What are the captive breeding techniques for pangolins?
Looking for pangolin breeding techniques?
(Agricultural Wealth Network) Looking for pangolin breeding techniques?
--------------------------------------
The pangolin's scales are used as medicine, with effects of reducing swelling and discharging pus, promoting menstruation and lactation, and clearing collaterals and dispelling wind. It is often used for early-stage carbuncles or abscesses that have formed but not ruptured, failure of milk secretion, blood stasis amenorrhea, rheumatic arthralgia, and so on.
1 Biological characteristics
The pangolin belongs to Mammalia, Pholidota, Manidae. Except for the abdomen and both sides of the limbs, the whole body is covered with imbricate keratinous scales, with a raised back, a short and thick tail, a small head and pointed snout, no teeth, and a slender and soft tongue that is good at extending and retracting, with its surface covered in fishy-smelling mucus, often extended into burrows to lick and eat termites. The limbs are thick and short, each foot has 5 toes, and the claws are hard and sharp; when digging soil, the front claws dig the soil, and the hind limbs push the loosened soil backward to cover the footprints.
The pangolin lives in forests and shrublands of hills and mountainous areas. If it encounters enemies, it curls its body into a ball. The grass it walks through is all pressed forward and leaning, and carries soil. It is especially good at preying on termites and can detect termite nests 100m away through smell. It lies down in front of the ant nest pretending to be dead, secretes fishy mucus on its tongue, lures the termites into the scales all over its body, then jumps into water and swallows the termites floating up in the water.
--------------------------------------
2 Mating and reproduction
The pangolin can reproduce throughout the year, with spring and summer as the peak breeding period. After mating for 3 months to 4 months, it gives birth. It has at least 2 litters a year, with 1 to 2 young per litter. Newborn young have no scales, are white in color, and are nourished by mother's milk. By 1 month of age, the young's scales gradually become keratinized and turn dark brown. Body weight is about 200g. At 2 months of age, the young go out with the mother to forage. At 6 months of age, when body weight reaches 2kg, it can live independently.
--------------------------------------
3 Feeding management
3.1 Construction of feeding site
Choose a damp, shady, wind-sheltered place without a sandy or gravelly soil layer to build the site. First dig out the surface soil until reaching the hard bottom. Then use quicklime, coarse sand, and mix into a blended mud; after drying in the sun, use cement and washed fine river sand to pour a smooth cement soil floor. Then use bricks to build a wall more than 1.5m high around the completed cement floor, and plaster the surrounding surface with cement to make its surface smooth so as to prevent escape. Finally, put the topsoil back into the site and pile it into a rockery, and plant trees, grapes, and weeds on the mountain. When the trees and weeds in the newly built site have not yet formed shade, a cool shed should be set up on the rockery, and its branches and leaves must not extend beyond the wall or be close to the wall. The rockery inside the wall must not exceed 1.5m in height and should be more than 1m away from the enclosing wall. Beside the rockery, build a small pool for the pangolin to drink water and swim. Place cow dung and fishy-smelling bait on the rockery to attract ants and other insects. The size of the site depends on the breeding quantity, and every 10 sq m should not exceed 2 pairs.
3.2 Source of breeding stock
In addition to ordering from farmers, they can also be captured from the wild. There are two methods:
3.2.1 In the morning, search for pangolin tracks in cool and damp forest thickets and places where ants come and go. Once found, as long as you throw a handful of sand and soil at its surroundings and onto its body, it can be startled and curl into a ball, and can be caught by hand.
3.2.2 If you find that grass or trees are all pressed forward and leaning, and are stuck with soil, and claw and toe prints are left on the ground, follow the path and you can find its burrow. If a large pile of fresh soil is seen at the entrance, it indicates that the pangolin is still in the burrow. After entering straight for 1m from the entrance, it turns and extends. Digging this burrow can capture it in one go.
3.3 Feeding management
Feed frequently and observe frequently. Fill the pool with water every day, and place food on the cool shed or rockery for the pangolin to eat at night. You can also bury some easily rotting fishy-smelling things on the rockery in the site to attract ants and other insects, or install night lighting in the site to attract moths and other insects at night for the pangolin to eat. You can also artificially breed insects to feed the pangolin, as follows: 1) Dig a trench 40cm wide and 50cm deep on the rockery in the site, with unlimited length. Put pine needles and fallen leaves into the trench, cover with 2cm-thick broken soil, then pour rice-washing water, swill, or leftover porridge over it, and afterward pour water once a day to keep it moist. After 10 days, ants (especially termites) gather in the trench. Open a section of the trench to feed once, then cover it well again, and insects can be bred continuously 3 to 4 times. 2) Cut rice straw into 1cm to 2cm lengths, boil for 1h to 2h, then bury it in a soil pit 20cm deep, cover with 5cm-thick sludge, and seal it tightly. Pour rice-washing water once a day on the soil pile. After 10d-15d insects begin to grow. Open the pit and let the pangolin finish eating, then seal it in the same way, water it, and insects can be bred continuously 4 to 5 times. 3) Mix sun-dried cow dung with 5% rice bran and rotten pond mud, pile it into small heaps, and small insects can grow in 3d-5d. After the insects are eaten, pile it up in the same way, and this can be repeated 5 to 6 times. 4) Mix fresh chicken manure with 5% rice bran or wheat bran and place it evenly on the floor in a corner of a house where there are many flies, spread 10cm to 15cm thick. After 1 week, a large number of fly maggots grow. After collecting them for feeding, spread it flat again, pour a small amount of porridge or rice soup, and this can be repeated 6 to 7 times. 5) Mix chicken feathers, distillers' grains, garbage, and other materials with water into a semi-paste and compost them, then cover well with rotten mud. After 10 days, small insects grow. The more chicken feathers and distillers' grains, the faster the insects grow.
--------------------------------------
4. Disease prevention and treatment
Pangolins rarely get sick. Newly captured pangolins may starve to death because they refuse food. Or they may suffer from gastrointestinal diseases because they barely consume unsuitable artificial feed. Some also suffer from pneumonia because they cannot adapt to changes in ground temperature. If a pangolin refuses food, it should be fed a mixed feed by gavage. The formula is: hydrolyzed protein 1.5g, glucose 3g, compound vitamin B2.5g, add water 7ml to 8ml, dissolve and set aside. The above is the daily gavage amount for a pangolin weighing 2.5kg. After 2 weeks to 3 weeks of gavage feeding, gradually add permanent feed to minced fish or earthworms. The formula is: silkworm pupa powder 50%, cooked egg 5%, milk powder 5%, dry yeast 10%, surface soil 25%, dried sophora leaf powder 5%, multivitamins 0.02%, growth hormone 0.05%, etc. Grind into powder and mix evenly. When feeding, add water 40% to 50%. The feeding amount should go from small to large, and ensure drinking water supply. For pangolins suffering from gastrointestinal diseases and pneumonia, carry out symptomatic treatment respectively.
--------------------------------------
5 Processing
Kill the captured pangolin, cut off the entire shell and blanch it in boiling water, remove the scales, wash them and dry them in the sun. In addition, heat sand in a pot, add the scale pieces and stir-fry until they swell into yellow blisters, then take them out and sift away the sand.
--------------------------------------
The pangolin's scales are used as medicine, with effects of reducing swelling and discharging pus, promoting menstruation and lactation, and clearing collaterals and dispelling wind. It is often used for early-stage carbuncles or abscesses that have formed but not ruptured, failure of milk secretion, blood stasis amenorrhea, rheumatic arthralgia, and so on.
1 Biological characteristics
The pangolin belongs to Mammalia, Pholidota, Manidae. Except for the abdomen and both sides of the limbs, the whole body is covered with imbricate keratinous scales, with a raised back, a short and thick tail, a small head and pointed snout, no teeth, and a slender and soft tongue that is good at extending and retracting, with its surface covered in fishy-smelling mucus, often extended into burrows to lick and eat termites. The limbs are thick and short, each foot has 5 toes, and the claws are hard and sharp; when digging soil, the front claws dig the soil, and the hind limbs push the loosened soil backward to cover the footprints.
The pangolin lives in forests and shrublands of hills and mountainous areas. If it encounters enemies, it curls its body into a ball. The grass it walks through is all pressed forward and leaning, and carries soil. It is especially good at preying on termites and can detect termite nests 100m away through smell. It lies down in front of the ant nest pretending to be dead, secretes fishy mucus on its tongue, lures the termites into the scales all over its body, then jumps into water and swallows the termites floating up in the water.
--------------------------------------
2 Mating and reproduction
The pangolin can reproduce throughout the year, with spring and summer as the peak breeding period. After mating for 3 months to 4 months, it gives birth. It has at least 2 litters a year, with 1 to 2 young per litter. Newborn young have no scales, are white in color, and are nourished by mother's milk. By 1 month of age, the young's scales gradually become keratinized and turn dark brown. Body weight is about 200g. At 2 months of age, the young go out with the mother to forage. At 6 months of age, when body weight reaches 2kg, it can live independently.
--------------------------------------
3 Feeding management
3.1 Construction of feeding site
Choose a damp, shady, wind-sheltered place without a sandy or gravelly soil layer to build the site. First dig out the surface soil until reaching the hard bottom. Then use quicklime, coarse sand, and mix into a blended mud; after drying in the sun, use cement and washed fine river sand to pour a smooth cement soil floor. Then use bricks to build a wall more than 1.5m high around the completed cement floor, and plaster the surrounding surface with cement to make its surface smooth so as to prevent escape. Finally, put the topsoil back into the site and pile it into a rockery, and plant trees, grapes, and weeds on the mountain. When the trees and weeds in the newly built site have not yet formed shade, a cool shed should be set up on the rockery, and its branches and leaves must not extend beyond the wall or be close to the wall. The rockery inside the wall must not exceed 1.5m in height and should be more than 1m away from the enclosing wall. Beside the rockery, build a small pool for the pangolin to drink water and swim. Place cow dung and fishy-smelling bait on the rockery to attract ants and other insects. The size of the site depends on the breeding quantity, and every 10 sq m should not exceed 2 pairs.
3.2 Source of breeding stock
In addition to ordering from farmers, they can also be captured from the wild. There are two methods:
3.2.1 In the morning, search for pangolin tracks in cool and damp forest thickets and places where ants come and go. Once found, as long as you throw a handful of sand and soil at its surroundings and onto its body, it can be startled and curl into a ball, and can be caught by hand.
3.2.2 If you find that grass or trees are all pressed forward and leaning, and are stuck with soil, and claw and toe prints are left on the ground, follow the path and you can find its burrow. If a large pile of fresh soil is seen at the entrance, it indicates that the pangolin is still in the burrow. After entering straight for 1m from the entrance, it turns and extends. Digging this burrow can capture it in one go.
3.3 Feeding management
Feed frequently and observe frequently. Fill the pool with water every day, and place food on the cool shed or rockery for the pangolin to eat at night. You can also bury some easily rotting fishy-smelling things on the rockery in the site to attract ants and other insects, or install night lighting in the site to attract moths and other insects at night for the pangolin to eat. You can also artificially breed insects to feed the pangolin, as follows: 1) Dig a trench 40cm wide and 50cm deep on the rockery in the site, with unlimited length. Put pine needles and fallen leaves into the trench, cover with 2cm-thick broken soil, then pour rice-washing water, swill, or leftover porridge over it, and afterward pour water once a day to keep it moist. After 10 days, ants (especially termites) gather in the trench. Open a section of the trench to feed once, then cover it well again, and insects can be bred continuously 3 to 4 times. 2) Cut rice straw into 1cm to 2cm lengths, boil for 1h to 2h, then bury it in a soil pit 20cm deep, cover with 5cm-thick sludge, and seal it tightly. Pour rice-washing water once a day on the soil pile. After 10d-15d insects begin to grow. Open the pit and let the pangolin finish eating, then seal it in the same way, water it, and insects can be bred continuously 4 to 5 times. 3) Mix sun-dried cow dung with 5% rice bran and rotten pond mud, pile it into small heaps, and small insects can grow in 3d-5d. After the insects are eaten, pile it up in the same way, and this can be repeated 5 to 6 times. 4) Mix fresh chicken manure with 5% rice bran or wheat bran and place it evenly on the floor in a corner of a house where there are many flies, spread 10cm to 15cm thick. After 1 week, a large number of fly maggots grow. After collecting them for feeding, spread it flat again, pour a small amount of porridge or rice soup, and this can be repeated 6 to 7 times. 5) Mix chicken feathers, distillers' grains, garbage, and other materials with water into a semi-paste and compost them, then cover well with rotten mud. After 10 days, small insects grow. The more chicken feathers and distillers' grains, the faster the insects grow.
--------------------------------------
4. Disease prevention and treatment
Pangolins rarely get sick. Newly captured pangolins may starve to death because they refuse food. Or they may suffer from gastrointestinal diseases because they barely consume unsuitable artificial feed. Some also suffer from pneumonia because they cannot adapt to changes in ground temperature. If a pangolin refuses food, it should be fed a mixed feed by gavage. The formula is: hydrolyzed protein 1.5g, glucose 3g, compound vitamin B2.5g, add water 7ml to 8ml, dissolve and set aside. The above is the daily gavage amount for a pangolin weighing 2.5kg. After 2 weeks to 3 weeks of gavage feeding, gradually add permanent feed to minced fish or earthworms. The formula is: silkworm pupa powder 50%, cooked egg 5%, milk powder 5%, dry yeast 10%, surface soil 25%, dried sophora leaf powder 5%, multivitamins 0.02%, growth hormone 0.05%, etc. Grind into powder and mix evenly. When feeding, add water 40% to 50%. The feeding amount should go from small to large, and ensure drinking water supply. For pangolins suffering from gastrointestinal diseases and pneumonia, carry out symptomatic treatment respectively.
--------------------------------------
5 Processing
Kill the captured pangolin, cut off the entire shell and blanch it in boiling water, remove the scales, wash them and dry them in the sun. In addition, heat sand in a pot, add the scale pieces and stir-fry until they swell into yellow blisters, then take them out and sift away the sand.