Growth Performance of African Giant Land Snail Archachatina Marginata Fed Varying Dietary Protein Levels of Plant Source

Abstract

The effects of isocaloric plant protein diets on the growth performance of African giant land snail Archachatina marginata were investigated for 28 weeks. A total of 120 juvenile A. marginata snails were used. Ten snails were randomly assigned to each of the four experimental diets containing 12%, 14%, 16%, and 18% crude protein from plant source respectively. Each diet constitutes a treatment and each treatment was replicated three times with 10 snails per replicate. Data on growth parameters were collected bi-weekly. Results showed that the performance of snails fed was significantly (p<0.05) influenced by levels of dietary protein. The snail fed with 16% level of crude protein had the highest final somatic body weight (42.6g) and the superior feed conversion ratio (2.35) while beyond 16% level of crude protein the growth response declined. It was evident from this study that A. marginata snails fed 16% crude protein of plant source were the best in growth performance and that snails could be raised on diets comprising of crude protein exclusively from plant source.