Snail feeds and Categories

You may be wondering how on earth can someone make money out of the rearing of snails,  but the previous post has done justice to that on Best Step To Start A Wealth Generating Snail Farm

It is obvious that many people today don't know that snail farming exist, all the know of is poultry (Chicken), Fish farming, and other livestock.

As you have seen, snail farming is very lucrative in Nigeria today and all over the world. But you may begin to wonder how will you be coping with the farming process, especially Feeding. The feeding of snails is what this post is all about and while you need to take snail feeding seriously. 

I will advice you to read this post carefully to the end so that you will fully understand snail feed categories and while you need to feed your snails properly,  also read the previous posts to turn your income high.

Snail Feeds

Snails eat a wide variety of food which could fall into any of these categories:

Tubers,
Agricultural by products,
Fresh vegetables,
Fruits,
Leaves,
Cereals,
Fibers,
Drinks, and
concentrates.

Virtually all human consumables can be eaten by snails with few exceptions, hence they are omnivorous in nature and that is
why they have been able to survive for
generations.

History has it that snails have been in existence since prehistoric times.

Leaves and Vegetables: 

Some leaves eaten by snails include leaves of paw-paw, cocoyam, banana, sweet potato and cassava. Snails eat a lot of vegetables too. Some of their best vegetables include pumpkin, cabbage, lettuce, okra, water leaf, spinach, garden egg plant, amaranthus and all green vegetables that can be eaten by man.

Learn Also: How to Start a Perfect Pig Farming Business

Fruits: 

Fruits are also eaten by snails, some of which include breadfruit, cucumber, green beans, nectarine melon, peach, plums, paw-paw, banana, plantain, orange, apple, pineapple, grape, tomatoes, ripe pear, avocado and all edible fruits.

Tubers: 

Tuber crops like yam, sweet potato, cocoyam and cassava when cooked are also eaten by snails.

Drinks:

Drinks that Snails take Are water and other watery food products.

Agricultural by-products: 

Agricultural by products like wheat bran, rice bran, corn, soybean, residue bran, palm kernel cake, peelnof plantain and banana, fresh maize chaff and many more can also be eaten by snails.

Cereals: 

Cereals like dried and processed maize, groundnut cake, soybean meal, and sorghum are eaten by snails.

Food Supplements: 

Feed supplements like fishmeal and blood meal are also good for snails also.

Concentrates: 

Concentrates include poultry waste and feed, fish feed.

Minerals: 

Minerals taken by snails include Limestone, wood ash, fish meal, bonenmeal and chalk. Snails also need a lot of calcium in-take for growth and shell formation.

Calcium or mineral supplement can also be derived from ground eggshell, oyster shell, bone meal or even soil.

See Also: Best Guide on How to Start a Lucrative Poultry Farming Business

Now we want to look into how and why we need to feed our snails properly.

Why snails need proper Feeding 

The essence of feeding the snails is to aid reproduction capacity and increase their size. Therefore, yo should be consistent in feeding.

It has been established that Snails can eat up to 3 – 5 % of their body weight in just 24hrs. Snails convert feed to body weight when a balanced diet containing protein, vitamin, minerals, calcium carbonate and phosphate is given to them.

Note
Never use Agricultural chemicals in form of spray or powder, as they are toxic to snails.

Feed snails as much as they can eat, ensure usable water quantity daily. If active snails are starved of food, they will shade 2 – 5% of their body weight in 24 hrs.

Basically, Snails are fed twice in a day i.e in the evenings between 5pm – 7pm and early in the morning, between 7am-9am.

Snails are nocturnal animals i.e they are more active at night. The feed items should be distributed evenly within the snailery to enhance equal feeding opportunity for all the snails.

Avoid salt and salty foods since snails do not survive high salt intake.

 You can go through it again if you don't understand and your comments and contribution are highly welcomed. Simply use the comment box below.