Pests, Reproduction & Harvesting In
Snail Farming

Common predators of snails include; turkeys, geese, chickens, ants, snakes, lizards, and termites. Snails are not associated with many diseases, but it is common to find issues of bacteria and fungi due to overcrowded pens.

Toads, frogs, birds, weasels, skunks, moles, mice, and rats are carriers of fungi, nematodes, and fungi, which can spread by contact. Make sure you pay attention to pest activity and remove your snails from the pens when necessary.

REPRODUCTION
When snails are sexually mature – between 8 to 12 months after hatching, they lay eggs that hatch between 4 and 6 weeks.
There is no specific breeding period for snails, but you can expect anything from 5 to 6 clutches of eggs yearly. In each clutch, there’s an average of 200 eggs, only if you place them under suitable conditions.

The young snails can stay in the soil for 5 days after hatching. Upon hatching, put them in a separate pen from the mature snails to grow with adequate space and protection.

This stage may be cumbersome, but the market value and fertile nature of the snails will compensate you for the long maturity period.

HARVESTING
Snails take an average of two years to reach full maturity. If you want to know whether or not the snail is mature, inspect the brim of the shell. Snails with a hard and thick shell are mature. Make sure you harvest snails only when they are mature.

Now, this is when things get tricky.

When harvesting your snails for market sale, keep some for future breeding. The snails you set aside for breeding will be the base stock. You can harvest snails with the help of baskets, boxes, bowls, and containers.