CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How long does it take for a centipede to lay eggs?

1. How long does it take for centipedes to lay eggs?

The life span of artificially bred centipedes is only 6 years. Generally, wild centipedes will not lay eggs and reproduce until they have grown for 4 years. They usually mate in the early morning of sunny days after rain in March to May and July to August. They start laying eggs after 40 days, laying 40 to 50 eggs each time. After laying eggs, the female centipede holds the eggs in her arms to incubate them. The eggs will hatch after about 20 days of incubation, and they can leave the mother's body to live independently after 45 days. During the incubation period, a quiet and suitable temperature should be maintained. The general temperature should be controlled between 25℃ and 32℃, and the humidity should be controlled between 50% and 70%. Centipedes do not eat or drink water during the incubation period. Strengthen feeding before laying to increase nutrition before hatching. After the baby centipedes are hatched, they should be separated and raised according to size in time, because centipedes have the characteristic of eating young, and if not handled properly, they will be eaten up by leftovers.

2. How long is the breeding period of centipedes? Is the north suitable for breeding centipedes? Where can I find breeding farms in Shandong?

Centipedes are oviparous animals. They usually mate in the sunny weather after rain from March to June. The eggs gradually mature in late spring and early summer every year. They start laying eggs in mid-June. The peak period of laying eggs is from June to early and mid-July, and it lasts until early August. Before laying eggs, the mother is bloated with her abdomen close to the ground and moves slowly. The mothers that show signs of laying eggs should be covered one by one with a bottomless can with a diameter of about 10 cm 3 to 4 days in advance, and the can mouth should be covered with fiberboard or glass. This can effectively utilize the breeding area, avoid mutual interference and cannibalism, and help centipedes lay eggs smoothly in a quiet environment. It is also convenient for the young centipedes and the mother centipedes to be raised in separate tanks (or ponds).

Generally, each centipede mother lays 20 to 60 eggs, and the successful egg-laying process takes about 2 to 3 hours. The eggs are stuck together, about the size of peanuts, and oval in shape. The centipede mother's egg-carrying period is about 43 days. During this period, if disturbed or stimulated by other external factors, it is easy to get excited and irritable, and will swallow all the eggs that are hatching, resulting in hatching failure. Therefore, the hatching pool environment should be kept absolutely quiet. It is particularly important to stop feeding the centipede a few days before laying eggs, especially during the 40 to 50 days of the hatching process. Feeding should be strictly prohibited, otherwise the centipede will eat the eggs or embryos together because the food is contaminated on them. The hatching process of the egg mass is relatively slow. After 15 to 16 days, the egg grains form a kidney shape and begin to crack in the middle. This stage is the first molting; after 20 days, the second molting becomes a crescent shape, and the larvae begin to take shape; 35 to 40 days later, the larvae enter the third molting and can crawl up and down in the mother's arms; after another 5 to 7 days, the chitin on the larvae's epidermis gradually thickens, and the body color becomes yellow-brown. They live under the protection of the mother. After a month, they can live independently from the mother and forage for food on their own. They live in the nest during the day and come out to move at night. The peak of centipede activity is from 8 to 12 o'clock in the evening. Generally, they return to the nest to rest before 4 o'clock in the morning. It is difficult to see centipedes after dawn. Temperature Centipedes are cold-blooded animals, and all their activities are often related to temperature. The optimum temperature for the growth and development of centipedes is 25℃~32℃. When the temperature is 11℃~15℃, the centipedes' foraging decreases, and they stop mating and laying eggs. When the temperature drops below 10℃, centipedes stop all activities, burrow into loose soil (or nest soil), curl up and hibernate. However, when the temperature rises to 33℃~35℃, due to the loss of water in the body, all its activities are suspended. If the temperature rises above 36℃, the body loses too much water, causing the body to dry up and die. Humidity: When the relative humidity of the air is 60%~70% and the humidity of the nest soil is 10%~20%, all the life activities of centipedes are most active, which means that this is the most suitable humidity for the growth and development of centipedes.

Centipede is a traditional precious Chinese medicinal material with the effects of dispelling wind, relieving pain, unblocking meridians and detoxifying. In recent years, due to changes in the ecological environment, the number of wild centipedes has decreased year by year. With the increase in the number of people catching wild centipedes and the continuous expansion of the scope of application, coupled with a large number of exports every year, the supply of centipedes is very scarce and the price is rising year by year, which provides a very good opportunity for artificial breeding of centipedes.

According to online research, there is no centipede breeding base in Shandong.

3. What are the living habits and breeding of centipedes, and management during the egg-laying period?

1. Constant temperature breeding: Constant temperature breeding of centipedes is also called hibernation-free breeding, which means using artificial temperature control to break the hibernation habits of centipedes, so that they are in a good state of growth and development all year round.

The most critical equipment for constant temperature breeding is a greenhouse with a certain area that can heat, control temperature and have good insulation conditions. These greenhouses can be newly built or renovated from existing ordinary houses or plastic greenhouses. Regardless of the type of greenhouse, it must meet the following four principles: first, it must be economical and practical; second, it must have heating and insulation conditions; third, it must be able to maintain good ventilation; and fourth, it must have a scientific and reasonable structure and be easy to manage.

2. Plastic greenhouse breeding: Make full use of sunlight to increase the temperature inside the plastic greenhouse during the day. Cover the plastic greenhouse with straw in the evening to keep it warm, minimize the temperature difference between day and night, significantly shorten or even cancel the centipede's hibernation period, extend the centipede's growth time, and improve breeding efficiency.

Since breeding in plastic greenhouses relies on sunlight, we must pay attention to weather changes: in case of rain or snow, take temporary heating measures in time to try to prevent centipedes from hibernating. If a centipede hibernates, do not wake it up easily. If the centipede hibernates repeatedly in a winter, it will cause great casualties; in spring, when the temperature rises, pay attention to timely ventilation, firstly to replenish fresh air, and secondly to prevent overheating in the greenhouse; in summer, it is necessary to promptly remove the plastic sheet and replace it with a sunshade sheet, or use a straw shirt for sunshade.

4. What should I pay attention to when raising centipedes? Part of my centipede is dead, but it looks fine. The dead centipede's legs are all curled up. What's going on?

Centipede pest control

(I) Disease prevention and control

The practice of artificially raising centipedes shows that centipedes can also get sick, and their diseases include bacterial diseases, fungal diseases and physiological diseases. The causes and symptoms of several common diseases are introduced below.

1. Gastroenteritis

Cause: The feed is rotten and deteriorates, breeding a large number of pathogenic bacteria, and the centipedes are infected by the bacteria after eating and become sick. This disease often occurs in the season with low temperature and humidity, and in the season with high temperature and rotten feed residues. It is easy to occur in those breeding ponds and rooms with poor feeding management.

Symptoms: Due to the occurrence of gastroenteritis, first of all, the toxic substances produced by the inflammation cause the diseased centipedes to suffer from indigestion, diarrhea, and eat less or no feed. Secondly, internal poisoning occurs throughout the body, the head becomes congested and purple, and the movements become slow. Finally, they often die due to weakness and emaciation and the inability to crawl.

When the dead centipede is dissected, the intestinal mucosa is flushed and falling off, there is yellowish mucus in the body cavity, and the feces in the intestine are loose, rotten and foul-smelling.

2. Green muscardine disease

Cause: Green muscardine disease is commonly known as green mold disease. Centipedes are infected and parasitized by green muscardine fungi, which multiply in large numbers in a humid environment or are contaminated by rotten feed and dirty drinking water.

This disease often occurs from mid-June to the end of August. At this time, due to climate change, the temperature is higher and the humidity is higher, making centipedes more likely to be infected by green muscardine.

Symptoms: Infected centipedes initially develop small black spots on the abdomen and the joint membranes of the feet. As the green muscardine disease spreads and infiltrates, the centipedes' bodies lose their luster and green spore groups appear in some places.

In the later stage, due to the massive reproduction of green muscardine on the body surface and invasion of the body wall, not only will the centipede's feet become stiff and difficult to crawl, but it will also cause the loss of appetite and irregular activities. Finally, it will die of weight loss due to cessation of food. Most of the dead centipedes are on tiles.

3. Indigestion

Cause: Indigestion is a physiological disease caused by the digestive tract dysfunction of centipedes. It is caused by poor feeding management, such as abnormal feeding, sometimes too much and sometimes too little, causing centipedes to eat too much suddenly, or feeding moldy and spoiled feed, which contains toxic substances that adversely stimulate the digestive tract. In addition, the low temperature of the breeding soil and the drinking water are also prone to cause this disease.

Symptoms: The diseased centipedes have a large amount of feed in their digestive tract, which causes excessive fermentation in the intestines and produces a large amount of gas. As a result, the centipede's belly becomes as big as a waist drum, with a bulging abdomen, and its movements become slow. It stops eating and in severe cases, it may die from excessive swelling.

For the prevention and treatment of the above-mentioned diseases, please see Appendix 3: Prevention and treatment of several common diseases

(ii) Pests

1. Ants

Ants are the biggest enemy of centipedes during the molting and egg-laying period. Because centipedes are unable to resist and their new skin is fresh and tender, they are easily bitten to death by a large group of ants. At the same time, centipedes are in a semi-sleeping state during the egg-laying period, and their movements are slow, making it easy for ants to take the opportunity to bite them to death, or drive them away, and the ants gather on the egg mass to eat the egg material.

The following methods can be used to prevent ants:

First, once you find ants, you can put pig bones into the pool to lure and kill them. If there are too many ants, move the centipedes immediately and then kill the ants in the pool with boiling water.

Second, regularly use quicklime or 666 powder or mix 50 grams of naphthalene (stinky pills) and 250 grams of sawdust together to make poison erbium, and sprinkle it around the pool or room to prevent ants from entering.

Third, mix 25 grams of honey, 25 grams of borax, 25 grams of glycerin, and 250 grams of warm water, and place them around the breeding farm in places where ants often appear to lure and kill them.

Fourth, you should choose soil that is not contaminated by ants or ant eggs. The preparation method is to soak it in hot water and then expose it to the sun to kill ants or ant eggs mixed in the soil.

2. Flour mites

Flour mites are less than one millimeter long and are easy to parasitize on the abdomen and feet of centipedes, especially centipedes that have just shed their skin. If the humidity in the breeding room or pond is too high and the temperature is high, it is easy to attract a large number of flour mites to settle down and reproduce, causing flour mites to harm centipedes.

After being parasitized by the flour mites, not only does the centipede's activity become obstructed, but the toxins produced by the flour mites also stimulate the centipede to become restless. What's more serious is that the flour mites absorb a large amount of the centipede's nutrients, causing the centipede to become emaciated and die.

The prevention and control method is: first, prepare the breeding soil, use hot water and exposure to kill the flour mites and eggs. Secondly, put pig bones into the pond to attract flour mites, and remove them 2-3 times a day, which is very effective.