How to Raise River Snails? Master the Breeding Techniques and Precautions

River snails are one of the most common dishes in everyone's daily life. Various cooking methods make river snails taste excellent and they are deeply loved by everyone. At the same time, this has also led many farming friends to follow the trend. But is the breeding risk of river snails high, and how can river snails be raised well? What should be noted during the breeding process? Let's summarize the experience together with the editor below.

How to Raise River Snails

1. Selection of seed snails: River snails mostly reproduce naturally. For artificial breeding, they can be picked from paddy fields, wild rice stem fields, and muddy ditches, or bought from the market. Then choose live snails with light brown color, thin shells, round bodies, and blunt tails as seed snails. Generally, river snails weighing 15-25 grams have reached sexual maturity and can reproduce at temperatures above 15°C. Female snails are large and round, while male snails are small and pointed.

2. Stocking time: Snail seeds can be stocked all at once or in batches multiple times. However, considering improving the survival rate, it is generally necessary to avoid hot and scorching periods. Of course, stocking at the end of the previous year helps shorten the breeding time and increase the yield per unit area in that year.

3. Stocking method: If stocking in a natural area, 11 seed snails per square meter is sufficient (3 males and 8 females). If digging a pond for single-species breeding, 100-500 can be placed per square meter. The water depth should preferably be 0.8-1 m, and a layer of more than 10 cm of mud should be retained at the bottom of the pond to facilitate river snails' crawling, feeding, and resting. When stocking, male and female snails should be stocked together so they can reproduce naturally.

River Snail Breeding Techniques and Precautions

1. Mixed breeding: To regulate water quality, 20-50 silver carp of 20-50 grams each and 5-10 bighead carp of 20-50 grams each can be raised per mu. Snail ponds should not be stocked with carnivorous or partially carnivorous fish such as black carp, common carp, crucian carp, and yellow catfish.

2. Feeding: River snails are omnivorous. Rice bran, vegetable scraps, melon leaves, animal carcasses, and commercial feed can all be fed. Generally, aquatic plants, soil humus, and vegetable peels are the main food. In fertile paddy fields, fish-snail mixed culture, or water surfaces where azolla, duckweed, water hyacinth, and other lowland plants are grown, feed can be reduced or not fed.

3. Water quality regulation: First, new water should often be injected into the snail pond to regulate water quality. Especially in the breeding season, it is best to keep the pond water flowing. Especially in hot seasons, flowing-water breeding gives better results. In spring and autumn, slight flowing-water breeding is better. The water depth of the snail pond should often be maintained at about 30 cm. Second, regulate the pH of the water. When the pH value of the pond water is low, apply 0.15-0.18 kg of quicklime per square meter, sprinkling once every 10-15 days, to keep the pond water pH at 7-8.

What Food Do River Snails Eat

1. River snails prefer habitats in water environments where the bottom mud is rich in humus, such as lakes, ponds, field depressions, or slow-flowing river ditches with lush aquatic plants. They often feed on microorganisms and humus in the mud, as well as phytoplankton in the water, tender aquatic plants, and moss. They also like artificial feed, such as vegetables and fruits, vegetable leaves, rice bran, wheat bran, soybean powder (cake), and various animal scraps.

2. River snails are gastropod mollusks. They like to live in waters that are warm in winter and cool in summer, with soft bottom substrate, abundant bait, and fresh water quality. They especially like to gather in places with slight flowing water. They are omnivorous and mainly eat tender stems and leaves of aquatic plants, organic debris, and so on, and they like to be active and feed at night.

Where Are River Snails Produced

1. River snails broadly refer to mollusks of the family Viviparidae, belonging to Mollusca, Gastropoda, Prosobranchia, Viviparidae. The production areas of river snails are distributed in most areas of China. River snails have relatively high requirements for water quality and low yield. They can be caught in summer and autumn. In freshwater, Chinese mystery snails, etc. are commonly found.

2. River snails are gastropod mollusks. They like to live in waters that are warm in winter and cool in summer, with soft bottom substrate, abundant bait, and fresh water quality. They especially like to gather in places with slight flowing water. River snails are omnivorous and mainly eat tender stems and leaves of aquatic plants, organic debris, and so on. River snails also like to be active and feed at night. The most suitable temperature for growth is 20-27°C. When the water temperature rises to 15°C in late spring and early summer, river snails crawl out of overwintering holes and feed and grow at the bottom of the water.

River snails are the most common in rural areas. They can be seen everywhere in paddy fields and ponds. River snails still have fairly high requirements for water quality. River snails from good water quality taste sweet, so farmers who want to breed good river snails still need to put in a lot of effort. In this process, what should be noted still needs to be noted.