Thanks for the feedback. Let continue today with Letters 'I' and 'J'.

[size=14pt]Income[/size] was probably the main reason why you decided to read up to this stage unless you are a snail pet lover or a snail research officer. I seriously have doubts though.
There is money to be made in the farming of the Achatina genus. However, like every other legal business, it is not without its own peculiar difficulties.
1. You have to plan your method of farming and market structure.
2. Know how big an operation you can sustain. (It is a ratio between your resources and space)
3. Spend wisely on pens, feed and production.
4. Harvest and plough back your profits into upgrading equipment and logistics (do not expect to buy a new Honda cross-tour with your early sales).

An investment of N100,000 will enable you supply your neighbours and the local area whereas one of N1,000,000 will enable you supply hotels and fast-food chains. Exportation could be looked at with an initial capital of at least N5,000,000. These values are simply estimates to give you a rough idea of the market. Contact me if you require further details on Zero.8030964896.

That being said, your available resources and land will determine your farm scale and position in the ‘snail’ chain.

[size=14pt]June, July all the way to October[/size] are the best months of the year to start a snail farm. What do they have in common? Yes, Rain! Rainfall during these three wettest months drive out Giant African Snails from their period of aestivation in the forests. This increase in supply ‘normalises’ the price of snails in the market, your local fastfood , snail farms and even on your plate.
Prices usually double from December to March when snails are in short supplies. Hotels will beg you to supply them.
Snail farmers don’t want you to know this secret but I will tell you. I am most busiest during these months as I stock up on snails from remote villages all from Ogun , Ondo, Edo, Delta and across the whole south as a whole. All locations are usually involved in just one species probably A. Achatina or A. Marginata while A.Fulica can mainly be gathered from city gardens because they are easily adaptable to its rigours. For farming however, A. Achatina or A. Marginata are commonly used because they grow bigger. Mature adults reach over 25cm!
The secret here is simple- buy low, sell high.

Thank you sir. I will fix those area you mentioned. God bless u

Do you have Achatina achatina species for sale. I heard that that specie can produce up to 100 eggs at once . I presently raise marginata.

lordhugo:


Amen Sir!
Mixed farming is the way to go in this situation.

I believe snail pens can be constructed in a non invasive way that gives you an alternate stream of income.

Snails will provide organic fertilizer from time to time and waste moringa leaves will be added nutrition to the snails.

Just wonderful!

Way forward!
This is what we should be doing now.
Imagine Chinese demanding for 500,000 tonnes of MORINGA seeds.
If we have hundreds of hectares of the MORINGA plantations, that will be huge for us as a country.
Let us keep planting.
Let more people get involved.
Jesus is coming soon!

Thanks op for these enlightened info on snail farming.
Please I will like to know if one start snail farming by buying breeders only? Would 100 breeders be enough for a small start?please,how much will it cost to start with 100 breeders?

Mackson01:
Do you have Achatina achatina species for sale. I heard that that specie can produce up to 100 eggs at once . I presently raise marginata.

Hello Sir,

Achatina Achatina lays more eggs. Yes! On the other hand , these eggs are smaller compared to Marginata. Larger eggs hatch into larger juveniles.


Do you have enough space to deal with a Achatina Achatina population explosion?

I can get you any species you want.

eddyspice:
Thanks op for these enlightened info on snail farming.
Please I will like to know if one start snail farming by buying breeders only? Would 100 breeders be enough for a small start?please,how much will it cost to start with 100 breeders?

Breeders cost around 400-600 per snail. High quality breeders of not less than 18months old from the forest directly.

Send a message to my Whatsapp (Zero.8030964896) to tell me your location and book mature breeders. Their eggs are twice bigger.

If starting with breeders alone, you have to make a great plan for hatching your eggs.

In summary, plan for the breeders and their pen, hatch units and empty pens to accommodate hatchlings.

lordhugo:


Breeders cost around 400-600 per snail. High quality breeders of not less than 18months old from the forest directly.

Send a message to my Whatsapp (Zero.8030964896) to tell me your location and book mature breeders. Their eggs are twice bigger.

If starting with breeders alone, you have to make a great plan for hatching your eggs.

In summary, plan for the breeders and their pen, hatch units and empty pens to accommodate hatchlings.

Okay, thanks for the info

@lordhugo, pls sir, how can one know d difference between achatina achinatina, a. Marginata and fulica? (How can i see a snail and i say yes! This A. Achatina or A. Marginata or fulica). And which is better/or would be more profitable from business point of view from dis 3 species? Thanks

Juliana7:
@lordhugo, pls sir, how can one know d difference between achatina achinatina, a. Marginata and fulica? (How can i see a snail and i say yes! This A. Achatina or A. Marginata or fulica). And which is better/or would be more profitable from business point of view from dis 3 species? Thanks

Hello Julie,


I will refer to them here as A.A , A.M and A.F.

A.A. are tiger striped (yellow and black) with a pointed tip.

A.M have both yellow Nd black bands but more blurred and with a somewhat roundish and pinkish tip.

A.F are more of gray and brown in larger bands and with a pointed tip too. (Most garden snails are fulicas.)



As for economics, A.A and A.M are more viable even though I have a softer spot for A.M's .

I hope this is clear enough.

i am sorry for being away for some days. i have had lots of inquiries from in and out of Nigeria and as such i have been offering professional advice and business plans to all who contacted me. I have found out that there are 3 main groups of people who do contact me via pm's or calls/whatsapp on 0.8030964896.

1. New farmers
2. Existing farmers with farm problems (low laying rate, hatching problems, high mortality, marketing issues etc)
3. Existing farmers requiring technical inputs so as to upgrade or expand existing snaileries.

On that note, i would like today's note (keeping in line with the A,B,C....) to be...

[size=14pt]Know-How[/size] determines your ability to start, sustain and succesfulize your snail farm. I call them the 3 S’s of snail farming. Ask questions , draw up your plans but most importantly start!

Find other local snail farmers and ask them questions. They are your snail partners and consultants. Talk to them and ask them for advice but do not forget they are your consultants and as such you should pay for their services.
Avoid snail seminars. All talks ,no action! Most of them hold in halls and hotels and generally give you theory lessons and prod you to buy snails from their farms to start off.

Secret- you can add a snail farm to any existing farm settings. Vegetable, plantain/banana, cocoa, oil palm.....The list is endless. We can help you design a layout of snail pens that interfaces seamlessly with your existing farm. This applies to anybody with a piece of land in thier backyard. Multiple streams of income is the aim!

Hire a consultant so you can have a one on one discussion. You could do this over the phone for a small scale venture but make sure you have your consultant on site before you start. (This would save costs rather than add to them).
No information is free. Well, except this one.

Next up is Life-cycle.

don't forget to drop a comment.

[img]http://aca.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/professional-consultants-2-cows.jpg[/img]

lordhugo:
‘Snail experts’ who tell you to construct a pen, buy snails from their own farms , feed them with paw-paw leaves or a ‘super formulated feed’ , allow each parent snail lay anywhere from 20-400 eggs 5-6 times a year, achieve 100% hatch-ability so you can have 1,000,000 baby snails (one million) snails worth N200,000,000 (one million dollars) in an 12 additional months is simply not being practical.

These conditions can only be met in a scientific laboratory with huge funds allocated. Guess what? You do not have a lab neither do you have money to waste. (because such a venture if ever done will be for scientific ends and definitely not for personal profits).

The best you can do is to maximize your profits using my simple methods of cheap and practical secrets which coupled with best practices and application of good quality control will reward you more often than not.
These are ‘little secrets’ which will give you ‘big results’.

I have compiled it in a fun way from A-Z and it will hopefully raise up more owners of profitable snaileries in Nigeria , Africa and the world at large.



[size=14pt]SO, lets read A,B, C - the snail way! [/size]

Achatina is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae. There are some 200 species of Achatinidae in Sub-Saharan Africa. Some species are kept as terrarium (just a fancy name for an aquarium without water ; LOL) animals due to their size and colourful shells.
For the purposes of snail farming however, we will concern ourselves with only the three species of that genus that is commercial , marketable and of course profitable. They are Achatina achatina Linnaeus, Achatina marginata and their younger brother – Achatina Fulica.


Breeder snails are the patriarchs and matriarchs (even though snails are hermaphrodites) of your prospective snail farm. Snails are “highly reproductive”! . these breeders are 12-24 months old snails who possesses the required qualities needed to start, sustain and “successfulize” your snail venture. Logical characteristics include shell health, age, species, source location, stress factors present in capturing and transporting as well as your own size of farm (estimated), location of farm and type of housing to implement. I always suggest sourcing mature adult snails from deep in the forests rather than farms. Farms are a good way but not really the best because the forest snails have had a natural life and are usually more hardy. Snails from farms have had too much contact from ‘snail slime’ from the snail trails of other snails in the farm and this significantly reduces their fertility and overall immunity to diseases. (Snails from farms are spoilt kids.Check out ‘Density Matters‘) .
The only place you shouldn’t buy snails though are your city markets. Live snails from such markets are usually stressed and are best for eating. Yummy!


Calcium is the single most important factor in the feeding of any snail venture. Why? Simple. Low calcium intake will slow the growth rate and cause the shells to be thinner. Calcium may be set out in a feeding dish or trough so the snails can eat it at will. Food is only one calcium source. Snails may eat paint or attack walls of buildings seeking calcium, and they also will eat dirt. I use two cheap calcium sources in all my farms. One from the green outer leaves of cabbage (you do not pay for this. It is freely available in any fruit/vegetable market in Nigeria). They will even beg you to help them carry the ‘dirty’!

“An experiment was carried out to assess the growth performance of African Giant Land Snail Achatina achatina fed with three natural feedstuff; pawpaw fruit, pawpaw leaves and cabbage leaves. A total of 24 growing snails of approximately one year old were used for the study. These were randomly divided into six groups and then allotted into the three experimental diets, arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) order. Dry matter intakes of feed being served every other days, weight gain and size increase of snails were assessed fortnightly. The results showed that pawpaw leaf is higher in protein than cabbage leaf and pawpaw fruit.

However, cabbage leaf contains some essential mineral elements, which are useful in body building than the other two feedstuffs. It also showed that snails fed with cabbage leaves had the highest dry matter intake and weight gain of 14.2 and 18.6 g, respectively. Highest shell length and circumference increase of 0.3 and 0.6 cm were obtained in pawpaw fruit and pawpaw leaf respectively. Although there was no significance difference (p > 0.05) in the weight gain of snails fed with pawpaw fruit and cabbage leaves, cabbage leaf seems to be richer in protein and other essential mineral elements than pawpaw fruit. It was therefore concluded that cabbage leaf could serve as a good substitute for pawpaw fruit and leaves, which hitherto were known as the preferred natural feedstuff of snails.”
That was the abstract of a research paper by 4 professor level experts from the Federal college of forestry Jericho , Ibadan. I saw it since 2009 and I have applied it successfully.

The other cheap but effective calcium source is broken rock fragments of limestone. Just place them as ‘Licking stones’ in pens or the habitat where you plan to house your snails. Find them easily in stores where poultry feeds are sold or just take a hike to the hills of Okpella in Edo, Nkalagu in Ebonyi, Obajana in Kogi or mfanmosing in cross river and load sacks of it for you.
Good Calcium Supply, Bigger Healthier Snails.

Density matters! Instead of wondering what brought Physics into snail farming, proper use of space can determine if your snail venture is successful or not. Why have plenty of snails in a confined space or little snails in a wide enclosure. One issue as I mentioned in ‘Breeder Snails’ is the fact that density affects the growth and breeding capacity of snails. High density populations tend to grow slowly, develop into smaller adults, and lay fewer clutches of eggs and fewer eggs per clutch. If the snails are very densely packed, they may not breed at all. The accumulating slime suppresses reproduction. Other disadvantages of high density are the high rates of parasitism and ease of transmission of diseases.

Snails tend not to breed when packed too densely or when the slime in the pen accumulates too much. The slime apparently works like a pheromone and suppresses reproduction. On the other hand, snails in groups of about 100 seem to breed better than when only a few snails are confined together. Perhaps they have more potential mates from which to choose. Snails in a densely populated area grow more slowly even when food is abundant, and they also have a higher mortality rate. These snails then become smaller adults who lay fewer clutches of eggs, have fewer eggs per clutch, and the eggs have a lower hatch rate. Smaller adult snails sell for less. Dwarfing is quite common in snail farming and is attributable mainly to rearing conditions rather than heredity factors. Crowding snails is false economy
Think of about 20 Mature snails per square meter.( Infact, Per cube meter as they tend to climb). 40/Sq3 for medium snails and 80-100/Sq3 for baby snails. Density matters!

Escargot simply means snail meant for consumption usually in Europe and particularly in France, Spain and Portugal. For this backyard farming purposes, I will restrict it to farming, harvesting, processing and marketing of well packagaed snails. You have to get to the ‘escargot level’ if you are ready to fully exploit the goldmine that is snail farming. It is not really expensive to start. As little as having 100 mature snails laid freely by 5 breeders can start off your snail empire. Instead of selling to the market woman who would price and haggle, just harvest your snails, clean them hygienically and store raw in a freezer. Now you can have a better price from your road side ‘frozen chicken and fish store’ , a neighbour or even a hotel or fast-food chain. 100 pieces x 250-400Naira in 6-8months.Do the maths for 1000 pieces when all you need is 50 metres square (5metres by 10metres piece of land) I smell money!
I promised to bare ‘every secret’ in snail farming.

Bigger escargot operations can rake in Millions from exporting to Europe, Asia and of course U.S.A. The U.S.A is a goldmine as the government banned ‘Live’ snails from being imported. Our African brothers need snail in that country no be small since no Giant African Snail farm can exist legally.
You can even do what I call stock market trading in snails. I simply buy small to medium sized snails from the forests at a very cheap rate in the rainy season (we are in one at the moment but it will soon end so take action now and put them in my ‘snail bank’ for 6 months). With a mix of expertise not unrelated to cheap/quality feeds and complete snail care you can sell in the dry season 4-6 months later and make 4-5 times gross profits. (Take into account initial capital, feeding costs ).
Example buy 1000 snails at N50 and sell for N250 after ‘Banking’ them. More preferable is you harvest, clean and market yourself.
This stock market is surer than sure.

Feeding is the single most important factor in snail farming. Snails are easy to feed, they will feed on nearly every organic food source that is non-toxic, not hairy/waxy including leaves, fruits, vegetables, tubers and household wastes (that contain no Table Salt (NaCl).
Common food sources include fruits and veggies like banana, melon, cabbage, carrot, pawpaw, lettuce, cucumber, potato, pumpkin, plantain etc. Some people formulate special feeds for snails but you have to outweigh the cons with the pro. Why buy when you can have it all natural and next to free? Think of cheaper sources! Fruit markets, gardens and even the bush behind your house.
The type of housing and the scope of your farm will ultimately determine your source and type of feeds. In that respect, contact me. Consultancy is not expensive.

Unless your snail farm is of the very extensive type, you will have to provide your snails with some or all the food they need for good development. This will require efforts on your part in growing or collecting snail food, or cash for buying it. Therefore, you must know what snails eat and what they need. Smaller snails will prefer juicer feed sources while adult snails can eat hardier feeds and will sometimes eat soil substrate to enrich its calcium source.

Calcium as I mentioned earlier is plentiful in some sources. I used to peel off the outside leaves of the cabbage until I read that the outer leaves have as much as 80% more calcium (40mg/kg and 70mg/kg) than the inside leaves. I also wait until the last minute to cut the cabbage, as exposure to the air causes loss of vitamin C.
Not forgetting the calcium/magnesium balance needed in feeds as too much magnesium will prevent calcium absorption which creates growth problems. There are plenty secrets indeed!


This is just the start of a revolution.... join the train and know what G-Z holds..... Existing farmers are welcome to share ideas.

Sir, this your underground pen, did you use concrete on the floor ?

@lordhugo, its being a while we ve not heard/read a post from u.

Juliana7:
@lordhugo, its being a while we ve not heard/read a post from u.

Happy Sunday J,

This thread is actually keeping me away from itself. (I have been providing solutions to some new clients the thread generated)

Anyway, i will try to write something later today.

When are you taking steps into snail farming? will be happy to provide needed personalized advice.

God bless.

400billionman:


Sir, this your underground pen, did you use concrete on the floor ?

Nah, that's added costs.

But pens can still be constructed on somewhere with existing concrete floor. your pen soil just has to be deep enough.

400billionman:


Sir, this your underground pen, did you use concrete on the floor ?

The floor is contiguous (connected) with the natural soil but its filled with alkaline sandy loam to about 4 inches off ground level.

I think am going to learn a lot here from you brother . I ventured into it a while back and it failed . I think it was ants and that snail fly . Men that thing is a menace cos it's quite difficult to eradicate . I had to eat about 500 snails but my pen is still erect and safe . Teach us more please

lordhugo:


The floor is contiguous (connected) with the natural soil but its filled with alkaline sandy loam to about 4 inches off ground level.

Won't ants penetrate it and attack?

KINGPINE:


Won't ants penetrate it and attack?

There are ways to sterilize your soil substrate. But if you are concerned about the contiguous nature of the substrate/topsoil then I advice to light a bonfire in the pen foundation before building, pour used engine oil over, spread thick cellophanes over. Before building on top and adding sterilized substrate.

Why am I giving all these trade secrets for free set? Lol.
God bless bro.

KINGPINE:
I think am going to learn a lot here from you brother . I ventured into it a while back and it failed . I think it was ants and that snail fly . Men that thing is a menace cos it's quite difficult to eradicate . I had to eat about 500 snails but my pen is still erect and safe . Teach us more please

Kpele my brother....
If ants are a problem in your area. We can take a look and provide tailor made solutions. Different cases require different solutions.

But y eat the remaining?
You should have contacted me.... I will help you sell at good prices.

lordhugo:


Kpele my brother....
If ants are a problem in your area. We can take a look and provide tailor made solutions. Different cases require different solutions.

But y eat the remaining?
You should have contacted me.... I will help you sell at good prices.

Plz what is snail flies,how dose it affect snail and what are the symtoms?

@lordhugo I ve a snail in my pen that look sick,the snail can't move again it will just pull out of its shell abit and remain their.what could be responsible for this.

Pls, i am intrested in snail farm, thanks and send more info. abdulakeemade@gmail.com

How do you irrigate ur farm

Please Sir (Lordhugo),I really appreciate your unquantified valuable information you have feeded us so far on SNAIL farming.I will be much gratitude to have your phone number send to john4bizz@gmail.com, purposely for consultation.Thank you once again.God bless u.

adexycomputa:
Pls, i am intrested in snail farm, thanks and send more info. abdulakeemade@gmail.com

Please call or whatsapp us on zero.8030964896.

invinzible1:
How do you irrigate ur farm

Different setups call for different measures.

drip irrigation
air misting
or plain buckets can be used.


but i use drip irrigation.

it moist all the time.

Peaceuntou:
Please Sir (Lordhugo),I really appreciate your unquantified valuable information you have feeded us so far on SNAIL farming.I will be much gratitude to have your phone number send to john4bizz@gmail.com, purposely for consultation.Thank you once again.God bless u.

Glad to know you are interested.

First thing you need to keep in mind is SPACE. How much space do you have?

Second issue is finance. How much are you ready to use in starting this business?

The wonderful thing is that there is no upper limit / lower limit to start commercial snail farming. Be it 20,000 or 20,000,000 .


Peace be unto you.

Hope you all are wonderful?

Well its been a tight week but lets continue i say!

Today, we would be looking at life cycle of a typical snail.

[size=14pt]Life cycle[/size] of Giant African Land Snails is generally basic. Snails are hermaphrodites i.e. they have both male and female reproductive organs. You need two snails to breed and if two snails of different sizes mate, the largest of the two normally plays the part of the female and carries the eggs (one more secret for you!) . Once mated, Giant African Land Snails have the capacity to produce multiple clutches of eggs in instalments. Giant mature Snails can lay clutches of eggs several months apart giving the young snails a greater chance of survival.

Giant African Land Snails are able to be able to lay up to 1,200 eggs in a year but don’t expect most to hatch! Hatchability can be improved with careful knowledge and observation of mature breeder snails that are kept in separate pens. The soil substrate is manually and carefully searched for eggs which can be put in snail eggs incubator. (Yes! Snail eggs have a special electric powered incubator. I can help you get one.)

The incubators have various sizes ranging from the battery powered 50 egg capacities to the huge industrial 10,000 egg formats.
The eggs take 2 - 3 weeks to hatch. They should be kept in damp compost and at a temperature of around 20 – 25 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of more than 80%.

Sexual maturity in Giant African Land Snails takes 6 to 16 months depending on environmental conditions and availability of calcium. At 6 months old, most intensively farmed Achatina Species are about 45mm long (shell length).

Remember to post your questions here so that others may benefit.

[size=14pt]Market,[/size] of course refers to any individual or business that needs snails or their various by-products to satisfy their demand. Popular market sources include your local market itself, neighbours and individuals in need either for personal consumption or in bulk for ceremonies or business, hotels, fast-food and highbrow restaurants.

However, we are not forgetting export opportunities for processed snails and other by products for use in cosmetics and health sectors.
You can even raise snails and sell to me.

I will buy!

Please can u educate us on the construction of this pen, including specifications and snail density. Thanks for sharing.