An experiment was conducted to study the effects of different protein sources at varying levels on the performance and the carcass characteristics of the African giants land snail (Archachatina marginata). Soyabean meal and groundnut cake were used as test proteins. Four diets were formulated from each of the two proteins such that each was included at 16%, 18%, 20% and 22% of the diets. A 2 x 4 factorial arrangement in CRD was used with eight treatments. Each treatment was replicated thrice with four snails per replicate. The trial lasted for 90 days.
The protein source main effects were significant (P<0.05) in average daily feed intake, percentage shell weight and percentage edible weight of the snails fed the experimental diets. The protein levels main effect were also significant (P<0.05) in protein efficiency ratio, percentage shell weight, percentage edible weight and percentage visceral weight. The interactions between protein sources and protein levels were also significant (P<0.05) in protein efficiency ratio, percentage shell weight, percentage edible weight and percentage visceral weight of the snails fed the treatment diets. Mortality was not recorded during the experiment. The growth performance show that soybean based diets were better than groundnut cake based diets and that soyabean should be included at 22% for an optimum growth of snails.
