OMG!! I would never encourage snails in a garden! How in the world would you keep them confined? they can get into (and therefore out of) anywhere, they can climb up the side of widows/walls/buildings, they have voracious appetites and I don't see much of their ability to compost anything......other than producing a few small piles of snail poop.

Snails are the bane of my existence!! Worse than any slug! They eat anything, whereas slugs have a rather select appetite. I mulch with Sluggo to keep them under control and it is still a losing battle.

I'm sorry - not got my vote for idea of the year :-(

Some people do use black soldier fly larvae in place of worms. While they may also use those larvae to feed their animals (like chickens), the larvae are also very good at breaking down organic matter in a compost bin.

You mentioned the heat and drought of a particular region, but you can still set up a worm bin indoors and try to control its environmental temperature and conditions that way.

Here is a link that might be useful: BSF Larvae farm

Gardengal48 and I have similar climates and we both HATE snails. Methinks the OP doesn't appreciate the true nature of the beast. In hot climates they aestivate but in ours they hibernate and are destructively active whenever the temperature rises a bit above freezing. They love fresh food, not compost scraps - it's some species of slugs which like rotting stuff.

I've been reading through old conversations, and this one really got my attention.

What an unconventional idea. Whoooo Boy.

I usually kill the snail in my garden and throw them into the compost pile, a good sorce of nitrogen. For me, composting with live snail is no no... you wont know if they lay eggs in your compost pile and your garden is infested with snail..

Do not bring in snails! I made the mistake of bringing in slugs, by accident with a bale of hay. I have been fighting with the slugs for the past five years. Sluggo works, but you have to keep up with them.