Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Extensive Snail Keeping
• Part 2 of 3: Intensive Snail Keeping
• Part 3 of 3: Maintaining a snail nursery
• Tips
• Warnings

Snails are cute pets that are fun to watch. They are also bred as a delicacy. Of course, before investing in a large snail farm, it is advisable to research the local market and find out what regulations governing the commercial breeding and sale of snails. There are three ways to grow snails. The extensive method involves keeping snails in natural conditions. In the intensive method, snails are grown in closed, climate-controlled rooms. Semi-intensive rearing combines the features of both systems: egg laying and rearing takes place indoors, and after 6-7 weeks young snails are transferred to the natural environment.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Extensive Snail Keeping

1. 1 Determine if your climate is suitable for breeding snails in open areas. Most snails require a warm and humid climate with temperatures of 25–30 C ° and humidity of 80–95%. Find out what kind of housing conditions are needed for the breed of snails that you plan to breed, and then it will become clear if an extensive method of keeping them is right for you.
   • In addition, a factor such as wind should be considered. The wind dries up the snails, so they should be kept in a place protected from the wind.
2. 2 Build a pen. The size of the pen will depend on the number of snails you are going to place in it. The walls of the pen can be made of fine mesh, since snails do not like to crawl on it. Bricks or concrete blocks will also work.
   • Dig in the walls to a depth of at least 20 cm, otherwise the snails will dig in and crawl away.
   • If your corral does not have a roof, then it is enough to make the walls up to half a meter in height. If you are planning to build an indoor pen, the height of the roof should be designed to match the size of the tallest plant in the pen.
3. 3 Decide if your pen needs a roof. The roof will provide shade and weather protection for the snails, but it comes at an additional cost. If you've built your pen walls with materials that snails can easily crawl over, you can't do without a roof.
   • The roof of the pen can be made of fine mesh. If necessary, cover the net with a light cloth.
   • If you decide to cover the corral with a roof, be sure to think about how you will get inside. If the pen is made of mesh, the roof can be bolted to the walls with pieces of wire. To get into the corral, you just need to unwind the wire.
4. 4 Fill the paddock with soil. The soil should be very loose. Snails lay their eggs in the soil, and it should be easy for them to burrow into it. Do not use
   • sandy soil (it does not retain moisture well);
   • heavy, clayey soil;
   • soil with high acidity (it damages the shell of snails).
5. 5 Plant the plants in the paddock. Bushes and small trees will serve as food and shelter for snails. Sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and leafy vegetables are especially well-proven.
   • You can also plant small trees around the paddock. They will protect snails from wind, sun and rain.
6. 6 Place a small container for rainwater in the pen. Tap water often contains chemicals that are harmful to snails, such as chlorine. Keep the water container shallow to prevent snails from falling into it and drowning - for example, you can use a can lid. If the water is very cloudy or has debris floating in it, it's time to change it.

Part 2 of 3: Intensive Snail Keeping

1. 1 Find the right container. Snails love to travel and gnaw through cardboard easily, so choose something stronger.
   • Snails can be kept in wooden crates. It is better if the box is made of wood that is resistant to decay.
   • Old metal drums are a good option, cheap and practical.
   • You can also use plastic containers or aquariums. If you only have a few snails, you can opt for a large plastic food container. If they don't fit in a container, consider purchasing an aquarium.
2. 2 Make holes for air in the container lid. The snail house needs ventilation to keep your little friends from suffocating. If your snails hatched very recently and are still small, it is better to pull the net under the lid with holes so that they do not get out. If you are feeding adult snails, simply drill holes in the lid so that the snails cannot squeeze through them.
3. 3 Place the snail house on a stand. It is more convenient to care for your snails when the snail container is at your waist. If you plan to take the snail container outside, it is also best to place it at some distance from the ground to prevent predators from reaching the snails. The stand can be made from stacked bricks or concrete blocks.
   • The container with snails should not be exposed to direct sunlight, otherwise the snails may die from lack of moisture.Do not place snails under the ventilation hole, they also lose moisture in a draft.
4. 4 The snail house needs to be furnished. Place a 5 cm layer of potting soil at the bottom. Use an earthen pot or small plastic container to hide the snails by placing the container on its side and digging it halfway into the ground.
   • Do not use soil from the garden - it may contain other living organisms.
5. 5 Snails need food. If you have not planted any plants in the container, if you are intensively breeding snails, you need to feed them regularly. Snails happily eat weeds, peel vegetables, pieces of fruit. Avoid feeding your snails with pubescent leaves and poisonous plants.
   • Unfinished food that has begun to spoil should be removed from the container.
   • Snails love mangoes, bananas, pears, eggplants, figs, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
   • Snails also need protein, which they can get from sweet potatoes or bananas.
   • Snails can be fed leftover food, such as rice or beans, as long as they do not contain table salt.
6. 6 Place a shallow container of water in the container. A lid from a jar or plastic container is suitable for this purpose. Tap water is harmful to snails as it may contain chlorine. It is best to give the snails rain or bottled water.

Part 3 of 3: Maintaining a snail nursery

1. 1 Decide if you need to move your snails to semi-intensive housing. If you are raising snails extensively and it is time for them to breed, then elements of an intensive system may be needed to lay eggs and raise young stock. If you have young snails growing up in your intensive system, they may need more free space, and here you can add an extensive element.
2. 2 Make sure your snail container or pen is large enough. As the snail population grows, the space needs to expand. In conditions of great crowding, the growth of snails slows down, and diseases spread quickly among them. One square meter can contain 100 newly hatched small snails or 7-10 adults.
3. 3 Change the soil regularly. Remove the snails and replace the soil in the container or pen about every two weeks. Be sure to remove any rotten food debris. This operation must be carried out with both extensive and intensive housing.
   • Small snails should be handled with extreme care. Adult snails can be lifted by the shell, because it is already hard. It is better not to lift small snails like this. Instead, push them gently onto a thick piece of paper that can be removed with the snails.
4. 4 The snails must have enough fresh water. To prevent snails from drowning, it is better to use flat containers for water, such as lids from jars or food containers. If you notice that the water is dirty, there are pieces of food or excrement floating in it, then it should be changed immediately.

Tips

• Get a flower sprayer and moisturize your snail nursery every day! Snails love humid climates.
• It is important to properly position your snail nursery. It should be within walking distance, because you will often have to go there to feed the snails or clean up. In addition, the pen should be well protected from predators.
• Make sure the snails cannot get out. Whichever method of keeping snails you choose, both the pen and the container should be well closed. Remember that the snail is a very strong animal and can lift 50 times its own weight! It is better to press down on the roof of the pen or container with something heavy so that the snails do not crawl.
• Never use garden soil to keep snails - it is full of bacteria and parasites.

Warnings

• Never place a container of snails in the sun.
• Keep snails out of the way and make sure they don't crawl. Snails are pests for a wide variety of crops and can wreak havoc on farms.