GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF GIANT AFRICAN LAND SNAIL [GALS](Archachatina marginata) FED WITH PAWPAW LEAF, WATERLEAF, PUMPKIN LEAF AND GROWER’S MASH
GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF GIANT AFRICAN LAND SNAIL
[GALS](Archachatina marginata) FED WITH PAWPAW LEAF, WATERLEAF,
PUMPKIN LEAF AND GROWER’S MASH
By
SAM et al
ABSTRACT
It is of vital importance to evaluate which feed materials will bring about optimum
growth performance for domesticated snails. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating
the growth performance of Giant African land snails (Archachatina marginata) fed
three different leaf materials and grower’s mash. Leaf materials used were pawpaw
leaf (T ), water leaf (T ), pumpkin leaf (T ) and grower’s mash (T ). One hundred and 1 2 3 4
twenty (120) grower snails (A. marginata) were purchased from a reputable
commercial farm.. The snails were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments
arranged as follows; T1 (pawpaw leaf), T2 (waterleaf), T3 (pumpkin leaf) and T4
(grower’s mash). Each diet was fed to a group of ten snails. Data were collected on body
weight, weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, body length, body width,
aperture length and aperture width. The experiment lasted for two months. Data
collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), using Complete
Randomized Design (CRD). The results showed significant differences (p<0.05) among
the parameters measured. Grower’s mash (T ) recorded the highest values for final 4
body weight (16.71g), weight gained (7.29g) and body length (3.62cm) thanT , T and T . 1 2 3
Pumpkin Leaf (T ) had the highest feed intake value of 52.53g while pawpaw leaf (T ) 3 1
had the least 23.20g. There were significant differences (p<0.05) between Feed
Conversion Ratio (FCR) of the water leaf and other treatments. Pawpaw leaf had the
best FCR) 3.31 followed by grower’s mash 5.10, water leaf recorded the highest FCR
(15.84). The results from this study indicate that snails fed pawpaw leaf and grower’s
mash gave optimum performance and have also proven to be better feed resources for
snails.
Keywords: Snail, Performance, pawpaw leaf, pumpkin leaf, waterleaf, grower’smash