What are the precautions for snail farming?

The snail (river snail) is actually a type of field snail (Cipangopaludina chinensis), and snails can be found throughout China, especially in the Zhejiang region, where people are extremely fond of them. Today, in many parts of China, snails have become a very popular snack or a delicious dish on the dining table. As market demand increases, wild snails are becoming fewer and fewer, so artificial snail farming has become a direction for the development of the aquaculture industry. But do you know what issues to pay attention to when farming snails? Let's take a look below.

1. Selection of snail seed stock

The selection of seed snails is a fundamental condition for successful snail farming. Many farming beginners actually do not know much about snails, so when choosing seed snails they cannot tell which are high-quality seed snails, making them easy to be cheated and suffer great losses. In fact, when choosing seed snails, we only need to select snails that are free of pests and diseases, have no damage to any body part, look relatively robust, are suitable for local growth, and are relatively uniform in size.

2. Pond cleaning

Many people have seen the environment where wild snails grow and think pond cleaning is unnecessary. But this is not actually the case, and precisely because of this, wild snails are becoming fewer and fewer and their reproductive capacity is further degrading. So when farming them, we need to pay attention: before farming, the excess silt must be cleaned out, then quicklime should be used for disinfection, and only after disinfection is complete should the snails be stocked. In addition, during the later stages of farming, the pond also needs to be properly cleaned and disinfected, so as to ensure the quality of snail growth.

3. Water quality regulation

In snail farming, regulating water quality is very important. The water for snail farming needs to be relatively fertile, so we must reasonably control the supply of fertilizer. Secondly, we must change the water regularly to ensure the water quality is suitable for the normal growth of snails. Especially during the snail breeding period, water quality has a very large impact on their reproductive output. Also, when summer temperatures are high and winter temperatures are low, we must scientifically regulate the water temperature, which helps promote snail growth. Finally, the water level for snail farming should not be too deep, generally no more than 40 cm at the highest and no less than 20 cm at the lowest. One more point is to properly regulate the pH value of the farming water body, basically adding some quicklime every half month to neutralize the acidity and alkalinity of the water.

4. Bait and feed

The snail is an omnivorous organism, so first we can apply an appropriate amount of fertilizer, which can increase the plankton in the water and provide snails with a certain long-term food source. Secondly, they mainly feed on aquatic plants and algae. When feeding them, we usually give vegetables, melons and fruits, animal offal, rapeseed cake, and the like, but we must not feed them poor-quality or spoiled feed, and we must promptly remove feed residues to avoid polluting the water quality. Also, when feeding, do not feed them whole; they should be chopped up before feeding, and the amount fed each time should be based on the specific condition of the snails. The feeding frequency should not be too frequent either; it is best to feed once every two days.

Many people have raised snails, or have seen the growing environment of snails in certain places, but sometimes what we see is not necessarily truly reliable, so everyone should still farm according to professional farming techniques. Of course, in the process of farming, you surely also have your own little farming tips. If you can, leave a comment below and share them with us.