Artificial Rearing Techniques and Methods for the Many-banded Krait

The many-banded krait, also known as the silver-banded krait or the golden coin krait, has high medicinal and economic value. Its rearing methods are as follows:

1. Build reasonable pools

The snake pool is built of brick and stone, 2 m square and 1.5 m high, and can hold 15-20 snakes; keeping too many snakes makes management difficult. The pool walls are smoothed with cement, and a movable glass cap is added on top of the wall in a T shape to prevent escape. The pool bottom is the snakes' activity area, where weeds should be planted, and then snake dens should be built with sandy soil, wooden boards, bricks and tiles, etc. Inside the pool, build a flowing-water ditch and a feed basin, and cover the pool with a straw curtain to block light.

2. Provide sufficient feed

The many-banded krait does not have a large appetite. It mainly feeds on @#@236@#@ and @#@237@#@. Large snakes eat large food, and small snakes eat small food. Generally, feed live food rather than dead food. Each feeding of 50 g of small loach can satisfy 10 many-banded kraits. If food is occasionally unavailable, clean water must still be provided; otherwise, there is a risk of death from thirst after half a month without water.

3. Artificial incubation

The many-banded krait generally lays eggs in late summer and early autumn or after autumn. After egg laying, artificial incubation is preferable, as this can maintain a constant temperature, avoid interference from natural enemies, and increase the hatching rate. For incubating snakes, a wooden box or a large-mouthed jar can be used as the container, with 0.5 m of moist sandy soil placed at the bottom. The eggs are placed in the sand, kept ventilated, and covered with gauze. Gently turn the eggs once a day so that the upper and lower parts receive even warmth. After about a month, before the young snakes break out of the shells, arrange the eggs evenly on the sand surface with half exposed above the soil; by then the young snakes will naturally break the shells and come out. Heating can shorten the incubation period, but the high temperature must not exceed 36°C, and water should be sprayed in time to prevent drying out.

4. Pay attention to safety

① Keepers should wear deep-tube rubber boots, long-sleeved leather gloves, and carry snake forks, snake tongs, snake medicine, etc., and operate in pairs. ② When taking eggs, you must be careful; first drive the large snake away to prevent the mother snake from protecting the eggs and injuring people. ③ The @#@246@#@ environment must be clean, and pesticides and poisons must not be stored nearby. ④ In summer, maintain sufficient fresh drinking water and feed. ⑤ Once bitten by a snake, in addition to on-site self-rescue, snake medicine should be taken immediately. Self-rescue methods: promptly tie the limb tightly to slow blood circulation, cut open the wound with a sharp knife, squeeze out the venom, rinse with salt water, and immediately go to the hospital for treatment.