Do you have an ant infestation on your snail farm? What’s the best way to get rid of the ants in your snail farm?
Snail farming, of course, has numerous advantages. However, there are issues as well.
Read also: The Ultimate Guide To Start Snail Farming
Ants entering snail farms is one of the issues that many snail growers encounter.
Don’t take any chances if you notice the first ants on your snail farm.
Take swift action to exterminate the ants.
Allowing the ants to take over your snail farm will result in a large number of snails dying.
Every morning, you’ll go to your snail farm and collect up dead snails.
A knowledgeable farmer, like you, knows the 9 fascinating stages to success in snail farming before getting into this profession.
I’m sure you’re wise. I’m sure you’re aware that prevention is preferable to cure.
As a result, I’m sharing these techniques with you now so that you can save your snails from bug attacks in the future.
What to do if your snail farm is infested with ants and other snail pests.
Follow these steps to efficiently get rid of ants and pests in your snail farm:
- Mosquito netting should be used to secure your snail pens.
- Fill a trench around your snail farm with water and dig it.
- In your snail farm, take care of the soil.
Plant plants that deter pests.
To keep ants out of your snail farm,
- remove all leftover food.
- Unhatched eggs should be removed from your snail hatchery.
- Regularly sanitize the snail farm to keep pests at bay.
Snail pests can be controlled with organic pesticides.
1. Use mosquito nets to secure your snail pens.
Ants are kept out of the snail farm thanks to mosquito netting.
The first thing to think about while trying to keep ants out of your snail farm is the design of your snail enclosures.
What materials did you use to make your snail pens? Is there enough mosquito netting in the pens?
We’re all aware that some ants have wings and can fly.
If those ants fly over your trench and settle in your snail far, they will begin reproducing immediately.
These ants will crawl inside your snail pens if you don’t cover them properly, destroying your snails.
Making sure ants don’t find a location to dwell in the first place is an easy technique to get rid of ants on your farm.
Make a decent lid for your snail cages out of mosquito nets.
Similarly, if you’re running a free-range snail farm, make sure the entire area is covered with mosquito nets.
2. Fill a trench around your snail farm with water and dig it out.
Although not all ants are capable of flying, crawling termites, centipedes, and other insect pests can enter your property.
Digging a trench around your property and filling it with water is one of the greatest ways to prevent this.
The trench maybe a foot deep and a foot wide.
Make sure you utilize high-quality materials when making the pen.
Also, make sure there is enough cement to prevent the trench from being destroyed by water.
This is significant because as long as you have a snail farm in that place, you will always be able to fill the trench with water.
3. Take care of your snail farm’s soil.
You probably already know that snails spend the majority of their time in soil.
Everything is done on the earth, whether it’s feeding, laying eggs, or simply burying their heads.
Surprisingly, the majority of the ants and insects that harm snails can also be found in the soil.
So, what can you do to keep your snails safe from ants and other pests?
Treating the soil is the best option. By treating the soil, you are essentially destroying all of the soil’s biological organisms.
Insect eggs buried in the soil are also destroyed when the soil in your snail farm is treated.
How to Care for Your Snail Farm’s Soil
There are other options for treating the soil in your snail farm, which I will discuss in further detail in a future post.
READ NEXT: How To Succeed In Agriculture As A Young Entrepreneur 2022- Useful Guide.
The following are the three techniques I recommend:
– Direct heat from firewoods is used to heat the soil.
– Use neem to treat the soil.
– Soil solarization – Using sun energy, soil solarization is a non-chemical, ecologically benign way of pest control.
Because of the time it takes, this method is best for persons who are interested in free-range snail farming.
It necessitates covering the soil with a plain polythene sheet, which traps sunshine heat and thus raises the soil temperature.
Many soil-borne insects and diseases are killed when the temperature rises under the basic polythene covering.
You may eliminate ants from your snail farm with these three soil treatment approaches.
Solarization of the soil to eliminate ants and pests
Solarization of the soil
4. Plant pest-repellent plants
Pest repellent plants are crops that you plant around your snail farm to keep pests at bay.
Some pests are allergic to or have a negative reaction to certain plants.
Pests such as snakes and other reptiles will find it difficult to enter your snail farm if you plant repellant plants.
Certain insects and pests can be deterred by using rosemary, mint, marigold, and lemongrass in your snail farm.
5. Remove all leftover food from your snail farm to prevent ant infestation.
Most farmers who have an ant invasion in their snail farm suffer as a result of leaving leftover food in the snailery.
Snail food is generally perishable, such as fruits, and we all know how rapidly fruits deteriorate once they’ve been cut open.
Bacterial actions on the fruit last for a long time, producing deterioration.
The decaying fruit attracts a variety of insects to the snail farm.
Every morning, take out any leftover meals and replace them with a fresh tray of food.
Check out these 7 categories of vital meals for snails if you want to learn more about what snails like to eat.
To get rid of ants and pests, remove any leftover snail food.
6. Clean out your snail hatchery of any unhatched eggs.
Most snail eggs take anywhere from 21 to 40 days to hatch after being delivered to a snail hatchery.
If you still have eggs that haven’t hatched after 40 days, remove them from the hatchery right away.
After hatching, remove all snail eggshells from the hatchery.
Ants and other insects are attracted to the hatchery by the smell of broken or decaying eggs.
You’ll keep all those bugs away from your snail farm if you remove the leftover eggs and eggshells.
Check out this best approach to hatch over 80% of your snail eggs if you’re having trouble hatching most of your snail eggs.
7. Regularly sanitize the snail farm to keep pests at bay.
Anything clean is a good thing. Snails, like humans, require a clean environment to maintain good personal hygiene.
If you want to keep pests out of your snail farm, you must sanitize it regularly.
Clean the trays that you’ll be using to serve the snails. Also, clean the drinking plates and give the snails only clean water to drink.
Remember to eliminate all remaining food and till the soil regularly.
Tilling the soil helps to mix the snail feces with the soil and creates space in the snail enclosure for healthy roaming.
Remember to clean all of your snail farming equipment to ensure that it is free of insects.
8. To get rid of snail pests, use organic pesticides.
Using organic insecticides is an excellent approach to ensure that army ants and other insects do not destroy your snail farm.
Among the organic insecticides used in snail farming are:
pyrethrin sulfur sabadilla garlic onions pyrethrin pyrethrin pyrethrin pyrethrin
leaves of tomato (crushed)
snuff tobacco water neem oil
Harvest your snails first before applying any organic insecticide to your snail farm.
You can also use organic insecticides a few days before adding snails to your farm.
This will help to keep stubborn army ants away from your snail farm.
I’m sure you’re aware that the more snails you can maintain alive by employing the best management methods, the more money you’ll make.
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