Starting a snail farm can be very
profitable if it is done in a proper way. The following are the simple steps on
how to construct a snail house.
1. The use of baskets for Snail house:
One of the good material for locally made
Snail cage is basket. Basket is actually use for raising hatchlings of less
than 3 months of age or for incubation of eggs. Although one of the major
limitation of using basket as cage for
raising snail is poor durability.
If you actually want to make snail housing
using baskets, you are to follow these procedures;
1.Try as much as possible to get a good basket
and make sure you lay sack on the bottom to hold the soil.
2.Make sure you fill the basket with humus or
loamy soil to a depth of about 15-20cm.
3.Make sure you put dry leaves on the soil for
mulching.
4.If you are done with that you can cover the
basket with a lid, or chicken wire mesh placed between 2 mosquito nets and
fastened with a wooden frame, this will provide protection against insects.
2. The use of Hutch Box (Wooden Snail Cage)
for snail house:
This is actually a square or rectangular,
single, or multi-chamber wooden boxes with lids, that is placed on wooden
stands. This particular snail house are really useful in semi-intensive snail
breeding system. The Hutch box are very suitable as hatchery and nursery pens
because eggs and young snails can be easily located and observed.
The following are the steps involved in
constructing a Hutch box;
1.Make sure the dimension is about 100cm x
100cm x 50cm with a stand of 35cm.
2.Make sure the box have a cubical wooden
frame.
3.Also make sure that the base of the box is
built with hard wood and is perforated to allow free drainage of excess water.
4.Immediately you finish constructing the box,
make sure you sieve humus or loamy soil into it to a depth of about 20 – 25cm.
5.Try as much as possible to cover the box
with a lid made of chicken wire mesh reinforced with mosquito nets. Also make
sure that the lid is fitted with a padlock to discourage poachers from stealing
the snails.
6.Try and make sure that the stands of the
cage which is about 35cm high is placed inside a container or bowl filled with
water plus kerosene, used engine oil or any other disinfectants. The reason for
this is to prevent insects from crawling up the box to attack the snails.
7.Try as much as possible to make sure that
the soil in the hutch box is changed occasionally, because an accumulation of
droppings and slime can really increase the chances of disease development.
Post a Comment