What do snails eat ? A list of food for snails

Whatever the question , I have seen it several times.

These issues are a large part of the email I recently received from readers of Best Fish Keeping .

Well, snails eat a wide variety of foods and they are also easy to feed.

There are some differences between the different species of snails, what they eat and how they feed, but our concern is to stay with the diet of land snails, especially those found in commercial quantities like the land snail. African giant ( Achatina achatina ) Achatina fulica and Achatina marginata product.

Website:https://www.bestfishkeeping.com/food-for-snails/

How do snails eat?

Snail feeding activity depends on the weather, and snails may not eat every day.

The rainy season (or watering) favors feeding because the humidity facilitates the movement of the snails.

In general, snails are nocturnal animals . This means that they are mostly active at night.

They forage for food at night or early in the morning. They use their intense sense of smell when searching for food.

Snails are vegetarians and can eat a wide variety of foods: vegetables, mushrooms, tubers, seaweed, and fruits are essential snails’ food.

Young snails can eat about twice as much food as mature snails and prefer soft leaves and shoots.

Screw eat solid foods, providing radula (a part of the anatomy of the worm, used to chew food) to scrape or before food will pass into the esophagus.

Snails don’t have teeth like mammals. Instead, snails have a special food processing organ that all mollusks have in common.

It is eaten with a radula, a croaking tongue-like organ covered with thousands of tiny dental protrusions called denticles.

What do snails eat?

In general, snails need carbohydrates for energy and protein for growth.

In addition, snails need a large amount of calcium (Ca) in their environment for their shells, as well as other minerals and vitamins.

List of the best foods for snails

• Calcium supplements
• Leaves and vegetables
• Tubers
• Fleshy fruits
• flowers
• Snails don’t drink chlorinated water
• Stay at home

1. Snails need calcium supplements for their shells.

Snails need a lot of calcium to build and repair their shells.

Always keep a source of calcium near the shell .

Calcium powder, cuttlefish, dead snails, natural limestone, bone meal, and wood ash are good sources of calcium for snails.

2. The leaves and vegetables are the favorite of snails

Snails eat the leaves of the following plants: apple, broccoli, coconut, spinach, cola, cassava, green onion, okra, eggplant, loofah, celery, parsley, turnip, mushroom, carrot, barley, beans, cabbage, and claw.

The leaves of the leg (along with their fruits, flowers, and fruit shells) are an important food for snails.

3. Snails also eat tubers

Cocoyam, cassava , yam, sweet potato and banana.

Tubers are a good source of carbohydrates, although they are low in protein. (Cassava must have a very low cyanide content).

4. Tender and fleshy fruit

Fruits are rich in minerals and vitamins, but contain little protein.

Fruits that are part of the essential food for snails include eggplant, foot’s foot, green beans, artichoke, mango, banana, eggplant, apricot, pear, palm tree oil, fig, tomato, peach, orange, pumpkin, ripe cherries. , Watermelon, cucumber (a popular food for snails).

5. Some flowers are edible for snails.

Edible snail flowers include; Rose, cauliflower, hibiscus, paw and sunflower.

6. Snails don’t drink chlorinated water

Prepare a shallow bowl of spring water for your snail to drink and bathe in. Replace the water every 1 to 2 days.

Make sure you do not provide chlorinated water, as the chlorine is harmful to the snails.

7. Other important foods for snails

Certain household waste, such as fruit and root rinds, bananas, plantains, watermelons, damaged fruits, yams, and cooked foods such as potatoes, rice, carrots, and beans.

However, you must be careful to avoid salty household waste.

Keep in mind that raw foods are higher in nutrients than cooked or processed foods.

In addition, snails can be fed specially formulated snail feed or mesh feed for chickens.

8. Feed the snails formulated foods

In addition to vegetables and tubers, snails also eat concentrated or formulated foods.

In the production of formulated snail feed, basic ingredients such as peanuts, soybeans, beans, and corn are combined.

These ingredients need to be combined in different proportions to meet the snail feed standard.

Here are the reasons to feed snails formulated foods

Is it okay to feed snails for the following reasons?

• The formulated food helps improve the performance of snails
• Unlike vegetables and fruits, it is easy to store for a long time.
• Snail feed concentrate saves time and energy
• With foods formulated for snails, you can meet the specific nutritional needs of snails.

Things to consider when formulating snail feed

When formulating the snail feed concentrate the following points should be observed:

• It is necessary to know the state (health and reproductive state) of the snail.
• It is important to know the cost of each ingredient.
• It is also necessary to know the nutritional requirements of the snail.
• Finally, you need to make sure that the food ingredient is available.

How to formulate snail food

The formulation of snail food is very simple and the composition of the food depends on the protein requirements of the snails.

For example, to formulate a food with a protein requirement of 32% using organ meats, millet, and guinea pigs.

First, you will note the percentage of protein contained in each of the ingredients so that you can determine how much to use.

In the case of offal, millet and guinea pigs;

It can be seen from the above table that the combination of wheat, millet, and guinea pig waste results in a snail diet with a protein concentration of 38%.

But what we want is a food with 32% protein.

We are therefore going to do a little calculation to see the contribution of each ingredient to the food.

• Wheat residues 17/38 * 32 = 14.32%
• Millet 10/38 * 32 = 8.42%
• Guinea pigs 11/38 * 32 = 9.26

Therefore, you need 14.32% wheat byproduct, 8.42% millet, and 9.26% guinea pig to formulate foods with the required 32% protein.

Be careful when formulating snail feed.

To obtain a well-formulated food, the following precautions should be taken.

• Make sure the ingredients are not wet.
• After formulating the feed, be sure to store the feed formulation in a dry place.
• Also, note that the food must be ground into a powder.

There are some harmful foods you should never feed on snails

1. Do not give food contaminated with snails.

All foods that have been treated with pesticides are potentially snail killers.

Local foods that have been contaminated with toxic gases (like vehicle fumes) are also not good for snails.

Snails always avoid plants with hairy leaves or those that produce toxic defensive chemicals. You have to be careful not to feed these snails to your snails.

2. Avoid feeding snails starchy foods

Starches like rice, millet and pasta are not easily digested and block the internal digestive system.

This internal blockage can lead to swelling and therefore death of the snails.

In general, salt should be avoided, as it is dangerous for snails.

3. Never give snails chlorinated water

Some water sources, such as tap water, may contain chlorine, which is harmful to snails.

If you don’t have access to chlorine-free water, you can leave tap water in the sun for 48 hours to remove chemicals.

Make sure to use a very shallow container to provide water to the snails and keep them from drowning.

4. Avoid giving your snails salty foods

Snails can only survive in a cool atmosphere with a significant amount of humidity.

But salt can cause them to dry out quickly.

Therefore, you should avoid giving salty food to your snails as it is very harmful to them.

Salty foods dehydrate snails and limit their chances of survival.

In fact, many cooks use salt to wash the mud off snails and show you how dangerous salt can be for them.

Best Practices for Feeding Snails

Website:https://www.bestfishkeeping.com/food-for-snails/

It is a good idea to ensure that all food is washed before feeding it to the snails.

This is important because some insect larvae can hide in food without your knowledge.

Also, remove all snail food scraps from the enclosures every day, as they will deteriorate quickly.

Rotten food attracts fleas, lice, mice, rats, and disease.

For easier cleanup, place snail food in a shallow dish or concrete slab in the enclosure.

All bowls (both food and water) should be heavy enough, as snails tend to tip over when moved over them.

In general, find the right plants adapted to the climate and remember that snails prefer juicy leaves and vegetables to pulses. Your diet can consist of 20% bran and 80% vegetables and fruits. Most importantly, a farmer must provide enough drinking water for the snails to eat and grow quickly.

Clean potable water can be served in a shallow container to reduce the risk of snail drowning. Some snail farms have an irrigation system, such as sprinklers, to keep humidity at a reasonable level. Before starting a profitable farming business like snail farming, make sure the land you buy or rent is well-drained, as puddles should never appear. The country must also be a little remote to avoid noise and pollution.

Conclusion

This article will give you a good idea of ​​what snails eat and drink to survive.

As snails are omnivorous by nature , they eat virtually all types of food.

Some of the best foods for worms range from vegetables and fruits, to tubers, forages and more.

With a few exceptions, they eat almost all human consumables .

In general, snails can eat up to 4–6% of their body weight in 24 hours.

Therefore, it is very important to feed them properly, as this will help their reproductive capacity and increase their size.

If you like this article, please share it with your friends on social media using the icons on your screen.

Someone you know may also need this information.

Thank you so much.