How to breed grape snails. Snail farming business plan

Snail farming as a business today is controversial. On the one hand, experts consider it unprofitable. Producing snails at home does not pay off. The domestic consumer is little familiar with this delicacy and is not ready to buy kilos of it. You can't make much money growing it for high-end restaurants.

Many are attracted to the foreign market, where the cost of a kilogram of snail meat starts at 2 euros. But foreigners are ready to purchase goods in quantities of at least 10 tons. To grow shellfish in such a volume, an area of at least a hectare is required. It’s already difficult to talk about business at home. But on the other hand, many entrepreneurs believe that skeptics underestimate the market. An example is shrimp, which 20 years ago were a delicacy, but today are a product of mass consumption.

A real look at sales markets

Of course, many entrepreneurs dream of selling meat to Europe, where the demand for snails is about 100 thousand tons annually. However, the proposal covers only 60%. But for this market it is necessary to organize large-scale cultivation of these mollusks, and also to comply with all European quality standards.

Given such risks, it would be wiser to organize production at home in small batches. But here we need to think carefully about domestic sales markets. You can focus on elite restaurants serving European cuisine, as well as enterprises that produce semi-finished products. In this regard, you can easily compete with European suppliers, whose product prices include logistics and customs costs. By the way, an interesting area that has not yet been explored much is the sale of snail caviar. Today it is a great delicacy.

It is worth considering not only the food industry, but also the pharmaceutical industry. Snails are used in the production of rejuvenation products, improving potency, and metabolism. Snail meat is also used to prepare medicines for the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and musculoskeletal system. For reference, grape snail meat contains iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamins B6 and B12, as well as 5% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 10% protein.

Business organization

After the mandatory step of registering the enterprise with the tax authorities and obtaining all permits, you can proceed to organizing the farm itself.

If you plan to grow approximately a ton of snails during the growing season, you will need a suitable growing area. Its size depends on how you plan to feed the shellfish. Thus, for natural feeding of 30-40 individuals, a square meter of vegetation with a height of more than 10 cm is required. With artificial support, up to 200 individuals can be fed per square meter. A kilogram of meat is harvested from 30-40 snails.

For artificial feeding, compound feed is used at the rate of 20 kilograms of snails or greens. In addition, it is necessary to feed them with dry milk and chalk. In this case, the broodstock must be kept separate from the young stock. For the first, a minimum of 4 square meters is required. m., and for the second – 18 sq. m. For breeding, it is necessary to purchase at least 750 adult queens.

Equipment you will also need:

Aviary for young animals (400 sq. m);
Cuvettes for young animals (150 pieces, 0.1 mg each);
Shelves for snails (4-5);
Boxes for snails for sale (8 pcs. 1x0.5 m);
Ditches for laying eggs (200 pcs. 12x8x6 cm);

Process

To breed snails, you need to place each pair in a separate container. There is no need to understand gender, since snails are hermaphrodites. But they must be separated for mating. The mating season occurs in March-May, when the mollusks emerge from hibernation.

After mating, each individual lays eggs. Once this process is complete, the snails can be returned to the enclosure and the eggs can be sent to the incubator. Literally in 6 weeks a new brood of young animals will grow up. The main task of the breeder is to feed the mollusks, protect them from insects, worms, hedgehogs, moles and other “enemies,” and also move them from container to container in a timely manner.

One individual lays up to 60 eggs per year. It takes one and a half years for one snail to mature. That is, by August of the year following the start, you will already have a new batch of adults. But this applies to grape snails - the most popular. Tunisian snails Helix Aspera Maxima have a shorter maturation cycle. They are ready for reproduction within six months.

Implementation mathematics

Snails are ready for sale when they reach 5 cm in length and 20 g in weight. On average, the price for them is set at 3-5 euros on world snail exchanges. But this is true for large, well-known suppliers. At the startup stage you will have to be content with no more than 2 euros per kg. But even at this price, the business will pay for itself within a year and a half.

During this time, 100 kg of herd will bring about 4 tons of meat for sale. If you manage to establish a sales market, you can get approximately 360 thousand rubles from them.

Today it is becoming fashionable to keep unusual pets at home. And here - who has enough imagination and for what. Some people have a crocodile living in their bathroom, others have exotic fish, others have cockroaches, scorpions and spiders. This is all for everyone, but you can’t take a fish or a poisonous scorpion out of the aquarium to pet it, and the dog needs to be walked at least twice a day. Therefore, many are looking for an alternative, and there really is one. The grape snail feels great at home, willingly crawls into the arms and takes a shower in the arms of the owner, and does not require much care. And if the conditions of your life suddenly change, for example, you are moving, you can simply release it in the garden. Most likely, she will successfully adapt to free conditions.

Where can I get a snail?

They are sold in pet stores, so buying yourself a new friend will not be much of a problem. But you need to take into account that they are found in large quantities in the south of Russia, so if you are going on vacation in Sochi, then you have a good chance of bringing a pet from there. At the same time, the grape snail is so unpretentious at home that its maintenance is accessible to any beginner. Today we will look at what these snails eat and what conditions they require, so that the future owner can easily cope with caring for a new pet.

But let's get back to the topic of how to catch a snail yourself. The child will be happy to support this idea, especially since the process itself is more than fascinating. To do this, in the vineyard, of which there are plenty in the south of Russia, you need to leave a juicy fruit, preferably overripe and aromatic, during the day. In the evening, the mollusks begin to crawl out of their hiding places - now you can start hunting. Therefore, when darkness falls, grab a flashlight and go searching. Most likely, several individuals will already be sitting on your fruit. By the way, the grape snail at home is quite voracious, so if you do not live in the south, where fruit is available all year round, think about whether you need such a pet. When choosing a snail, you should not take small ones; these could be young or sick individuals. Make sure that there are no cracks on the sink; such a simple selection will allow you to bring home a friend who will live long enough.

A new home for a snail

First of all, you need to take care of where the grape snail will live at home. An old aquarium or a large, transparent box is best suited for these purposes. The volume should allow the snail to move normally, so you should not keep it in a very small box or jar. Be sure to close the jar with a lid so that the mollusk cannot escape. However, make sure that there are air holes in the lid.

What to feed a grape snail?

Grape snail care

We have already said that the walls of the aquarium in which snails live are periodically covered with mucus. They need to be wiped, otherwise it will be difficult for you to observe the life of your ward. Uneaten fruits and vegetables should be thrown away promptly, otherwise flies will infest them. It is very convenient to have a special saucer for feeding. Then all the scraps will be in one place.

Few pets love water as much as the grape snail. Keeping these mollusks requires the presence of a small swimming pool in the enclosure, only a shallow one, because the snail cannot swim. She really doesn’t like dry air, because it’s not for nothing that her natural habitat is damp, shady thickets, vineyards, where she crawls out in the evening and actively crawls in search of food until the morning. Therefore, you need to purchase a spray bottle and spray the walls and ground in the aquarium, as well as the snails themselves, every day.

Interaction with snails

Why has the grape snail become so popular? Keeping this mollusk at home is not at all difficult; you can pick up the snail and stroke it. Over time, she will get used to the hands and will feel them with her antennae-horns. You can feed it by hand; the snail will happily eat fresh fruit. If you need to leave, you can put her to bed. To do this, you need to choose a cool place and stop feeding her. The mollusk will perceive this as the onset of cold weather, go into the shell and cover itself with a special film. In nature, snail suspended animation lasts up to 3 months. It's easy enough to wake her up when she returns. Move the aquarium to a warm place and wash the snail in warm water. It is especially necessary to withstand hibernation if you want to get offspring.

Snail breeding

Today, many pet stores sell grape snails. The price of such a pet is from 50 to 500 rubles, depending on the size and region. To get offspring, you will need at least 2 individuals. Snails usually mate in autumn and spring. Under favorable conditions, they can reproduce several times a month. Usually, a snail ready for mating begins to travel around the aquarium, strongly stretching its body. She examines him in search of a partner, when two snails meet, love play begins. The process can last up to 6 hours, and the act of mating itself can last about two hours. During mating, the snails press their soles tightly against each other. At the end of sexual intercourse, the snails connect the genitals and exchange male cells. After this, the snails go about their business to lay eggs.

Care of offspring

Growing grape snails is not difficult. Adults lay white eggs underground, in a previously prepared place. After this, 3-4 weeks pass before the offspring hatch. A newborn snail first eats the shell of the egg from which it emerged, and then heads upward. After about ten days, the snail climbs out. All this time they feed on useful substances that are in the soil. At this time, it is necessary for her shell to become stronger so that she can hide in it in times of danger. Babies are fed finely grated fruits and vegetables to help them grow faster. It is also necessary to give mineral supplements.

Growing snails on an industrial scale

Grape snail farm - it sounds quite strange. However, there is demand - there is supply. Since many people want to keep shellfish at home, it means they will be sold on the market. However, resourceful entrepreneurs supply snails not only to pet stores. Snail meat has become in great demand. This is a fashionable novelty that restaurants and cafes are happy to use to attract customers. Moreover, it is the grape snail that has a special, refined taste, much better than the giants Achatina.

Profitability of a snail farm

How much profit can a grape snail give? The price of one uterine specimen is 3 dollars. To start production, you need at least 300 pieces. To feed them you will need at least 2 kg of feed, the cost of each kilogram is about 300 rubles. Several times a month, each individual (they are hermaphrodites, but the mating process is necessary) lays 20-50 eggs, from which young snails emerge after 3-4 weeks. They ripen in about 6 months, after which they can be sold to restaurants. Each kilogram of shellfish costs about $10. Snail caviar is even more expensive; it is purchased at prices starting from $120 per 50 g.

Where can I get a snail?

A new home for a snail

What to feed a grape snail?

Grape snail care

Interaction with snails

Snail breeding

Care of offspring

Growing snails on an industrial scale

Profitability of a snail farm

so named because of the harm it causes when feasting on grape berries. Snails have been eaten since ancient times, not considering them a delicacy, but rather the opposite, since they were available to any segment of the population.

Appearance of a grape snail

The body of a grape snail is, roughly speaking, a large leg and head. It is very flexible and elastic, the color is beige-gray, whitish-brown or yellowish-gray. There are many folds on the body, which, when moving, increase the area of the lower surface of the leg, helping to overcome long distances. The leg of an adult, under natural conditions, can stretch up to 9 cm, but grape snails grown at home grow to gigantic sizes.

On the head there are: a mouth opening and two pairs of antennae-tentacles. One pair, the front one, is intended for smell, the second, located behind, is the ocular one, at the tips there are blind eyes that do not distinguish colors, but see the outlines of objects at a distance of one centimeter. The tentacles of snails are very sensitive and at the slightest touch they immediately retract inside. The shell of snails completely accommodates their body, twisted in a counterclockwise spiral. The shell color is usually yellow-brown or white-brown, and the ribbed surface allows the snails to store moisture.

Features of the life cycle of a grape snail

Snails are active in the warm season: from April, May until the first frost. With the onset of cold weather, they fall into suspended animation (hibernation), burrow into the soil, digging a hole up to 30 cm, where they wait out the cold. Usually in nature, snails do not change their “burrow”. During wintering, mollusks close the “entrance” to the shell with a mucus flap, leaving little access for air. In spring, snails push out the protective film and begin active life and search for food. Various plants and their fruits and berries are what the grape snail eats, although they often eat the soil. For example, immediately after emerging from suspended animation, snails, by eating a small amount of soil, restore the microflora of the digestive system so that coarser food is easier to digest.

During the daytime, mollusks prefer to sit out in damp places, under large stones or in dense thickets, under a pile of leaves. Snail activity occurs mainly during and after rainy weather. On dry and hot days, individuals cover the mouth of the shell with a thin film and wait out uncomfortable conditions. Some members of the family stick to the bark of trees, thus waiting out the period of drought. How long do grape snails live? On average, up to eight years, but if it is not eaten by natural enemies, for example, hedgehogs, it can live up to twenty years.

Did you know? Snails- fantastic creatures, because their regeneration abilities surpassed lizards. If the latter is capable of growing only a tail bitten off by a predator, then the mollusks can grow both tentacles and part of the head in a maximum of a month.

Application of snails

Growing snails is aimed at eating them. Snail meat today is considered a great delicacy and has certain beneficial properties: it contains calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, zinc; a large amount of protein and B vitamins, in addition to them vitamins: E, K, A, PP. Snails are useful for pregnant women, being a source of calcium and magnesium, for children for growth, for religious people who observe fasting, as a source of protein. France and Italy are especially famous for snail dishes.

Snail farming is also associated with medicine. In particular, snails are used to produce broncho-relaxants and lectins. From the beneficial substances contained in snails, pharmaceuticals produce drugs that enhance immunity, anti-inflammatory and wound healing agents, as well as sedatives for the treatment of nervous disorders. Doctors recommend consuming snail meat for people with gastrointestinal diseases.

Grape snails are a small cosmetology clinic, so breeding them at home is often associated with orders to various beauty salons. Recently, facial massage with snails has been gaining popularity. The mucus secreted by mollusks nourishes, softens and disinfects the skin. Glycolic acid, which forms collagen, smoothes wrinkles (with regular procedures), moisturizes dry skin and helps cope with irritation or inflammatory processes.

Did you know? The largest land snail weighing 2 kg was found in 1976 in France. The largest sea snail is the Australian sea snail, with a body length of up to 30 cm and a weight of up to 40 kg.

Types of grape snail breeding

Snail breeding technology is divided into three types, each of which is good in its own way. What they have in common is the cultivation of shellfish and the ease of caring for them.

Extensive type

The extensive type is a method of breeding snails that is as close as possible to the natural conditions of their life. This method of keeping grape snails at home is ideal for small farms, in the absence of natural enemies of mollusks: hedgehogs, mice, lizards and large beetles, frogs, shrews and moles. The advantage of this method is the minimum financial costs, the disadvantage is the maximum time required to obtain the result. Such cultivation is suitable for private arboretums or botanical gardens, since here the appearance of predators is excluded.

Intensive

The intensive method is suitable for breeding snails on a large scale. At the same time, grape snails are kept in greenhouses and caring for them requires constant attention. In greenhouse conditions, a certain temperature and humidity are maintained, and intensive nutrition is provided. Snails grow much faster in greenhouses, so the intensive growing method has a significant advantage - quick results: both growth and production of “caviar”. The downside is that this method is not for a small farm; it requires an initial financial investment and physical costs.

Semi-intensive

The semi-intensive method is characterized by shellfish farming in open pens. Conditions for shading and additional moisture are created for them, as well as moderate feed consumption. This is one of the most acceptable options for breeding grape snails at home. Its advantages are that it costs little on food: you can use herbaceous plants (burdocks, dandelions, nettles, etc.) and food waste (vegetable and fruit trimmings) for food. The disadvantage of this type is slower growth than with the intensive method, but at the same time there is savings on the area for keeping mollusks, nutrition and physical effort.

How to breed snails at home

You can grow a grape snail at home and carry out simple care for it in open enclosures in the fresh air and indoors - in terrariums and aquariums. Growing indoors will be expensive, but in this case the mollusks are not threatened by predators and the breeding cycle lasts all year. Growing in greenhouses also gives better results, and you can control the snails' conditions (temperature and humidity), which increases the chances of good results.

Where to get snails for breeding

Important! For reproduction, adult mollusks are needed, which can be determined by the size of the shell: its diameter should reach 5 cm. The best option-several pairs from different sellers.

Don’t rack your brains about the gender of the snails you buy, because grape snails reproduce in a very unique way. Mollusks are hermaphrodites; to produce offspring, two individuals, touching the sole of their feet, shoot a certain calcareous substance at each other. They then lay eggs that will require your care.

When asking the question “How to grow grape snails at home?”, first decide where you will keep them. There are several options: in open areas you can make a container with low side walls and a mesh stretched over the top to protect it from birds. It is better that the shape of such a pen is rectangular, since this will make it easier to care for the mollusks. You can place snails in an aquarium or terrarium, it will be both practical and convenient.

Sometimes the most incredible idea for making money can bring good profits and stable income, for example, which we talked about in the previous article.

Very often, entrepreneurs complain about niches being full and great competition, but as they say, those who seek will always find. I bring to your attention another fresh idea for making money - growing grape snails as a business at home.

Snail fashion

It is worth noting that there are quite a few types of snails, but only grape snails are considered suitable for consumption. In many European countries, snails are in great demand among the population, which cannot be said about Russia. In the CIS countries, this exotic product is served only in the most expensive restaurants, the cost of the dish is quite high, but despite this, unlike, for example, France, in our country, snails are not very popular, most likely due to slightly different flavors people's preferences.

The benefits of snail meat

Before we talk about how to open your own snail farming business, it is worth noting the benefits of these products.

Medicine. Oddly enough, snail meat is in incredible demand in the medical field, as a raw material for the creation of many drugs. For many years, I have been using snail extracts in the production of anti-aging drugs, aphrodisiacs, and also as part of drugs to restore metabolism.
Cooking. Snail meat contains a large amount of vitamins. This delicacy contains a lot of protein, iron, calcium and vitamins, which help saturate the body with beneficial properties. This dietary product is preferably consumed by elderly people and pregnant women. Snail meat is quickly absorbed by the body, improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, and fills the need for calcium.

Business registration

If you decide to open your own business, you will need to register as an individual entrepreneur or limited liability company. In addition, it is necessary to obtain permits for activities from the sanitary and fire services. Without a product quality certificate from the veterinary service, you will not be able to sell it, do not forget about it.

Breeding grape snails at home

First of all, you need to purchase snails. The approximate cost of one adult is from 4 dollars. To start, you should purchase about 300–400 pieces, which will cost you $1200–1600.

You can purchase snails for breeding from foreign suppliers from Poland, Tunisia, the Czech Republic, and Germany. It is worth giving preference only to trusted suppliers of shellfish who have been operating on the market for more than one year and guarantee the quality of the products.

Feeding. On average, about 20 kg of feed is required to feed 300 snails. The average price per kilogram of feed is from 300 rubles.

Shellfish care

Snails are unpretentious creatures, caring for them is not difficult, but it is still worth understanding the entire process of breeding and growing mollusks.

Room

When breeding shellfish, choose well-ventilated areas. Pay special attention to humidity, it should be at least 85%. The optimal temperature for breeding grape snails at home is from 20-23 degrees plus. The temperature in the room should be stable, this will ensure rapid reproduction and growth of mollusks.

Feeding

Snails feed on a special food mixture (ground cereals, herbs, chalk).

Snail breeding

The process of snail reproduction occurs on its own; the main thing is to provide the individuals with comfortable living conditions at the optimal temperature. Mollusks are placed in separate containers in pairs for reproduction. Despite the fact that mollusks are hermaphrodites, the mating process is necessary for fertilization. After mating, the eggs are placed in an incubator. Young mollusks can be transferred to an adult enclosure already 6 weeks after emergence.

Approximately one adult individual is capable of laying about 50 eggs per year. The ripening period for mollusks is from 6 months to 1.5 years.

Video on the topic

Sales market and profit

The demand for snail meat is quite high. As a rule, most products are sold abroad, but sales options can also be found in Russia. Basically, your clients may be elite restaurants that have shellfish dishes on their menus.

The cost of a kilogram of shellfish is approximately 2–5 euros. Thus, we can conclude that with mass cultivation of snails you can make good money.

I wish you success in all your endeavors. I hope you find this article useful. We also recommend reading about another non-standard type of income -. Be sure to tell us about your achievements in the comments.