Key Technical Points and Methods for Efficient Crocodile Farming Explained
Crocodiles are extremely valuable animals, and their name may come from the fact that they frolic in the water like fish. The species domesticated and bred in China include the Chinese alligator, Siamese crocodile, saltwater crocodile, and Nile crocodile. The crocodile species permitted for commercial use are the Siamese crocodile, saltwater crocodile, and Nile crocodile. The Siamese crocodile is the crocodile widely domesticated in northern China. Let us take a look at efficient crocodile farming techniques below!
Market Prospects for Crocodile Farming
With the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for crocodile products keeps growing, and the development of the crocodile farming industry, processing industry, and tourism industry will receive increasing attention. In recent years, the number of units and the volume of crocodile imports into China have also increased steadily, and some guesthouses, restaurants, and hotels have already put crocodile meat on the table as a seafood product. At the same time, the international market price of processed crocodile leather is 2 to 8 USD per square centimeter, and other parts of the crocodile such as the head, feet, teeth, claws, and spine can also be processed into souvenirs for sale. Glands, scent pouches, gall, and fat can be made into new anti-cancer drugs or processed products. The main consumer markets are some economically developed countries and regions, so the market prospects are broad.
Living Habits of Crocodiles
1. Feeding habits: Crocodiles are carnivorous animals, mainly feeding on fish, waterfowl, hares, deer, frogs, and so on. Under artificial rearing conditions, they are fed fish, pork, beef, poultry offal, and plant foods such as apples and vegetable leaves.
2. Breeding habits: Adult crocodiles mate in May and June, with mating lasting several hours, while fertilization takes only 1 to 2 minutes, and eggs are laid in July and August. The male crocodile monopolizes the territory and drives off intruders, with one male dominating a group of females.
3. Growth environment: Apart from a few that live in temperate regions, most crocodiles live in rivers, lakes, and water-rich swamps in tropical and subtropical regions, and some live in shallow waters near the coast.
Advantages of Crocodile Farming
1. Low feeding cost: The feed consumed by crocodiles is mainly meat and fish, with an average total feed amount of 72.6 kg per crocodile per year, equivalent to no more than 500 yuan in RMB. In addition, rearing sites and equipment can be utilized to the greatest extent.
2. Strong reproductive capacity: Female crocodiles aged over 10 years lay an average of 40 to 70 eggs each per year. According to practical experience, about 40 young crocodiles can be bred, and the egg-laying period of female crocodiles can last for decades, or even over a hundred years.
3. Fast returns from rearing: Young crocodiles need only 3 to 5 years of rearing before they can be turned into products for processing and use, because slaughtering them at this age gives the lowest feed cost and the greatest economic benefit.
4. High economic benefit: The price of adult crocodiles in China is 30,000 to 60,000 yuan in RMB. If used as crocodile products, after 3 to 5 years of rearing, the price is at least 15,000 yuan, and after deducting costs, considerable economic benefits can still be obtained.
Crocodile Farming Techniques
1. Site selection: The environment throughout the area is excellent, with no industrial pollution, pesticide pollution, or domestic pollution, abundant water sources, good water quality, fresh air, and uncontaminated soil. The fish ponds at the crocodile farming base have fertile soil, a clean environment, and fresh air.
2. Pond facilities: The bottom of the fish pond is flat, with silt ≤20 cm and a water depth of 1 to 1.5 m, surrounded by a 1 m high wall to prevent crocodiles from escaping and outsiders from entering. The ponds for feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp) have a flat bottom, with silt ≤20 cm and a water depth of 1.5 to 2 m.
3. Disinfection and seed selection: After the fish pond is drained and the bottom is sun-dried, quicklime is used to clear the pond for disinfection and to regulate water quality before fry are released. For crocodiles, healthy, disease-free, inspected and qualified seedlings are selected for stocking, and for feed fish, healthy, disease-free seedlings such as tilapia, silver carp, and bighead carp are selected for stocking.
4. Stocking density: For crocodiles, 200 to 300 crocodile hatchlings with a body length of 30 to 100 cm (3 to 10 kg) are stocked per mu. For feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp), the stocking density follows conventional practice, with large ones caught and small ones left.
5. Feeding management: Crocodiles are entirely fed with self-farmed, fresh, live feed fish (tilapia, silver carp, bighead carp). The feed fish are mainly fed mixed feed, corn, wheat bran, and so on. Quicklime, beneficial microbial bacteria, and water quality improvers are used regularly, with timely water changes and aeration.
6. Water quality management: The crocodile pond must be continuously refilled with fresh water to keep the pond water fresh. At the same time, the old water from the crocodile pond is discharged into the ponds for rearing tilapia, silver carp, and bighead carp, making full use of the aquaculture wastewater from the crocodile pond to ensure ecological balance and environmental hygiene.
7. Heat preservation for overwintering: Crocodiles are not cold-tolerant and stop activity when the water temperature drops to 15°C. In cold winter weather, the crocodile pond is covered with plastic film, and water with a higher temperature is drawn from a deep well and injected into the pond to ensure the safe overwintering of crocodiles and other fish.