the pool should be covered with about 6 cm of sandy soil, packed firm. Tiles are laid inside the pool, with the tiles placed one horizontal and one vertical, to provide habitat for the scorpions.
II. Scorpion Feed and Feeding
Scorpions like to eat juicy, soft-bodied insects, such as mosquitoes, flies, mantises, grasshoppers, and animals such as spiders and earthworms; they also like to eat alkaline soil and wheat bran. Animal feed for scorpions can be caught by light trapping: dig a hole with a diameter of 25 cm in the roof of the scorpion house, hang a fluorescent lamp or black light lamp above the opening, and equip a funnel below the lamp. Turn on the lamp in the evening to lure insects into falling into the scorpion house for the scorpions to prey on. In addition, ground beetles and crickets can be raised and maggots cultivated to feed the scorpions. If the trapped and raised insects cannot meet the scorpions' needs, some fresh, uncontaminated animal meat can be fed as appropriate. Mince the meat into filling, then wrap the filling into many small packets with small pieces of plastic sheeting and put them into the pool fairly evenly. The number of feedings depends on the temperature. Generally, when the temperature is below 15°C, feed once every 6 to 7 days; when the temperature is 20°C to 30°C, feed once every 3 to 5 days. Do not put in too much feed at a time; too much easily spoils and causes contamination and produces bacteria; too little easily causes the scorpions to not get enough to eat and kill each other. The best feeding time is from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
III. Rearing Management
1. Maintain proper temperature. When the temperature is below 15°C, the scorpions are in a dormant state and stop or slow their growth; when the temperature is above 40°C, the scorpions desperately try to escape and may even die. Therefore, keeping the temperature at 25°C to 30°C is the optimal temperature for scorpion growth and development.
2. Control humidity well. Scorpions like dryness and fear dampness. The optimal relative air humidity is 45% to 50%. The moisture content of the sandy soil should be between 15% and 20%, so that the sandy soil is neither dry nor wet and people do not feel the scorpion room is stuffy. Pay special attention that the sandy soil should not be too damp, otherwise the scorpions will develop powdery mite disease and die.
3. Provide enough drinking water. Whether scorpion farming succeeds or not depends on drinking water. If the water supply is lacking, the scorpions will become too dry and kill each other to death. Therefore, every day a sponge can be soaked with clean water or cold water and placed in the scorpion pool. Every 3 to 5 days, an antibiotic drug (oxytetracycline, sulfonamide, etc.) can be added to the scorpions' drinking water; dissolve each tablet in about 4 kg of cold boiled water, mix well, soak it into a sponge, and put it into the scorpion pool.
4. Male and female pairing. Generally the male-to-female ratio is 2:1; after mating they must immediately be separated and raised separately; pregnant scorpions can be raised in groups to maintain a quiet living environment. About 40 days after mating, pregnant scorpions begin to give birth; at the time of giving birth they should be placed in glass bottles or boxes and raised individually. Forty days after birth, the young scorpions should all be separated from the mother scorpion.
IV. Scorpion Disease Prevention and Treatment
1. Black belly disease. It appears as a black, swollen belly, and in severe cases squeezing with the hand causes black mucus to flow out. Prevention and treatment: keep food and drinking water clean; mix 1 g of dried yeast and 0.5 g of erythromycin with 500 g of sugary food and feed until the illness is cured.
2. Scorpion lice disease. The symptom is the appearance of yellowish-brown or reddish-brown small dot-like mold spots on the scorpion's body, which gradually spread, enlarge, and become raised, and the scorpion's growth stops. Treatment: 0.5 g of oxytetracycline can be mixed with 500 g of food and fed until the illness is cured. Long-acting sulfonamide 1.5 g mixed with 1000 g of food can also be used, fed continuously for about a week.
3. Dragging tail disease. The symptoms are a glossy, bright body, reduced or lost limb function, the tail dragging downward, slow movement, difficulty crawling, or lying motionless on the ground. Treatment: stop feeding for 3 to 5 days, then mix 3 g of rhubarb soda, 50 g of bran, and 60 g of water and feed until the illness is cured.
V. Harvesting and Processing Scorpions
For artificially raised scorpions, harvest once a year, and it is best to capture and harvest in autumn. Before catching, just spray some white liquor into the scorpion house; after the scorpions smell the alcohol, they will flee outward. At this time, pick them up with chopsticks, put them into a porcelain bottle or a smooth basin, and then pour them into a vat.
Soak them in clean water for 4 hours; after the scorpions spit out the soil, take them out and put them into a pot, add a small amount of table salt, and boil for 1 hour. When the scorpions' backs turn yellowish-brown, take them out, dry them in the shade, and they are ready for sale.
The above content is for reference only.