A terrible loss

The dry season had come and gone. The snails survived. The ants and earthworms didn't do much harm to the snails but some thing worse than all these, attacked the snails. The snails laid eggs, I had thousands of snail eggs all over the snail house. The eggs hatched and their babies were everywhere. It looked like I  would have millions of snails very soon but then the real enemies of the snail attacked.

Very tiny insects were every where in the snail pen. These insects where so very tiny that you really have to look closely to see them. Initially I thought they were normal but when I noticed that the newly hatched snails could barely survive, then I knew that the situation was critical. I partitioned the snail house but it didn't work. They were just every where. All the snails whether big or small  had this tiny monsters all over them.  I wouldn't save them, the babies were the most hit. The babies died in thousands just as they hatched. Any baby shell you picked up was empty eaten up by the tiny monsters. The monsters occupied every empty shell. I felt sad and discouraged.  I did everything within my power to save them but couldn't.

These tiny insects I noticed were easily blown away by air and they were so many of them in the soil on which the snails live. So I removed and washed the big snails put them into another snail pen. The soil with the snail eggs in it and the newly hatched snails I threw into the bush. I left the snail house in the sun for about 3 days then treated it with insecticide.

So I lost all the eggs and the babies. If  they survive in the bush then I would probably have them back

The failed harvest

Despite the unfavourable dry seasons to my surprise we picked five snails as soon as the first rain fell.

It took an effort to get my family to agree to harvest the snails. Happily I washed and cleaned the snails and prepared them for cooking as a special delicacy during Christmas. At this time my husband traveled. I decided to wait for his return. Here is a picture of the harvested snails

Finally upon his arrival, we sought his opinion concerning the snails. He didn't agree with us. so the snails were sent back into the snail pen.  I had thought of a million and one ways I would have made a dish of the snails, yes I wanted to cook some with green plantain and vegetables, I wanted to fry some with carrot and green peas and lots of garlic but now no snail dish for me yet.

However there is a problem with the snails; yes they lay hundreds of eggs and hatch them but baby snails don't survive. Only a few of them make it. What can I do?

The unfavourable dry seasons

The dry seasons in Nigeria, particularly the harmattan  season was not favourable for the snails at all.Many baby snails died. At least 10 of them must have died. I felt really bad. The little creature were dieing helplessly in the snail pen.

I began to regret, I wish I hadn't started at all. I couldn't return them to their natural habitat. The condition out there was even more harsh than it was in the snail pen. The leaves had all dried. The ground was as hard as rocks. The snails seemed doom. The nights, at this time was so cold the snails dug deep into the ground for warmth. The day time  was so dry. Many of them estivated. I felt sad. They didn't come out to play or eat. I feared they would all die. Oh what a tragedy!

The dry season is almost over now. The Archatina marginata snails have remained buried in the soil, most times when I dig them out I find they had estivated then they shed the covering and within two days they are back inside the soil. The Archatina fulica snails are more rugged, only few of them estivated.

There is another problem in the snail house. Sugar ants are beginning to invade the snail house. I don't know if it has to do with the dry season too. Killing them manually don't seem to be working. They just won't go away. Changing the soil in the snail house is not an option because the soil is full of tiny eggs and babies. Ants and earth worms won't let the snails be. Oh what terrible contenders!

When there is more

I found gold

Saturday 10th November, started like any other day,  I woke up a little too early and decided to check around the house for snails.It rained the day before so I felt the snails might still be around.  My husband decided to go with me. I picked one, two, three, four here and there. Some a little big, some small then suddenly I saw it. I screamed, it was too big I step back. It didn't look real. My husband stepped forward a bit I guess we were both scared. We had a cutlass with us, He used the cutlass to clear some of the leaves around the snail, then there was another one near it but not as big as the other one.

The sight before us was a very big snail. The biggest I had ever seen. Its shell had turned white probably with age. I guess I have the biggest snail ever seen. Initially we thought the snail was a snake or it might turn to one. We approached with caution and collected the two snails.  This type of snail is not easily seen anywhere. It looked like something you see only in the dream. Its now in my snail pen and I have been watching it closely. I felt I should cook it immediately since it looked very old, but I couldn't it feels like gold in my hand.

On that particular day I picked 10 snails just around the house. I didn't go into the bush to get them. I wonder what one might find if you went into the bush to really hunt for snail. However the bushes have to go, they habour snakes, monitor lizards, alligators, scorpions and much more. Just yesterday an alligator was seen wandering around the house. I am determined to burn the bush because of the dangerous animals that inhabit there, but the natural home of this snails would also go. This animals too would be endangered, It  would be good if  someone would come to their aid. Probably take them away to a games reserve.  

Meet the saved snails

Some pictures of my snails

Identification of these snails have been a bit difficult. They have been called Achatina fulica,

Achatina Achatina, Archachatina, Achatina marginata and so on, sometimes its so confusing. I guess the name you give your snail is what it will bear.

This is Pretty

The fairy

This is Grandfather snail

This is  the Agile one

This is Grandmother

This is The foreigner

Curly

Beautiful

Friendly

    

Snail farming? how ridiculous!

Those were the very words of my family when I traveled home for a burial. People I hadn't seen for 10 years, 20 years were all there. They wanted to know what I was doing now. I told them I was 'snail farming.' They laughed. To them I sounded ridiculous. I began to feel ridiculous. To farm snails is unimaginable where I come from because it is an oil producing part of Nigeria.

However, the deed is done. Am into it. I love the snails. They need protection. There is no going back now. What my people do not know is that snails have many benefits.
                                   Financially; its a good business venture.
                                   Emotionally; they have a calming effect.
                                    Health wise; its benefits cannot be under rated.
I do not want to talk about this things until I have experienced it for sure.

The snails eating

The snails have grown, we have picked many more. The snail pen is full now. I have snails of different species. Am looking forward to eating and selling them. Its almost difficult for me to eat them because they feel like members of my family. We have names for the snails; grandfather snail, grandmother snail, baby snails and so on.

The snail eggs

Snail farming may be a ridiculous idea to many people but its truly worth while and I am enjoying every minute of it. The story continues...

My experience

Our school project this term is agriculture. Different classes would be working on different aspects of agriculture; like poultry farming, aqua phonics, snail farming, livestock farming etc.

Snail farming caught my interest because there are lots of snails around where I live. I feared that these snails might become extinct someday so I decided to rear them. Since I began, it has been fun and full of adventures. I am going to share this fun and adventure with you as they unfold.

When I moved to my present apartment in a remote area in Lagos. The first thing that caught my interest was the peace and tranquility of the place. Being close to nature was an added advantage for me. However, the discovery of the snails made it all even more fantastic. The snails were everywhere; on the ground, on the walls, everywhere. Small ones, big ones, medium sizes,  but the very big ones were very few, you need to get into the bush to get those ones. Most times I picked the small ones and threw them into nearby bush wishing I would get them back when they have grown. I had a particular spot at the back of the house where I threw them.  There was this section of the fence where you could count about 50 snails at a time. However, when I came home from school one day the snails had all gone. A neighbor had picked them all. The snails were not even big enough and they had all gone into her pot, it saddened me.

Most times when I woke up in the morning and looked out of my window at about 6 am, I noticed there was a snail on  the edge of the drainage pipe. I went out and took a closer look and saw about 5 snails at the spot where I had been throwing the snails. When the school project began I decided to make a snailery for them and rear them. I gathered all 5 of them and 3 more into the pen. I began to carry out intensive research on snails and observe them too.

My snail ( Africa giant land snail)

What my snails mean to me.
Each day when I get back from school after exchanging pleasantries with my family I sit by the snail pen and study them. I have learnt a lot about them. What they eat, how they behave and the things they love. Stay with me I have a lot to share. For now they are my pets. I enjoy caring for them just like a grand creator enjoys caring us.