Comparative effect of selected forest leaves on the growth of <i>Archachatina marginata</i> (African giant land snail)

Abstract

This research was carried out to determine the effect of selected forest leaves on the growth of Archachatina marginata. Forty five growing snails were used for the experiments which lasted for sixteen weeks. The snails were allotted into five treatment groups with nine replicate laid in completely randomized design. The different treatment groups were fed with Carica papaya leaves (T1), Morus alba leaves (T2), Gliricidia sepium leaves (T3), Albizia lebbeck leaves (T4) and Triplochiton scleroxylon leaves (T5). The data generated were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Parameters assessed were weight gain, shell length and shell circumference. From the result obtained in the study, snails fed with Morus alba leaves (T2) performed best in terms of weight gain (131.34g) followed by snails fed with Triplochiton scleroxylon leaves (T4) with mean value of 120.90g and the least performance was obtained from (T3) Gliricidia sepium leaves with mean value of 114.42g. Furthermore, snails fed with Triplochiton scleroxylon leaves (T4) performed best in terms of shell length with mean value of 11.47cm followed by (T3) Gliricidia sepium leaves with mean value of 11.46cm and the least performance was obtained from (T1) Carica papaya leaves with mean value of 9.46cm. Likewise, snails fed with Carica papaya leaves (T1) performed best in terms of shell circumference with the value of 3.27cm followed by Albizia lebbeck (T5) leaves with mean value 3.25cm and the least performance was obtained from T2 and T3 with value 3.04cm. It is concluded that the selected forest leaves had a positive effect on the growth of the experimented snails hence, Archachatina marginata should be fed with Morus alba leaves so as to have a maximum weight yield and to reduce the cost of snail production in terms of feed. Morus alba farming should be encouraged as its cultivation will as well provide more income to the farmers through the selling of its leaves to the snail farmers.

Keywords: Forest leaves, Archachatina marginata, Snailery, Weight yield, Shell length, Shell circumference