ABSTRACT

Field experiment was conducted on the effect of four different diets on growth performance of African giant land snail (Achachatina marginata). The experimental diets consist of vegetable leaves that are common within the warm humid tropical environment of Ekiti State, Nigeria. A total of eighty snails were purchased from local markets within Ikole-Ekiti metropolis ofEkiti state and stratified according to weight. The snails were subsequently allocated randomly into four experimental treatments Tl, T2, T3 and T4 with twenty snails per treatment in a clutch of four snails per group and five groups per treatment. Snails in the respective treatments received Tl) fresh sweet potato leaves (ipomea batatas) T2) fresh moringa leaves (Moringa oleifera), T3) fresh water leaf (Talinurn triangulare) and T4) combination of fresh moringa leaf and fresh water leaf in equal weights. There is no significant difference among the four treatments for initial body weight, final body weight, average shell length, average shell width. The result of the study showed that higher growth performance for all parameters for Archachatina marginata was favored by the combination of the fresh leaf vegetables (water leaf, moringa leaf, sweet potatoes leaf). While moringa leaves (T2) had the least for all the parameters. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in weight gain while there was no significant difference in the average shell length and width across the treatment