CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Centipede breeding environment

Artificial breeding of centipedes, how to build a centipede breeding pond Centipedes, also known as Tianlong, have high medicinal and economic value. At present, there are not many centipedes in stock, and artificial breeding of centipedes is a way to get rich in rural areas. Most of the centipedes artificially bred in my country are few-spined centipedes. The breeding technology is introduced as follows: 1. Construction of centipede breeding ponds The breeding pond should be built in a sunny, ventilated, and relatively damp and secluded place with good exhaust conditions. The breeding pond can be built indoors or outdoors. The breeding pond is built with bricks or stones and other materials, and the surface is cemented. The depth of the pool is preferably 80 cm. The inner wall of the pool is pasted with smooth and undamaged plastic film, or a circle of glass is set at the pool mouth. The inner eaves are at right angles to the pool wall, and the width is preferably 15 cm. To prevent centipedes from escaping. Dig a 10 cm wide and 4 cm deep ditch around the wall in the pool, and dig a 30 cm wide and 3 cm deep trough inside the ditch for feeding. Weeds and trees can be planted in the pond, and some stones and tiles can be piled up for centipedes to inhabit. After the seedlings are placed, a layer of straw curtain should be covered on the pond to block out the light. The pond should be kept clean, moist, cool and sanitary.

Centipede's life characteristics 1. Habitat Centipedes are afraid of sunlight, hide during the day and come out at night, and like to live in dark, warm, rain-proof and well-ventilated places. They prefer to live in low mountain areas with more soil and less soil. Although they are distributed in plains, the number is small.

Centipede is an important traditional animal medicine. Its medicinal properties and uses are described in detail in famous medical literature such as Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen. The source of the medicine is distributed in provinces south of the Yangtze River, mainly produced in Hubei and Zhejiang provinces. Its original animal has been identified as Scolopendra subspinipes. It is reported that the main production areas of Zhejiang are Haining and Daishan in Jiaxing. Due to changes in the production environment, the annual catch in Jiaxing has dropped from 2 million to more than 10,000 in the past 10 to 20 years. In order to increase the resources of centipedes and develop artificial breeding, small-scale indoor artificial breeding and island release experiments have been carried out. In Zhoushan area, the resources of wild medicinal centipedes were investigated, and its group structure and catch were analyzed. The biological characteristics of centipedes were studied in the centipede trial breeding field. A large number of observations and studies were conducted on the egg-laying amount, egg-laying period, egg-holding and custody period, egg-eating and re-laying after egg-eating, the molting law of centipedes during growth, the life cycle and reproduction cycle, and the food habits and food of centipedes, providing a scientific basis for artificial breeding of centipedes. In terms of breeding management technology, we have made breakthroughs in technical difficulties such as live sex identification and improving hatching rates, and have accumulated some experience in overcoming difficulties such as mold diseases, drying, and food. In 1976 and 1978, adult centipedes were released twice on Hengleshan Island. By 1980, observations and statistics showed that each generation of new centipedes could grow actively. The island release was successful. Selecting suitable islands for centipede release is also one of the directions for the development of breeding.

(1) Living habits

Centipedes mainly live in low mountain areas with little stone and soil, and only a small number of them are distributed in plain areas. After the Waking of Insects every year, the temperature warms up, and centipedes wake up from hibernation and begin to move out of the ground. They are good at living in damp weeds or in rocky ditches. From Grain in Ear to Summer Solstice, as the temperature gradually rises, they gradually move to cool trenches, graveyards, ridges or cracks in earthen ridges to avoid the hot daytime. In late autumn, they live under loose soil slopes that are sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, or in tree holes and tree roots where it is warmer. In short, centipedes are afraid of light and shy, hide during the day and come out at night, and like to live in dark, humid, warm and ventilated caves. Therefore, when breeding centipedes artificially, we must try our best to create the living conditions it requires according to its living habits. For example, planting trees and grass in the breeding farm, placing bricks and tiles, etc. are all measures taken to meet the centipede's requirements for the living environment.

Centipedes usually come out and move alone at night. Although they have 8 simple eyes, their vision is weak, especially during the day. When they move alone, they will not take a detour until their antennae touch each other, avoiding each other. On clear and windless nights, 20:00-23:00 is the peak period of their activities. The characteristics of their activities are that they are more active at night and less active during the day; they are more active when the temperature is above 25℃, and less active when the temperature is 10-15℃; they are less active or even stop moving below 10℃; they are more active at night after rain when the weather is hot and humid, and less active at night when the temperature is low; they are more active at night without wind or with a light breeze, and less active at night with strong wind (wind force above level 6): they are more active at night after rain and less active at night on rainy days. It can be seen that the frequency of centipede activities is closely related to meteorological factors such as temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, rainfall and light intensity. Therefore, when breeding centipedes artificially, we must pay attention to the impact of the above meteorological factors on their lives. At the same time, centipedes have a strong ability to drill cracks, so centipedes can successfully drill through the gaps of rocks, earth ridges, etc., and can live in these cracks.

If centipedes live in too high a density or are disturbed too much, they are prone to killing each other and dying. However, under breeding conditions, with the improvement of living environment and breeding conditions, such as providing enough fresh feed and water, and not disturbing their lives, even if the breeding density is high, it will not have much impact on their lives. In particular, centipedes born from the same mother live together since childhood, and when they grow up, they will curl up together in dozens and live in harmony. Therefore, providing enough fresh feed and water and maintaining a quiet environment are necessary conditions for artificial breeding of centipedes.

(2) Capture

It is usually better to catch centipedes during the Qingming Festival. Centipedes are egg-laying insects. Based on their living habits of preferring dampness, quietness, and fear of strong light, we choose places in the shade of the jungle or on the shady slopes as the capture sites. In these places, we place chicken feathers, miscellaneous bones, or dead grass and leaves to lure centipedes to live and lay eggs, and pick the eggs before the Qingming Festival. When picking the eggs, we take them back with soil, branches, and weeds, put them in a breeding pond or a breeding tank, cover them, and hatch them. During the hatching period, we should frequently and gently turn over the covering to prevent other pests from invading, so as to ensure that the larvae can hatch smoothly and safely.

(3) Feeding and management

1) Feed: Centipedes are typical carnivorous insects with a ferocious nature. With their jaws and claws that can eject venom, they can prey on various small animals that are much larger than them. Centipedes have a wide range of food sources. Based on field observations and trial breeding observations, combined with breeding experience from various places, centipedes mainly feed on the following types of food: one is various insects, such as adults, pupae, larvae and eggs of crickets, locusts, tobacco beetles, scarab beetles, rice budworms, cows, hornworms, cicadas, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders, flies and bees. Another type is invertebrates such as worms, earthworms, snails, clams, and muscles, bones, and internal organs of vertebrates such as frogs, snakes, lizards, scorpions, geckos, sparrows, mice, and bats. Another type 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 artificially raised in Zhejiang is loach, eel, small fish, shrimp and crab.

Although centipedes have a wide variety of food sources, they require fresh food and do not eat rotten food. Therefore, when breeding them artificially, fresh feed must be fed every 2-3 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 1/5-3/5 of their body weight at a time. After eating, 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 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.

2) Egg laying and hatching: The centipede's egg laying period is in late spring and early summer. Each female centipede generally lays 20-60 eggs, most of which are 40-50, and the least is 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 2-3 hours to lay eggs. After laying, the centipede immediately turns its body sideways, uses its legs to gather the eggs into a ball, and holds them in its "arms" to hatch. The eggs laid by the centipede are oval in shape, of different sizes, generally about 3-3.5mm in diameter, beige, translucent, and the egg membrane is elastic.

Centipede eggs take a long time to hatch, usually 43-50 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 35-40 days, the larvae are about 1.5 cm long and can crawl up and down, but cannot leave the mother's body; after 43-45 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 them. 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 hatching, they will stop laying eggs and eat all the eggs that have been laid or are hatching. 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 they should not be disturbed. This is something that must be paid attention to in breeding management.

3) Molting and growth and development: Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class of crustaceans. Their bodies are covered with chitinous shells, which restrict their further growth and development. In order to get rid of the restrictions of the shells on their further growth and development, they molt several times during their growth and development. Each time they molt, they grow significantly larger. During embryonic development, they molt three times. Adults generally molt once a year, and some molt 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 growth rate of centipedes is relatively slow. From the hatched larvae in the first year to the body length before hibernation in the same year, it is only about 3.3-3.9cm. In the second year, the body length is only about 4.9-6.6cm under the condition of sufficient food. Therefore, it usually takes 3-4 years for centipedes to grow from larvae to adult sexual maturity. The growth and development speed is closely related to whether the food is sufficient and the length of feeding time. In artificial breeding, it was found that the centipedes produced in the same year grew and developed faster when raised indoors than those raised naturally. Therefore, providing sufficient fresh feed during breeding is one of the important conditions for increasing its production.

4) Overwintering: Centipedes are cold-blooded animals, and the changes in external temperature have a great impact on their lives. The cold winter threatens their lives. In order to escape the threat of the cold winter, they burrow underground and hibernate. During hibernation, they do not eat or move, and their bodies are in an "S" or "L" shape. The depth of the layer they burrow into during hibernation is directly related to the temperature of the air and soil. The lower the temperature of the air and soil, the deeper they burrow into the soil layer; the higher the temperature of the air and soil, the shallower they burrow into the soil layer. Under normal temperature and soil temperature conditions, they mostly hibernate at 15-40cm in the soil layer; when the temperature of the air and soil is low, they can hibernate at 80-100cm in the soil layer. If the soil temperature rises, not only can the hibernation time be delayed, but they 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 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 80-100cm 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 improvement of the wintering environment, 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 is small, and the soil temperature can basically remain unchanged in the same day, which is conducive to the safe wintering of centipedes. There are many benefits after the improvement of the wintering environment for centipedes, mainly: ① After deep plowing, the soil is loosened, and the 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, which enhances the heat preservation capacity; and the heat in the soil is easy to dissipate between the brick and tile fragments, reducing the temperature difference between morning, noon and evening in a day. ② Brick and tile fragments are easy to absorb water, creating a humid environment required by centipedes, and the gaps between brick and tile fragments are large, which is conducive to the entry and exit of centipedes and their habitats. ③ After the garbage mud is mixed with the soil, the garbage quickly rots and decomposes, emitting a large amount of heat energy, which makes the soil temperature rise and more constant, shortening the hibernation time of centipedes. ④Increasing the organic matter and microorganisms in the soil is conducive to the reproduction of various insects, adding fresh natural food for centipedes, and playing the role of "natural feeding" for centipedes. Therefore, artificially improving the environmental conditions of centipedes' wintering places is an effective way to help them winter safely and should be promoted. In addition, after the centipedes have overwintered, they have regained their ability to move, so the breeding place should be tightly closed to prevent the centipedes from escaping.

Centipede breeding environment:

1. Cultivate in boxes. After the boxes are made, place them in a suitable place indoors. If multiple boxes are arranged, place multiple layers of tiles at the bottom of the boxes. The distance between tiles is about 1.5 cm. Use cement to pad the feet around. Usually 5 to 6 tiles are stacked together. In this way, the gaps between tiles can be used for centipedes to live. Before the tiles are placed in the boxes, they should be washed with water and absorb enough water to create a humid environment for centipedes. And replace a batch of pre-made new tiles after a certain period of time to keep them moist and clean.

2. Cultivate in a tank, usually a ceramic tank with a diameter of 50-60 cm wide and 80-100 cm high. Place it in a suitable position indoors, and put a layer of gravel or broken tiles at the bottom of the tank. Cover it with a 30 cm thick layer of fertile garden soil, slightly level it, and stack tiles on the soil surface in a box-cultivation manner. The top layer of tiles should be about 20 cm away from the tank mouth, and a wire gauze cover should be used 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, and 50-60 cm high. 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. No cement is laid on the bottom of the pond. First, a layer of small soil blocks about 10 cm thick is laid, and then 5-6 layers of tiles are piled on it. There is a 1.5 cm gap between the tiles for centipedes to live and lay eggs and hatch. In cold weather areas, a pit 50 to 60 cm deep can be dug at a certain distance from the wall on the inside of the pond wall. Stones, broken bricks and tiles are piled in the pit to create gaps for centipedes to overwinter. The pond mouth is covered with iron gauze or plastic gauze.

Centipedes are afraid of sunlight, hide during the day and come out at night, and like to live in dark, warm, rain-proof and well-ventilated places. Artificial breeding often simulates the natural environment, allowing them to live under rotten wood and stone crevices and on barren, damp thatched grass. The place where centipedes are artificially raised must be a quiet environment, and the breeding place should be kept as quiet as possible to reduce unnecessary frightening and interference to the centipedes, which will affect their normal growth and activities.

I am learning Zhang Chongzhou's centipede breeding technology. It is very detailed above. I hope it will be useful to you.