To raise snails ( snails ) it’s worth it know how snails are made , here are some basics about these fascinating snails. The advice for those who want to make a career of this breeding is to keep this article as a starting point, then to deepen the subject by looking for a precise scientific text.
Farm snails are snails (scientific name propeller), shellfish that can be used as food. Slugs (limax) are the big reds that attack garden salads. Limax and helix are both invertebrates of the gastropod family.
Word gastropod comes from the two terms indicating ” stomach “O” foot in ancient Greek, refers to those beings that move by crawling on their stomachs. The very name of the species describes the typical tendency of snails, the origin of their famous slowness. The snail family is the one that breeders are interested in, it is called the helicidae and is characterized by the shell, a calcareous shell that allows the mollusk a refuge.
Contents [Ocultar]
-
snail anatomy
-
The cycle of life
-
snail breeding
-
What do snails eat?
-
Breeds of snails to breed
Contents
The anatomy of the nut
From an anatomical point of view, we distinguish some of the main elements of the mollusk : the foot of the snail is all the surface which Touch the ground and allows movement, in the snail’s head are tentacles or antennae , we distinguish four of these two are the eyes. Then we have the mouth fitted with a tab . Then there are the internal organs , including the heart, reproductive system and genitals. On the side of the respiratory pores, the snail has some blood transparent color that turns blue on contact with air. Shell It has the function of repairing the invertebrate and is formed in the limestone, it protects the shell both from external dangers and from heat, preventing it from dehydrating. The snail can seal itself inside the shell by creating a calcareous veil which closes the opening, this operation is called opercolatura and takes place during hibernation.
The cycle of life
After mating, which can take place twice a year, the mother snail lays her eggs on land. New snails are born with the hatching of eggs , after twenty/thirty days, the surviving larvae take a variable time to become adults depending on the species. In general, one can calculate approximately one year before reaching reproduction the same time. The snail mates in summer while in winter it has a hibernation phase, in which it closes the shell, sealing the outward opening with the operculum.
snail breeding
the snail is a hermaphroditic animal Each snail has both a male reproductive system and a female reproductive system. However, the individual alone is not capable of self-fertilization, so you need a partner which can be any individual of the same species, since there are no gender distinctions. The mating between snails is very curious, it provides for a courtship and then the throwing of a stinger by each individual towards the other, the stinger acts like a harpoon and unites the two molluscs in the relationship. For more information, read the article on snail reproduction.
What makes the snail breeder happy is the fact that, being hermaphrodites after sexual intercourse, both individuals reproduce by producing eggs. Snail eggs come out of the mouth and can also be picked up and sold (expensive snail caviar). reading speed and the number of eggs produced varies according to the type of snail, for example aspertia snails multiply faster than the famous Burgundy snail. On average, each snail produces between 40 and 70 eggs per pair.
what do snails eat
Those who cultivate the garden already know that snails are greedy for plant leaf parts , with a preference for salads. In fact, these gastropods feed on vegetables, in addition to the leaves already mentioned, snails can also feed on flour, also obtained from seeds. In heliculture, it is used grow plants in enclosures snails, in order to feed the molluscs and at the same time to shelter them from the sun. Plants generally useful for the propeller cultivator are certain varieties of cabbage, cutting beets, salads and turnips. This food can be supplemented with food. How much a specimen eats depends a lot on breed and age, the topic is discussed in more detail in the article on feeding snails.
snails to reproduce
There are different species of snails , more than 4000, most breeds are edible but some have been selected as more suitable to be raised in the Italian climate and are therefore central to heliculture. The two most widely grown types of snails are the pomatie helix and the aspertie helix . For more information, you can read the article by Orto Da Col coltivazionere on what are farm snails .