Guangdong White-Banded Snake Rearing Methods and Key Technical Points

Climate and environment: It favors a mild and humid climate, preferring shade and fearing sunlight. The optimum temperature is 25-30°C. When the temperature drops below 10°C, it enters hibernation. It likes to inhabit environments near water with grass and shrubs. It is active at night. For the rearing site, choose a mountain-side plot that is sheltered from the wind and faces the sun, warm in winter and cool in summer, and build a rectangular or circular enclosing wall, 1.7-2 m high, with the inner side plastered smooth and no holes left, to prevent escape. Inside the wall, build a snake room and a pool, and leave an activity area. The size of the snake room depends on the number being reared; generally 1.5-2 m long and 0.6-1 m wide, with bricks laid underneath, and built into snake chambers of varying sizes, with openings left in the chambers for the snakes to enter and exit, covered on top with a soil layer about 1 m thick, in the shape of a grave; the pool must have shade, an area of 1-2 sq m, a water depth of about 0.5 m, and should have a sloped side to facilitate the snakes' entry and exit; the activity area should be 4-5 times the area of the snake room, and the open ground should be planted with creeping grass to facilitate observation. Trees should be planted around the outside of the snake enclosure, especially on the west side to block the scorching sun.

Feeding and management: The many-banded krait feeds on tadpoles, small frogs, ricefield eels, @#@237@#@, small @#@260@#@, small snakes and other animals. Feeding is generally done in the evening. During the active period, each snake is fed 3-5 times per month, with each meal ranging from 100-500 grams. Ricefield eels, loaches and the like may also be raised in the pool for the snakes to seek out. The water quality in the pool must be kept clean. During the overwintering period, the temperature must be kept above 10°C; if temperature control outdoors is difficult, the snakes may also be placed in indoor rearing pools with heating to overwinter.

Breeding method: The many-banded krait generally reaches sexual maturity at 3 years of age. Select robust, normally active snakes as breeding stock, with a female-to-male ratio of 4:1. Mating takes place on nights from late August to late November each year. After the female ? mates ? times, it can still be fertilized and lay eggs normally without mating for 3 years, hatching young snakes. The female snake carries eggs through the winter and lays eggs between Qingming and Xiazhi the following year. The eggs are gathered and placed in earthenware jars or wooden boxes for incubation. First put soil mixed half-and-half with sand and mud into the bottom of the earthenware jar or wooden box; the moisture level should be such that it forms a ball when squeezed by hand without seeping water. The sand-mud layer should be about 20 cm thick. Place the eggs flat on the surface of the sand-mud, about 3-4 layers, not too many; leave a space about 15 cm high above the egg layers. Cover the mouth of the jar (box) with a wet gunny sack, maintaining a temperature of 25-32°C and a relative humidity of about 75%. During incubation, check every 1 day; the sand-mud layer should only be moist and must not accumulate water, and the gunny sack should be wet without dripping, but neither may be allowed to dry out. Turn the eggs every 10 days. After 40-50 days, the young snakes break out of their shells.

Prevention and control of natural enemies and diseases: The main natural enemy is rats. During incubation, the mouth of the incubation jar (box) must be well covered with a wet gunny sack to prevent rats from eating the eggs. The main disease is mouth-corner erosion caused by dry heat; in summer, due to the influence of dry, hot weather, it is prone to intestinal heat syndrome; after becoming ill, the skin at the tail loses its luster and takes on a dark color, and death occurs within 2-3 days. The current preventive methods mainly involve building a shelter to shade the pool so that the water temperature in the pool does not become too hot in summer, while also keeping the flowing water clean and not feeding dead animal feed, etc.