Porcupine breeding

1. Requirements of the venue

The area is (1.8 × 1.2 m). The walls of the porcupine breeding room are equipped with windows at both ends to ensure good ventilation. Two rows of feeding ponds were built along both sides of the long wall on the ground of each feeding room, with 6.0m × 0.7m sidewalks in the middle. The breeding ponds were made of red brick and plastered with cement mortar, with a specification of 0.25m × 05m × 0.18m. A 0.2m × 0.2m outlet ditch was built on the sidewalk side of the feeding pool for washing when cleaning. Install a special drinking fountain in each feeding pool to serve as a drinking pool.

2. Domestication

2.1. Domestication by age and grouping:

During the transportation of the first batch of experimental porcupines, the cage box was covered with black cloth and the environment was kept quiet as far as possible. After entering the stadium, the porcupine was divided into four age groups according to their body size: adult porcupine group with body weight above 13kg, sub-adult porcupine group with 5-13kg, juvenile porcupine group with 1-5kg, and piglet group with body weight below 1kg. According to the gregarious habits of wild porcupines, porcupines of similar size were divided into 1 male and 1 female or 1 male and 2 females in the same age group and were raised in a feeding pond and domesticated respectively. Artificially bred porcupine, domesticated from weaning, consists of 2 to 4 porcupines. After 3 months of age, one male and one female were used as a group and were raised and domesticated in a feeding pond.

2.2. Gradual domestication:

According to the cave habit of wild porcupine, in the early stage of domestication, the window of the feeding room was covered with black cloth to keep the darkness in the feeding room, and then a cover plate was added to the top of the breeding pond to create a dark room environment similar to the cave environment of porcupine. At the same time, the environment of the feeding room should be kept quiet and managed by special keepers. Then, in the feeding pond, porcupine favorite sweet potatoes, mango roots, bamboo shoots, fresh vegetables and clean water were put into the pond to induce them to eat and drink, so as to enhance the physique of porcupine and eliminate its fatigue and panic. After porcupine feeding and other activities tend to be normal, preliminary and appropriate basic domestication work will be carried out by using the opportunities of feeding and cleaning. At the same time, the food is also gradually transferred to formula feed and commonly used roughage. At the beginning of formula feed (1-2 months), an appropriate amount of brown sugar or white sugar should be added to the formula to increase its palatability, and then gradually reduce its sugar content until no sugar is added. Piglets should be domesticated in combination with artificial lactation before their body weight reaches 1kg. Then, further strengthen domestication, remove the cover on the darkroom, increase the opportunity and time to meet people, tease the porcupine with food such as sweet potatoes and bamboo shoots, and gradually touch and touch the head of the porcupine in a conscious and limited manner. eliminate porcupine's fear of people. On this basis, remove the black cloth from the window of the feeding room, give the porcupine a bright breeding environment, and make the porcupine gradually adapt to the artificial breeding environment from the wild habitat environment. When approaching the post-weaning artificially bred porcupine for the first time, gently touch the hair on its head, neck and jaw, and gently touch it to keep the piglet quiet and avoid shock. The piglets who have just left the sows will be fed 2 or 3 times a day in addition to sweet potatoes, mango roots, bamboo shoots, fresh vegetables and formula feed with sugar in the first 5-7 days, so that they can make a gradual transition in food. Each artificial breast-feeding stroked for 3-5 seconds, and language stimulation was carried out at the same time, so that food stimulation and behavioral stimulation were closely combined. after many such training, piglets gradually had feelings for people, so that they were not afraid of people.

2.3. Establish conditioned reflex domestication:

Porcupine breeders should send signals when feeding porcupine and entering and leaving animal houses to gradually familiarize animals with the breeder's voice, smell and footsteps. It is forbidden to startle and visit others, so that the wild adult porcupine can establish a preliminary conditioned reflex after a period of time, and at the same time, the porcupine can be domesticated regularly, quantitatively and at a fixed point, so that the porcupine can eat a fixed amount of food at a specified time and place. It is accompanied by sounds such as whistles before feeding, which contributes to the formation of conditioned reflexes. Then, on this basis, the porcupine is planned and step by step to increase the intensity of various stimuli, expand the scope of adaptation, and gradually change the wild habits of porcupine, such as timidity, isolation, impatience and aggressiveness, so as to establish a stable conditioned reflex.

Feeding: