SNAIL REARING PROCESS By; Olorunjuwon Olabisi Winner

           

             SNAIL REARING PROCESS


By; Olorunjuwon Olabisi Winner

Snails are very sluggish animals, slow in movement and traditionally seen as a symbol of laziness. Snails are found in the forest or bushy areas, they are very active at night.

Snail belong to the botanical group called Pulmonata gastropod of the Mollusca family. They are hermaphrodite who posses both male and female reproductive organs which make them reproduce rapidly. A snail lay eggs 6 times a year, each time, they lay more than 80 to 100 eggs.

The process of rearing snails is known as Heliculture. Heliculture, also known as snail farming specifically by human, the flesh as edible escargot and the snail slime for cosmetic and pharmaceutical company in the production of drugs.

BENEFIT OF REARING SNAIL

Adedayo Babatude, in his book Snail farming in Nigeria, stated the importance of rearing snails, snails can be bred, for business, recreation and fun as it is very conducive because no odour, stress, noise and irritation is involved. Snails are good sources of protein, it takes low capital, and is not labor intensive which can make a farmer good earnings within a short period of time.

Snail meat contains high amount of protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, magnesium and very low in fat. Snail meat has high medicinal value known to control hypertension and iron contribute in the fight against deficiency in anaemia.

SNAIL BREEDS 

Agromisa foundation stated that there are various breeds of snails found in Nigeria such as the pond snail, apple snail, horses nerite snail, zebra nerite snail, the three major snails reared are:

Achatina achatina

The Achatina achatina, Achatina fulica and Archachatina marginata all belonging to a family of Achatinidae a diverse group of large pulmonate land snail with long slender shells. Their sizes ranges from 3cm to 25cm. They mostly live around jungles in tropical countries while some live in grasslands. They are capable of producing 100 eggs. The Achatina achatina is a very prolific species of snail which lay up to 1,000,000 eggs.

Achatina fulica

The recommended for farmers and anyone interested in rearing snail are the Achatina achatina or Archachatina marginata which the African gaint snail.

Archachatina marginata

SNAIL FEEDS

Snail feed on green leaves such as pawpaw leaves, coco-yam leaves, okra leaves, cassava leaves, cabbage and lettuce leaves. Snail also feed on fruit like mango, pawpaw, egg plant, tomatoes, oil palm fruit, pear and cucumber.

HOUSING SYSTEM FOR A SNAIL

Snails can be bred in small scale (backyard, snail farm), medium scale which is the intensive system ( drum, low fence pen, tank pen) and the large scale known as the extensive system.

In conclusion rearing of snails is indeed a profitable business, Fast food outlets and restaurants have sail in there menu, which put the sales of a well matured snails on high demand.