₦airaland Forum

Interesting thread following. Keep up d good work all

Snail Framing is Lucrative only if you have the right knowledge to succeed in the business. Some persons only tell you what they have not experienced and put you in trouble. For me, if you must start a commercial snail farm, I advice you get your snails from an established farm and if you want to start making the money quickly, you will need to start with JUVENILE SNAILS. I advise you to have a smaill capital for feeding so you can get the best and maximize production.

For more info: call 08136510586

Snail Framing is Lucrative only if you have the right knowledge to succeed in the business. Some persons only tell you what they have not experienced and put you in trouble. For me, if you must start a commercial snail farm, I advice you get your snails from an established farm and if you want to start making the money quickly, you will need to start with JUVENILE SNAILS. I advise you to have a smaill capital for feeding so you can get the best and maximize production.

For more info: call 08136510586

igboboy3:
Maybe you can go to a snail farm over there and see how they run their business

Unfortuately our snails are pests here. I wont be allowed unless its low key. Land will be another issue since i live in the city

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.


Snail farming is a slow but stable way of making money. I can however maximise your margins by integrating mixed organic farming into the mix.

To find out all out takes to start today, call or Whatsapp 080.30964896 To discuss your needs and receive professional planning, project setup, management etc.

We are very affordable.

please am a newbie of snail farming please how do i start this using Tyre for now and how to do away with ants and all other predators. please add me up on your whatsapp 08060832334 thanks

Please who knows if the snail market in Ogogoro market is a daily market? Please reply Asap

I am setting up a small snail farm and I am looking for where I can buy breeders and eggs or hatchlings for a reasonable price. I also have a plot of land available for dedicated snail farming, if any investors or partners are interested please let me know. @kolaalax on most platforms.

@Arifabconcept82 I thought these would help. Just be sure to cover them with mesh or something so they don't grow legs and run off

Please add me to Whatsapp group
‭‭+234 902 990 7820‬‬

Lordhugo, please can you give an idea of the cost of setting up a snailery on a 2 plot of land and which method will be most suitable?

1881:
Lordhugo, please can you give an idea of the cost of setting up a snailery on a 2 plot of land and which method will be most suitable?

Send me a mail.

FarmingEnquiries@ gmail.com


Thank you

Please anyone here who can supply breeding stock in Lagos? About 20pcs for a start.

@lordhugo thank you for sharing this information. I'm retired and was ill for some years. I have just begun to do the thing I like -gardening. My ugu at the backyard is wowing my family. I wanted to start snail farming on a small scale but wondered if it would work in Jos(I have slugs during the rainy season). My other questions have been answered on your thread so I plan to take off,God willing, next rainy season. I'll be ordering my breeders from you. If it works I'll expand to a plot we own. Thanks again

otoboson:
Hello everyone, thank you for your interest to join the SNAIL FARMERS' NETWORK. Due to the difficulty of adding people to the group, we have decided to provide the whatsapp link so that everyone can join the group directly. Please click this https://chat. whatsapp.com/2H8MrphHY5THErNce45Z4k to join the group.

a space was intentionally inserted in the link (between chat. and whatsapp.) so enable everyone see it.
Copy the link to your browser, remove the SPACE BETWEEN CHAT. AND WHATSAPP. to join the group.

GidiPrince:
Please anyone here who can supply breeding stock in Lagos? About 20pcs for a start.

Yes we can
Whatsapp 08154094629
Call:09033652517

hello sir pls can u help me to forword all dis to my Email sir an ur phone number, this is my mail, ojugbeleolaide@yahoo.com

Good day Lordhugo,

We at SME Help have been following you on Nairaland, we are very impressed with the level of knowledge you possess on Snail Farming.

We would therefore, like to invite you to write an Article on our platform to reach a whole new audience. Please contact info@smehelp.org for more information if you are interested.

Regards,

please how do i get the hand book ?

otoboson:
a space was intentionally inserted in the link (between chat. and whatsapp.) so enable everyone see it.
Copy the link to your browser, remove the SPACE BETWEEN CHAT. AND WHATSAPP. to join the group.

Hello, I tried joining the what's app group with the link you posted but I got a notice that I could not join the group as the invite link has been revoked. Can you help me out please. I'd like to be added to the group. Thanks.

following

Well done. I'm Still waiting for the continuation.

Good day house nice work going on here ,i have been following this tread for a while and it has been so interesting and educative ,but is like d tread is going down and this might make other new people not gain what we have so pls let's keep it going despite the whatsapp group chat. thanks

@lordugo hw much is the snail feed

Please what and what do i need to continue
I have been able to set up a small snail cage fr experimental purposes

Does anyone has snail for sail anywhere in Berger/mowe/ibafo axis? Pls share your contact number if you do

as long as you are in lagos, we can deliver snails to you within 48 hours
call/whatsapp: 09090218711

ijababa:
Does anyone has snail for sail anywhere in Berger/mowe/ibafo axis? Pls share your contact number if you do

as long as you are in lagos, we can deliver snails to you within 48 hours.

call/whatsapp: 09090218711

Hello snail experts, I just started a small snail farm and I have AA and AM but in different pens. I know the AA buries it eggs and I noticed that the AM does not bury it. I have separated the AM eggs but my question is, do I need to bury the AM eggs or just leave it above ground. Thanks

Please do I need to put dry leaves in the pen for the snail to hide under?thanks

lordhugo:
Good question.

Eggs in my opinion have a higher hatch rate when "harvested" from your snail pen substrate.

1. Get a plastic disposable plate with a cover.
2. Place 1cm of soil
3. Arrange the harvested eggs one per square inch
4. Place another 1 cm of soil over them.
5. Watch every early morning for hatched snails (since you dont know when these in question were laid) . Incubation usually takes 18-22 days.
6. Transfer newly hatched snails to a nursery.

I believe you can now sterilize your substrate now.

Cheers.
Kool day to you Koolpapa

Modified. @ demsat . I also saw your post above on hatching snails. I believe this helps you.

N.B.
The method above would be harder to implement for a larger scale farm.
Constructing or buying electric incubators are better for larger farms.

I have problem hatching my eggs following the above stated method.
Pls where can I get d electric incubator to buy. Or give me more advise.