Key Technical Points for Scorpion Disease Prevention and Control in Winter
When scorpions are kept at constant temperature in winter, they grow quickly and mate and give birth frequently, but if management is improper, the following common diseases may occur in scorpions.
Black Rot Disease
The diseased scorpion's abdomen turns black, it passes green watery excrement, and deaths occur one after another.
[Prevention and Control Methods] Keep the scorpion nest dry, keep water and food fresh, ensure that the insects normally provided as feed are disease-free and harmless, and pick out diseased scorpions for isolation and treatment.
[Drug Treatment]
1. Half an ampoule of 800,000-unit penicillin, added to 1 kg of water, placed in the water dish for drinking; or 1/4 ampoule of 800,000-unit penicillin mixed with 250 g of feed; feed either until recovery.
2. 0.50 g of rhubarb sodium bicarbonate tablets and 0.10 g of oxytetracycline mixed with 100 g of feed or given in drinking water until recovery.
3. 1 g of dried yeast and 0.50 g of erythromycin mixed evenly with 500 g of feed and fed until recovery.
Withered Tail Disease
In the early stage, the diseased scorpion shows yellowing and withering at the tip of the tail segment, which then extends forward to the front abdomen; in severe cases, the white hindgut can be seen in the deep depression of the middle tail, and when dryness and withering appear at the base of the tail, the diseased scorpion begins to die. In the early stage of the disease, severe mutual killing occurs because they compete with each other for water.
[Prevention and Control Methods] Drinking water must be clean, the water content of the feed should be regulated, the activity area should be kept moist, water supply utensils should be appropriately added, and air humidity should be kept normal.
[Drug Treatment] 1 g of dried yeast added to 200 g of water for drinking, to enhance the secretion of digestive fluids.
Mite Disease
In the early stage, the diseased scorpion is extremely restless and its activity level increases markedly; in the later stage, activity decreases, it neither eats nor drinks, and mites begin to feed on the reproductive organs of adult scorpions. It passes brown excrement.
[Prevention and Control Methods] This disease is mainly prevented, ensuring that feed and drinking water are fresh and promptly removing leftover feed. Normally, the scorpion nest should be regularly changed and sun-dried so that the nest maintains suitable dryness and moisture; the sand used in the pool should be used only after exposure to strong sunlight. According to experiments, salt water can control the reproduction and growth of mites, and the activity area can also be sprinkled once with 3% salt water, but it must not be used for a long time.