According to Awa (2003), snail farming is the rearing of snails in captivity. The snails are confined in an enclosure and most of their requirements like feed; water and lime are supplied on a regular basis by the farmer. On maturity, the snails are harvested, processed and consumed by the farmer or sold. Since the seasonality of supply of snails from the wild limits their use for meat on a continuous basis, the need for organized small or large scale snail farming has become imperative. There are two main systems of snail farming. These are indoor and outdoor systems.
Indoor system involves raising snails indoors in pens located in a building. The snails are fed a mixture of fresh vegetables, concentrates, and other food materials. The system utilizes little space as the snails could be raised even in trays placed on shelves on the walls. In advanced management, the system allows for temperature regulation, controlled lighting, regular cleaning, and health care (Awa, 2003).
Out-door System: Snails are raised out- doors on pastures. The snails may or may not be fed. The farmer has little control over the performance of the snails. The snails move about feeding on natural food materials. A modification of the out-door system is one in which the snails are confined out-doors in enclosures and fed both synthetic and natural diets. It is easier to control and manipulate snails in this setting. This system fits in very well into the Nigerian farming system (Awa, 2003).
2.1.1 Requirements before Starting:
The farmer will need the following to start a snail farm – The modified out-door system need the following items, they include, enough edible live snails, a good site near his house with the right kind of soil and the right amount of water for the snails to live and grow, enough food and shelter plants and materials to build a pen for the snails (Awa, 2003).
2.1.2 Selection of Site:
A prospective snail farmer must choose a suitable site for his farm. Important factors to consider include location, soil type, moisture content, wind direction, lime content of the soil and environmental temperature (Awa, 2003). Location of Farm: The snail farm should preferably be located close to the farmer’s house. In this way he will be able to watch his snail regularly, detect any problem early, protect them from their enemies and take care of them easily. There should be adequate space for future expansion (Udoh , Akanyung.and Igiran, 1995),
Soil Type: The snail farm must be sited at a place where the soil is rich in humus and other decaying plant and animal materials. The soil should contain sufficient lime or calcium for eggs and shell and snails shell formation. Snails do not live in hard soils nor do they live in loose sandy soils. Snails cannot dig into hard clayey soils to rest and lay eggs while soils with a lot of sand do not hold enough water. The ideal snail soil should be medium (light) to allow air and water to penetrate easily (Udoh, Akanyung and Igiran, 1995).
Moisture content of Soil: Snails prefer damp soils. The farmer should avoid very wet lands and lands prone to flooding in the rainy season. Dew and rain keep the ground moist so that the snail can move easily and dig into it to rest and lay their eggs. For a round the year production of snails, a ready source of water supply for irrigation or spraying should be provided. Snails usually seal off their aperture and go into hibernation during the dry season unless a continuous supply of moisture is guaranteed (Awa, 2003). The soil could be kept continuously wet by the provision of shelter plants like banana/plantain or the farm could be watered to provide the necessary conditions for the survival and multiplication of snails (Udoh, Akanyung.and Igiran, 1995). Wind Direction: Snail farms should be situated in sites well protected from the wind. Strong winds during the snail growing season are bad for snails because they lead to dehydration and subsequent drying up of snails.
Temperature and Humidity: Snails are cold blooded animals and therefore sensitive to change in atmospheric humidity and temperatures. In West Africa, temperatures in the areas where most edible species of snails are found do not fluctuate greatly. However, significant fluctuation is in humidity below 75 % induces the snails to aestivate (i.e. to loose valuable growing time). Snails therefore prefer a habitat that is neither too hot nor cold. When the temperature is too hot or too cold, the snails withdraw into its shell. This is called hibernation. Snails thrive best on temperatures of about 10 – 23°C.
2.1.3 Choice of Breeding Stock:
According to Udoh , Akanyung.and Igiran, (1995), like most livestock ventures, the success of a snail farm depends in part on the quality of the farmer’s foundation stock. It is recommended that the farmer should choose snails based on the desirable characteristics below:
2.1.4 Good Strong Shell:
Strong shells protect snails from their enemies. Snails with cracked shells or thin shells should not be selected for a snail farm.
2.1.5 Snails that fill their shell:
The farmer should choose only snails that fill their shells. A snail that does not fill its shell may be sick or it may have lost its water because of dry weather. It may not grow well.
2.1.6 Fully-Grown Snails:
For his new snail farm, the farmer should choose only fully-grown snails as statement stock. They are hardier and would produce eggs and baby snails earlier than immature ones.
2.1.7 Large Snails:
The larger snails of any kind of snail will be neater, healthier and lay more eggs than a snail that is smaller. The eggs of larger healthy snails hatch better and the baby snails grow bigger and faster. The farmer should therefore choose the largest of the fully grown snails of the type of snails he intends keeping.
2.1.8 Same Kind of Snail:
The same kind of snail should be selected for the snail farm. The farmer may decide to use either the giant type of snails (e.g. Archatina achatina; Archachatina marginata) or the exotic small types (Helix pomatia, Helix aspersa).
Never rear a mixture of small and large types in the same enclosure. Their requirements and maturity periods are not the same.
2.1.9 Types of Snails to Farm:
According to Awe (2003), only snails that live on land and are edible and should be selected for farming. Some kinds of land snails habour parasites which can cause diseases in man due to the presence of harmful bacteria (Awa, 2003). Many species of edible land snails are recognized in Nigeria. The popular species of economic interest is the West African giant snail’s Achitina achatina. These are therefore the recommended species.
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