Woman makes six figure salary through breeding snails

A single mum who used to be on benefits is now making six figures - breeding huge snails.

Kris Buckley owns a snail farm with over 5,000 molluscs she documents online - making her the world's first 'snaifluencer'.

She specialises in African land snails, a very large species whose shell alone can measure ten inches (23 centimetres).

Kris' business took off after she started posting about her snails on the social media app TikTok.

Her videos immediately went viral, catapulting her to fame.

The snails Kris breeds can sell up for up to 60 euros each and her business now turns over a five-figure sum every month.

SWNS

Kris, from Munich, Germany, became interested in snails while caring for her son, who was in hospital for several months, with a gastrointestinal perforation.

She was unable to unable to work as he required full-time care and she also had to look after her other son.

The family of three had no choice but to live off the state and received food donations from the church.

At the time, Kris felt like she needed a hobby of her own as all of her time was spent meeting her sons' needs.

Kris was unable to make time for a dog or a cat and needed something low-maintenance.

So after doing a little bit of research, she decided to get a pet snail.

She paid 60 Euros for an African land snail and a terrarium and it completely changed her life.

SWNS

Kris, who didn't want to reveal her age, said: "I was a single mum of two living off money from the state.

"My life was caring for others. I had nothing of my own and the idea of a snail was very appealing. They don't require any attention."

She began posting videos of her pet snails to TikTok in 2019 and the videos went viral.

Kris said: "It was a very quick change, people recognise me now. That's strange because I'm a very private person, but thousands of people ask me questions about snails every day.

"I was just posting photos of my pets, and the second video I posted blew up massively. I became an influencer all of a sudden.

"My oldest son is of that age, so he helps me with my social media. He was the one who suggested I should go to TikTok."

SWNS

Two years later, she started her own snail breeding business and now has over 5,000 snails, which she keeps in a warehouse.

The snail breeding business was so successful the family were able to stop claiming benefits and now live comfortably.

Kris even has three employees and turns over five figures monthly.

She added: "My life has totally changed. I was living in a council flat and receiving food donations from a church.

"I still live in the same flat but the snails saved my life."

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.