A Detailed Guide to the Breeding Methods and Key Technical Points for River Snails

River snails are rich in species and are distributed across most parts of China, and they are also a delicious dish on people's dining tables. So, what breeding methods are there for river snails? Let's take a look together!

1. Choosing a site for breeding

River snails have strong stress resistance, few diseases, and a high reproduction rate, and they have low requirements for the breeding site. In rural areas, many ditches, flooded paddy fields, and ponds can be used for stocking. If they are bred in an open pond, azolla, duckweed, water hyacinth, and other shade plants can be grown on the water surface, and bamboo poles, wooden sticks, and the like can be inserted in the pond for river snails to rest on. This can not only harvest aquatic green manure as feed, but also raise river snails to increase income.

2. Collecting breeding 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, and then live snails with a light brown color, thin shells, round bodies, and blunt tails are selected as breeding snails. Generally, river snails weighing 15-25 grams have reached sexual maturity, and they can reproduce at temperatures above 15 degrees. Female snails are large and round, while male snails are small and pointed.

3. Stocking and reproduction

The suitable growth temperature for river snails is 20-25 degrees. If it is below 15 degrees or above 30 degrees, river snails stop feeding, and below 10 degrees they burrow into the soil to hibernate. South of the Yangtze River, stocking can be done from March to November. If stocking in a natural area, putting in 11 breeding snails per square meter is enough (3 males and 8 females). If a pond is dug 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 kept at the bottom of the pond to facilitate the crawling, feeding, and resting of river snails. When stocking, putting male and female snails together is enough for natural reproduction.

4. Feeding and raising

River snails are omnivorous animals, and feeding management is convenient and they are very easy to breed. Rice bran, vegetable scraps, melon leaves, animal carcasses, and commercial feed can all be fed to them. Generally, aquatic plants, soil humus, and vegetable peels are the staple food. In fertile paddy fields, mixed fish-snail farming, or low-lying areas with azolla, green duckweed, water hyacinth, and the like grown on the water surface, feed can be given sparingly or not at all.

5. Reproduction management

River snails are viviparous animals. In the south, April-May and September-November each year are the reproduction periods. Female snails generally give birth in batches, and each river snail can produce 20-30 small river snails each time. After giving birth, the mother snail needs 14-16 months before it can reproduce again. Newly born small snails weigh 0.5-1.5 grams, and after 6 months of rearing they can reach more than 3-5 grams, and after 9 months they can reach about 9 grams.

6. Catching and harvesting

When catching river snails, adult snails should be selectively taken, and more female snails should be left. They can be harvested in batches. In midsummer and early autumn, when the water temperature is relatively high, river snails mostly hide in the soil and among the grass at noon, so they must be picked in the morning and evening, or the water can be drained for picking. For every 100 female snails stocked, the annual yield can reach 100 kg.

The above are the breeding methods for river snails. I hope they can help all breeders!