Pawpaw leaves supplemented with three calcium sources and their effects on the african giant land snail in humid Nigeria

Abstract

The response of one hundred and thirty-two (132) grower African giant land snail (Archachatina marginata) with a weight range of 231.33-234.00 g and fed fresh pawpaw (Carica papaya) leaf-based diet supplemented with three mineral calcium sources was investigated in a humid tropical environment of Nigeria. The grower snails received either pawpaw leaves alone (T1: control), pawpaw leaf + egg shell (T2), pawpaw leaf + oyster shell (T3) or pawpaw leaf + periwinkle shell (T4). Each treatment groups was replicated 3 times in a Completely Randomized Design. The results showed that pawpaw leaf and calcium intakes differed (p < 0.05) ranging from the lowest for T1 to the highest for T3. Weight gain varied (p < 0.05) between 261.34 g for the T1 to 385.33 g for T2 while, feed conversion ratio ranged from 0.58 for T2 to 0.77 for T1. While shell length and width increments were not significantly different (p > 0.05), shell thickness was significantly different (p < 0.05) varying between 0.15 cm for T1 to 0.27 cm for T3. The study suggests that dietary calcium supplementation in the diets of the African giant land snail will improve the intake of a pawpaw leaf basal diet and mineral calcium, weight gain and feed conversion ratio with the oyster supplemented group performing better.