Bros Deiv Blog: How to start making money from rearing snails

Snail rearing also known as heliculture, is the process of raising land snails specifically for human use, either to use their flesh as food or to obtain snail slime which is used in cosmetics, or snail eggs for human consumption.

Heliculture is one of the most lucrative and thriving, yet neglected agro-business. It is one of the best opportunities to make money within a short period of time. It does not eat much into your time as it does not demand much attention. However, good care must be ensured for desirable result.

One good thing about snail rearing is that, you don’t spend money on medication and vaccines like you do in other livestock, because snails stay don’t get contaminated or sick easily like other livestock.

Snails are shelled gastropods that belong to the phylum Mollusca. They have a coiled shell that is large enough for the animal to retract completely into. They are hermaphrodite. (A hermaphrodite has both female and male sexual organs). One cannot really distinguish between the male and female specie of snails.

Snails can be found in a very wide range of environments, including ditches, deserts, and the abyssal depths of the sea. Snails are known to have considerable human relevance, including as food items, as pests, as vectors of disease, and their shells are used as decorative objects and are incorporated into jewellery.

Snails are also known to have some cultural significance, and have even been used as a metaphor. Skin creams derived from Helix aspersa snails are sold for use on wrinkles, scars, dry skin, and acne.

Snail is high in protein (12-16%) and irons (45-50 mg/kg), low in fat (0.05- 0.8%), and contains almost all the amino acids needed by humans. In addition to the nutritional value of snail, study has shown that the glandular substances derivable from edible snail causes agglutination of certain bacteria which could be of value in fighting a variety of ailments, including whooping cough.

· There is high demand for snails, yet the supply is low both locally and internationally. For example, in Africa countries like, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, South Africa, and Nigeria snails are consume very well. In Australia and USA, snail farming is big business, providing opportunities to many farmers. In UK, snail business is a big deal as snails can be easily seen in many supermarkets and stores.

· It is a very lucrative farming venture as it requires little capital to start and much profit can be generated in a short period of time.

· Virtually all the parts of snail are of vital use in the food, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and fishery industries.

· Snail rearing has no stress, it’s not time consuming, it does not have offensive odour, no irritation and no noise is involved in the rearing.

The first step should be the selection of a suitable site, taking into consideration some factors like; wind speed and direction, soil type, temperature and humidity.

· Snail pen requires moisture; therefore it should be situated where there is little or no wind that can easily dry up the moisture.

· Snails flourish in damp but not waterlogged environments; therefore a well-draining soil is required for rearing snails.

· Snails dig in soil and ingest it. Good soil favours snail growth and provides some of their nutrition. Lack of access to good soil may cause fragile shells even when the snails have well-balanced feed; the snails growth may lag far behind the growth of other snails on good soil.

· Successful snail rearing requires the use of correct equipment and supplies which includes; snail pens or enclosures; devices for measuring humidity (hygrometer), temperature (thermometer) soil moisture (soil moisture sensor). All these are needed to provide favourable condition for the snails.

Note, not all snails are edible and not all grow into big sizes. It is therefore, wise to select edible species and the ones that can grow into big sizes. The Achatina species known as the giant African snails is recommended as they can grow up to 326 mm (1 ft ¾ in) in length.

Achatina fulica is the giant African snails which can grow up to 326 mm (1 ft ¾ in) in length. It is a species of large, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae. It is the smallest in size among all the desirable species for rearing in Africa.

It has a narrow, conical shell, which is twice as long as it wideness and contains 7 to 9 whorls when fully grown. The shell is generally reddish-brown in colour with weak yellowish vertical markings, but the colouration varies with environmental conditions and diet. A light coffee colour is common. Adults of the species may exceed 20cm in shell length but generally average about 5 to 10cm. The average weight of the snail is approximately 32 grams.

Achatina Achatina commonly known as the giant tiger land snail is a species of very large, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae. The shells of these snails often grow to a length of 18 centimetres with a diameter of 9 centimetres. Its body is silver-brown in colour, but sometimes the albino morphs may exist. They are very prolific breeders with each snail laying up to 1200 eggs per year.

It is an important source of animal protein for West African forest-dwelling ethnic groups, and commercial farming of these snails holds great promise.

Archachatina marginata, commonly named the giant West African snail is a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae. The shell of the snail can grow up to 21 centimeters in height, and 13 centimeters in diameter. They can grow up to 20 cm long, and live up to 10 years.

Eggs of Achatinids are normally laid in the soil, but can be found under leaves or rocks. They produce as many as 40 eggs which are yellow in color with dark blotches and an incubation period of approximately 40 days.

Helix pomatia commonly known as the Roman snail is a species of large, edible, air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Helicidae. The shell of Helix pomatia is creamy white to light brownish, often with indistinct brown colour bands.The shell has five to six whorls.The width of the shell is 30–50 mm.The height of the shell is 30–45 mm.

It prefers high humidity and lower temperatures, and needs loose soil for burrowing to hibernate and lay its eggs. Eggs are laid in June and July, in clutches of 40–65 eggs.The size of the egg is 5.5–6.5 mm or 8.6 × 7.2 mm. Juveniles hatch after three to four weeks, and may consume their siblings under unfavourable climate conditions. Maturity is reached after two to five years. The life span is up to 20 years.

Housing (snailery)
You can employ different forms of snailery. However, the choices of your snailery are guided by a number of factors which include:

It is most important that a snailery has an escape proof, which is effective against predators and permit easy entry to tend snails. In building your snailery, materials that do not decay and are termite resistant must be used. Termite-resistant timber, for instance iroko, sandcrete blocks, mosquito nets and polythene sheets types of materials are needed for any of snailery. Examples of snailery are listed below;

The population of the snail in each pen must not be too high, this to prevent the snails from not breeding. For Achatina achatina, the recommendation is about 15 to 25 snails per square metre. Parasites, nematodes, trematodes, fungi, and micro arthropods can attack when the populations of snails is dense.

Feeding
Snails accept a wide variety of food. They can utilize a wide range of food items including green leaves, fruits, tubers and flowers. They prefer wet leaves to dry leaves. Thus, the diet that is recommended to the farmer who is rearing this species include;

Besides these foods, a farmer should provide nutritious (rich) foods that enhance the growth of snails. In this regard, farmers can provide a mixture of food. There could be supplementary calcium and vitamins. There must be provision of water in a shallow container for adult snails while a cotton wool or sponge soaked with water will do for the baby snails.

Snails are unique in that they have both male and female reproductive organs; they are hermaphrodites. In spite of being hermaphrodites, they do mate with other snails of same species before laying eggs. Some snails act as males in one season and in another season as females and fertilize each other simultaneously. The mating of snails occurs only when they become sexually mature.

Selection of suitable snails for breeding could be achieved if the farmer maintains adequate records. In a situation where the farm has not produced enough to sustain itself, farmer may have to collect young snails from the wild or buy them at a lesser rate during the time of their abundance. For instance, snails are abundant during rainy season, especially early morning of days following rainfall.

Snails can be bred in boxes or cages built several units high with source of constant moisture. Breeding cages need a feed and water trough with plastic trays a couple of inches deep; deeper water troughs increase the chance of snails drowning in them. Trays can be set on a bed of small gravel. Small plastic pots, e.g., flower pots about 3 inches deep, can be filled with loamy pH neutral soil and set in the gravel to give the snails a place to lay their eggs.

After the snails lay eggs, each pot should be replaced by setting one pot inside another so that one can be easily lifted without shifting the gravel. When the snails have laid their eggs, the pots are put in a nursery where the eggs will hatch. The young snails are kept in the nursery for about 6 weeks, and then moved to a separate pen, as young snails do best if kept with other snails of similar size. They should be pest free such as ants, earwigs, and millipedes. Eight hours of daylight is optimal for young snails. Baby snails are fed on tender lettuce leaves.

The giant African snail, Achatina fulica for example, lays 100 to 400 elliptical eggs that each measure about 5 mm long. Each snail may lay several batches of eggs each year, usually in the wet season.

In 10 to 30 days, the eggs hatch releasing snails about 4 mm long. These snails grow up to 10 mm per month. After 6 months, the Achatina fulica is about 35 mm long and may already be sexually mature. Sexual maturity takes 6 to 16 months, depending on weather and the availability of calcium. This snail lives 5 or 6 years, sometimes as many as 9 years.

Just like raising other animals, a hygienic environment for snails can prevent the spread of disease and improve the health and growth rate of snails. For example, removing or replacing food-remains duly to avoid spoilage. Farmers should add earthworms to the soil that helps to keep the pen clean.

Predators of snails include: rats, mice, moles, skunks, weasels, birds, centipede, lizard, and carabid beetle larva. Human is also not left out. Good security measure must be taken to prevent theft.