CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to raise centipedes

Centipedes mainly live in low mountain areas with more rocks and less soil, and only a small number of them are distributed in plains. After the Waking of Insects every year, the temperature rises and centipedes wake up from hibernation and begin to move out of the ground. They are good at living in damp weeds or rocky ditches. But how should centipedes be raised? Let me take you to learn more about it.

How to raise centipedes: 1. Feed: Centipede is a typical carnivorous insect with a ferocious nature. It can prey on various small animals that are much larger than itself with its jaws and claws that can shoot venom.

Centipedes have a wide range of food sources. Based on the results of field observations and trial breeding observations, as well as the breeding experience from various places, centipedes' feed mainly includes the following categories: one is various insects, such as adults, pupae, larvae and eggs of crickets, locusts, tobacco boletes, beetles, rice borers, cow worms, hornworms, cicadas, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders, flies and bees.

Another category is the muscles, bones, and internal organs of invertebrates such as worms, earthworms, snails, and clams, as well as vertebrates such as frogs, snakes, lizards, scorpions, geckos, sparrows, mice, and bats. Another category is that when the above food sources are insufficient, they also eat a small amount of young and tender grass, branches, root tips, melons and fruits such as watermelons and cucumbers, as well as cooked products such as eggs, milk, and bread. In addition, the main food of centipedes raised artificially in Zhejiang is loach, eel, small fish, shrimp, and crab.

Although centipedes have a wide range of food sources, they require fresh food and do not eat rotten food. Therefore, when they are artificially bred, fresh feed must be fed every 2 to 3 days. Before feeding, the remaining food from the previous feeding must be completely removed. Centipedes have a large appetite and strong hunger tolerance. When hungry, they can eat up to 1/5 to 3/5 of their own body weight at a time. After eating enough, they will not starve to death even if they are not given food for ten days or half a month.

At the same time, centipedes are not thirsty and need to drink water every day. Therefore, water containers must be placed in the breeding farm, and the water must be changed regularly to keep the drinking water fresh and clean.

Centipede breeding method 2. Egg laying and hatching Every year in late spring and early summer, it is the egg-laying period of centipedes. Each female centipede generally lays 20 to 60 eggs, most of which are 40 to 50, and a few are less than 10. Before laying eggs, the centipede's abdomen is close to the ground and digs shallow caves by itself. When laying eggs, the centipede's body is bent into an "S" shape, and the eggs are laid one by one in a string from the reproductive opening in the shallow cave dug by itself. In the absence of external disturbance, it takes 2 to 3 hours to lay eggs. After laying, the body is immediately turned sideways, and the eggs are gathered into a ball with the walking legs, and held in the "arms" for hatching. The eggs laid by centipedes are oval in shape, of different sizes, generally about 3 to 3.5 mm in diameter, beige, translucent, and the egg membrane is elastic.

Centipede eggs take a long time to hatch, usually 43 to 50 days. During the hatching process, the external shape and internal structure of the eggs gradually change as the embryo continues to develop. After one month, the eggs begin to take on the larval form, with a body length of about 1.2 cm, and the larvae can be seen crawling inside the egg membrane; after 35 to 40 days, the larvae are about 1.5 cm long and can crawl up and down, but cannot leave the mother's body; after 43 to 45 days, the larvae are about 2.5 cm long and can leave the mother's body to find food on their own. During the entire incubation period, the mother has already accumulated enough nutrients and does not need to feed. Otherwise, it is easy for the eggs or larvae to be contaminated by food and eaten by the mother, affecting the hatching rate and larval survival rate.

During the incubation period, the mother never leaves the egg mass or larvae, carefully incubating and guarding them. From time to time, she swings her body left and right with her antennae to drive away other small insects that are close to her, and often uses her claws to fiddle with or lick the egg mass or larvae with her mouth. It has been observed that this is because the fluid secreted by the basal glands or oral glands of the mother's claws is cleaning the egg mass or larvae to prevent the egg mass or larvae from being contaminated by bacteria and other dirt.

If centipedes are disturbed during egg laying or incubation, they will stop laying eggs and eat all the eggs that have been laid or hatched in the aconite. This is the so-called "protective" reaction of centipedes. After eating eggs, centipedes can usually lay and hatch eggs again. However, this will greatly delay the egg laying and hatching period of centipedes, and the number of eggs laid will be small, and the hatching rate will be low, which will affect the production and quality of centipedes. Therefore, when breeding centipedes artificially, during the egg laying and hatching period of centipedes, the surrounding environment should be kept quiet and no disturbance should be made. This is something that must be paid attention to in breeding management.

Centipede breeding method 3. Molting and growth and development Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class of crustaceans. Their bodies are covered with a chitinous carapace, which restricts their further growth and development. In order to get rid of the restrictions of the carapace on further growth and development, they molt several times during their growth and development. Each time they molt, they grow significantly larger. They molt three times during embryonic development, and adults generally molt once a year, with some molting twice.

Molting usually takes place in midsummer or after laying eggs. Before molting, the body color changes, the movement becomes slow, the centipede stops eating, and the vision and antennae weaken. When molting, the centipede sheds its skin segment by segment from front to back, and finally the tail and legs are shed. The shed old skin is wrinkled, and when it is straightened, it is a complete centipede body. Molting takes about 2 hours to complete. Do not disturb the centipede during molting, otherwise it will prolong the molting time. When molting, the centipede should also be prevented from being attacked by groups of ants, otherwise it is easy to be bitten to death by ants.

The development speed of centipedes is relatively slow. From the hatching of the larvae in the first year to the body length before hibernation in the same year, it is only about 3.3 to 3.9 cm. In the second year, the body length is only about 4.9 to 6.6 cm under the condition of sufficient food. Therefore, it usually takes 3 to 4 years for centipedes to develop from the larvae to the sexual maturity of adults. The speed of growth and development has a lot to do with whether the food is sufficient and the length of feeding time. In artificial breeding, it was found that centipedes produced in the same year grew and developed faster when raised indoors than when raised naturally. Therefore, providing sufficient fresh feed during breeding is one of the important conditions for increasing its production.

Centipede breeding method 4. Overwintering Centipede is a cold-blooded animal, and the change of external temperature has a great impact on its life. The cold winter threatens its life.

In order to escape the threat of the cold winter, it burrows underground and hibernates during the winter. During hibernation, it does not eat or move, and its body is in an "S" or "L" shape. The depth of the hibernation layer is directly related to the temperature of the air and soil. The lower the air and soil temperature, the deeper the soil layer is; the higher the air and soil temperature, the shallower the soil layer is. Under normal air and soil temperature conditions, it hibernates mostly at 15 to 40 cm in the soil layer; when the air and soil temperature are low, it can hibernate at 80 to 100 cm in the soil layer. If the soil temperature rises, not only can the hibernation time be delayed, but it can also hibernate in the shallow soil layer or on the soil surface. It can be seen that the soil temperature is the key to affecting the length of the centipede's hibernation time and the depth of the soil layer.

Therefore, in breeding, artificially raising the soil temperature of the hibernation site can not only shorten the hibernation time and make it safe to overwinter, but also relatively increase the normal life period of centipedes, which is conducive to increasing the yield of breeding centipedes. For example, on the eve of the centipede's overwintering, dig a pit 80 to 100 cm deep in the breeding farm, mix the excavated soil and the collected garbage mud in a ratio of 2:1, pour it into the pit, and fill it up. Then spread an appropriate amount of brick and tile fragments and put the centipede in. Cover it with a layer of fine soil, and finally cover it with branches and dead grass. This improves the environmental conditions for the centipede to overwinter.

Before the wintering environment conditions improved, the soil temperature was low, and the soil temperature fluctuated greatly in the morning, noon and evening. After the improvement, the soil temperature increased significantly. The temperature difference between morning, noon and evening was small, and the soil temperature could basically remain unchanged within the same day, which was conducive to the safe wintering of centipedes.

There are many benefits to improving the environmental conditions for centipede wintering, mainly:

① After deep plowing, the soil is loosened and air circulates in the soil layer. Because the soil surface is covered with fine soil and dead grass, the heat in the soil under the brick and tile fragments is not easy to dissipate, thus enhancing the thermal insulation capacity; and the heat in the soil is easily dissipated between the brick and tile fragments, thus reducing the temperature difference between morning, noon and evening in a day.

② Brick and tile fragments easily absorb water, creating the damp environment required by centipedes. The gaps between brick and tile fragments are large, which is conducive to the centipedes' movement and habitat.

③ After the garbage mud is mixed with the soil, the garbage quickly rots and decomposes, emitting a large amount of heat energy, which increases the soil temperature and makes it more constant, shortening the centipede's hibernation time.

④ It increases the organic matter and microorganisms in the soil, which is beneficial to the reproduction of various small insects, adds fresh natural food for centipedes, and plays the role of "natural feeding" for centipedes.

Therefore, artificially improving the environmental conditions of centipede wintering places is an effective way to help them survive the winter safely, which should be promoted. In addition, after the centipede survives the winter, it recovers its ability to move, so the breeding place should be strictly closed to prevent the centipede from escaping.

Hello!

The most powerful way to breed centipedes:

1. The breeding box is made of wooden boards, and its size is more suitable for 55 cm long, 45 cm wide and 30 cm high. A layer of non-toxic plastic film is pasted on the inner wall of the box, and the box mouth is equipped with a box cover with iron mesh.

After the box is made, it is placed in an appropriate position indoors. Multiple boxes can be arranged in a good manner, with multiple layers of tiles placed at the bottom of the box. The distance between the tiles is about 1.5 cm, and cement is used to pad the feet around, usually 5 to 6 pieces in a stack, so that the gaps between the tiles can be used for centipedes to live.

Before putting the tiles into the box, they should be washed with water and absorb enough water to create a humid environment for centipedes. And a new batch of tiles should be replaced after a certain period of time to keep them moist and clean.

2. Ceramic jars are usually used for jar culture. Choose a 50-60 cm wide and 80-100 cm high jar. Place it in a suitable position indoors, and put a layer of gravel or broken tiles at the bottom of the jar. Cover it with a 30 cm thick layer of fertile garden soil, slightly level it, and stack tiles on the soil surface in the box culture way. The top layer of tiles is about 20 cm away from the jar mouth. Cover the jar mouth with a wire gauze cover to prevent the centipede from escaping.

3. Pond culture is to build a pond indoors or outdoors for breeding. The pond is made of brick and cement. The environment in the pond should be warm, cool, humid and quiet. Generally, each indoor pond is about 2 square meters in size, rectangular, 50 to 60 cm high, and the inner wall is smoothed with cement without any gaps, and lined with agricultural film, or a circle of 20 cm wide glass is inlaid above the pond.

The bottom of the pond is not paved with cement. First, a layer of small soil about 10 cm thick is laid, and then 5 to 6 layers of tiles are piled on top, leaving a 1.5 cm gap between the tiles for centipedes to live and hatch eggs. In areas with cold weather, a 50 to 60 cm deep pit can be dug at a certain distance from the inner side of the pond wall, and stones, broken bricks and tiles can be piled in the pit to create a gap for centipedes to overwinter. The pond mouth is covered with iron gauze or plastic gauze.