Production performance of Giant African Land Snails (Archachatina marginata) at the Sudano-Guinean highland zone of Cameroon

Abstract

A study on the production performance of Giant African Land snails was carried out within the Joint Initiative Group of Agro-pastoral Producers United Hands of Foungwo-Santchou (CIG-PAMUFOSA). The general objective of this study was to contribute to a better knowledge of the production performance of the Giant African Land Snail in captivity in Cameroon. For this purpose, the snails were monitored for two months and data on growth and reproductive performance were collected. Growth parameters were estimated from 183 snails aged between 6 and 8 months as a starting number. The results obtained show that the average daily weight gain was 0.06 ± 0.07 g and the shell length and diameter gain was 0.0019 ± 0.0077 mm/day and 0.016 ± 0.0012 mm/day, respectively. Food intake was 1.86 ± 0.17 g/day with a consumption index of 25.87 ± 2.60 and a mortality rate of 40%. Reproductive characteristics were estimated a starting number of 1095 adult snails aged between 1.5 and 2.5 years as it appears that the age at sexual maturity was greater than or equal to 11 months of age. For an average breeding weight of 93.09 ± 25.03 g, they produce clutches averaging 5.66 ± 1.80 eggs per clutch with an average weight of 8.18 ± 3.30 g. The weight of an egg was 1.44 ± 0.35 g, the individual large and small diameter of the eggs were 14.97 ± 1.45 mm and 11.28 ± 1.13 mm, respectively. The incubation period was 35.62 ± 8.16 days and hatching percentage was 76.08%. The factors influencing reproduction and growth performance of Giant African Land Snail would be: housing conditions (high density, breeding substrate), incubation condition, feed quality, and neglect. For an improvement in production performance on this farm, it would be wise to feed the animals with concentrated feed and to follow the strict standard guidelines regarding stocking density.