More Garden Snail Questions

[SkittlesTheJumpingSpider]

Hey everyone! Recently I posted a thread with a couple questions about garden snails, but I just realized I have a few more...
I don't own any snails yet, but I'm strongly considering keeping them as pets.

Here is a list of a few (more) questions:

1. I know how fast snails can breed, even without mating, and I also know that their babies will soon be of breeding size, and so will their babies, and the cycle continues... So how often should I check for eggs in the substrate? To discard of them, should I freeze them?

2. Should I keep the babies in a separate enclosure from the adults?

3. I've heard that for protein for giant African land snails, you can give them fish flakes about once a week- is it the same for garden snails?

4. Kind of an odd question, but since my snails will likely be wild caught because I can't find many breeders, I want to make sure they're parasite free. I know that red bell pepper can be a natural de-wormer, so how much of it should I feed? Also, is there any way to know if a garden snail has parasites?

5. Should I clean the snail's feces?

6. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could list a few healthy foods that snails could eat on a regular basis.

7. Is it fine to give snails fake décor? (Fake leaves, flowers, etc.)

8. I likely wouldn't be handling them very often, but is it absolutely necessary to wear gloves while handling snails?

Sorry there is a lot of questions, I just want to make sure I take absolute proper care of the snails. Thank you for reading, and I would greatly appreciate any replies.

Thanks!

 

[HooahArmy]

Hello there! I work with knowledge involving toxins and poisons, including those from critters, and would like to help you on your questions regarding snails. Feel free to post responses or answers to my questions as well as I learn more about your snail interests!

1. I know how fast snails can breed, even without mating, and I also know that their babies will soon be of breeding size, and so will their babies, and the cycle continues... So how often should I check for eggs in the substrate? To discard of them, should I freeze them?
This depends on the snail! If you are speaking about the common garden fellow, a female can be a new mum roughly every month. In ideal conditions, she can produce anywhere between 30 to 90 eggs, depending on species, and her egg clutch will look like a blob of caviar. Sexual maturity can occur in as little as 1 month to about 1.5 months for the garden snail. If you are keeping numerous snails as your friends, you may need to check the substrate often, but do bear in mind that the eggs are very fragile! Poking around may damage them. You can discard of the eggs by squishing them with the end of a pen or with tweezers, freezing them like you suggested, or just leaving them out to dry and dehydrate of exposure.
What type/s of garden snail do you have in mind?

2. Should I keep the babies in a separate enclosure from the adults?
Since garden snails are not predatory, mum and her friends will not likely feel hungry for the babies. I have seen large and very tiny garden snails all feeding together in my garden without any squabbles.

3. I've heard that for protein for giant African land snails, you can give them fish flakes about once a week- is it the same for garden snails?
Garden snails are purely vegetarians. They feed on leaves, fruits, and even bark at times. I'm honestly unsure of how they would react to protein!

4. Kind of an odd question, but since my snails will likely be wild caught because I can't find many breeders, I want to make sure they're parasite free. I know that red bell pepper can be a natural de-wormer, so how much of it should I feed? Also, is there any way to know if a garden snail has parasites?
I think garden snails carry the rat lungworm parasite, which is found in a number of global snails and is a kind of nematode. They get this by feeding on rat feces, as snails are indeed detritovores on top of being vegetarians. The best way I can image to mitigate this is by isolating each snail you collect and observing them for symptoms. The lungworm attacks the nervous system, so release or discard any snails that seem to display any neuro-atypical behaviors like swaying, mobility issues, or twitching. The concept of red bell peppers is new to me, but it doesn't hurt to try since snails adore veggies! I however do know that papaya seeds are a known antiparasitic that is often used by humans in certain rural communities. Feel free to look them up.

5. Should I clean the snail's feces?
You bet! Nobody likes a dirty enclosure whether you're a fish in a grimy tank or a human in a dirty dorm. For snails, this will be especially important since your newly collected friends need to be observed for rat lungworms. The lungworm reproduces inside the snails and some may possibly find their way to the snail's feces. Feces left to dry should kill any parasites in it, but it's never bad to take precautions. Feces also harbor much bacteria and is in general, gross. Feces standing around can attract pests or grow mildew, both of which could harm your prospective friends.

6. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could list a few healthy foods that snails could eat on a regular basis.
Snails are hardcore vegetarians, so bring on the salads! They even eat fruit, so those may be a treat!

7. Is it fine to give snails fake décor? (Fake leaves, flowers, etc.)
These could help your enclosure be easier to clean! As long as your snail has plenty of fresh veggies to eat, go ahead and bring in the plastic plants! Real plants, to be honest, might find themselves munched.

8. I likely wouldn't be handling them very often, but is it absolutely necessary to wear gloves while handling snails?
I would recommend it. Newly harvested snails may be vectors for parasites, something that nobody wants ever. Even after you've established a clean colony, keeping the snails human-free may also be beneficial to their health. As snails have very soft and mucilaginous (slimy) bodies, they can easily absorb environmental toxins into their skin. They are sort of like giant moist tongues, and if I couldn't imagine placing my tongue on a human's sweaty, grimy hand, neither would the snail. Chemicals we touch or apply--like sunscreen, lotion, hand sanitizer, or even salty potato chip fingers--could pose dangerous for the snails' delicate bodies. At a base, gloves would also reduce the grossness of being slimed.

I hope this helps!

 

[SkittlesTheJumpingSpider]

Hello there! I work with knowledge involving toxins and poisons, including those from critters, and would like to help you on your questions regarding snails. Feel free to post responses or answers to my questions as well as I learn more about your snail interests!

1. I know how fast snails can breed, even without mating, and I also know that their babies will soon be of breeding size, and so will their babies, and the cycle continues... So how often should I check for eggs in the substrate? To discard of them, should I freeze them?
This depends on the snail! If you are speaking about the common garden fellow, a female can be a new mum roughly every month. In ideal conditions, she can produce anywhere between 30 to 90 eggs, depending on species, and her egg clutch will look like a blob of caviar. Sexual maturity can occur in as little as 1 month to about 1.5 months for the garden snail. If you are keeping numerous snails as your friends, you may need to check the substrate often, but do bear in mind that the eggs are very fragile! Poking around may damage them. You can discard of the eggs by squishing them with the end of a pen or with tweezers, freezing them like you suggested, or just leaving them out to dry and dehydrate of exposure.
What type/s of garden snail do you have in mind?

2. Should I keep the babies in a separate enclosure from the adults?
Since garden snails are not predatory, mum and her friends will not likely feel hungry for the babies. I have seen large and very tiny garden snails all feeding together in my garden without any squabbles.

3. I've heard that for protein for giant African land snails, you can give them fish flakes about once a week- is it the same for garden snails?
Garden snails are purely vegetarians. They feed on leaves, fruits, and even bark at times. I'm honestly unsure of how they would react to protein!

4. Kind of an odd question, but since my snails will likely be wild caught because I can't find many breeders, I want to make sure they're parasite free. I know that red bell pepper can be a natural de-wormer, so how much of it should I feed? Also, is there any way to know if a garden snail has parasites?
I think garden snails carry the rat lungworm parasite, which is found in a number of global snails and is a kind of nematode. They get this by feeding on rat feces, as snails are indeed detritovores on top of being vegetarians. The best way I can image to mitigate this is by isolating each snail you collect and observing them for symptoms. The lungworm attacks the nervous system, so release or discard any snails that seem to display any neuro-atypical behaviors like swaying, mobility issues, or twitching. The concept of red bell peppers is new to me, but it doesn't hurt to try since snails adore veggies! I however do know that papaya seeds are a known antiparasitic that is often used by humans in certain rural communities. Feel free to look them up.

5. Should I clean the snail's feces?
You bet! Nobody likes a dirty enclosure whether you're a fish in a grimy tank or a human in a dirty dorm. For snails, this will be especially important since your newly collected friends need to be observed for rat lungworms. The lungworm reproduces inside the snails and some may possibly find their way to the snail's feces. Feces left to dry should kill any parasites in it, but it's never bad to take precautions. Feces also harbor much bacteria and is in general, gross. Feces standing around can attract pests or grow mildew, both of which could harm your prospective friends.

6. It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could list a few healthy foods that snails could eat on a regular basis.
Snails are hardcore vegetarians, so bring on the salads! They even eat fruit, so those may be a treat!

7. Is it fine to give snails fake décor? (Fake leaves, flowers, etc.)
These could help your enclosure be easier to clean! As long as your snail has plenty of fresh veggies to eat, go ahead and bring in the plastic plants! Real plants, to be honest, might find themselves munched.

8. I likely wouldn't be handling them very often, but is it absolutely necessary to wear gloves while handling snails?
I would recommend it. Newly harvested snails may be vectors for parasites, something that nobody wants ever. Even after you've established a clean colony, keeping the snails human-free may also be beneficial to their health. As snails have very soft and mucilaginous (slimy) bodies, they can easily absorb environmental toxins into their skin. They are sort of like giant moist tongues, and if I couldn't imagine placing my tongue on a human's sweaty, grimy hand, neither would the snail. Chemicals we touch or apply--like sunscreen, lotion, hand sanitizer, or even salty potato chip fingers--could pose dangerous for the snails' delicate bodies. At a base, gloves would also reduce the grossness of being slimed.

I hope this helps!

Thank you so much for the reply! This helps so much, thank you for taking the time to type this out! I feel a lot more prepared for a pet snail (or two!) now, thanks again!

I would probably be getting a white lipped snail, as I believe that's what I usually see in my backyard/garden.

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Guy above was pretty thorough, so I'll just make a couple reiterations:

3- give your snails plant matter exclusively
4- maintain the mindset that you will never have a."parasite free" snail; "every snail, every time" when it comes to parasites,.as there are potential several that could cause harm.
5- c'mon, now...
7- I've seen jagged edges on plastic leaves cause injuries. When I had my snail thank, I ultimately decided I'd rather continuously replace live plants than see injuries, as uncommon as they were. They'll eat them in short order, but the constantly changing scene was actually part of the enjoyment for me.
8- see #4, plus skin oils

 

[SkittlesTheJumpingSpider]

Guy above was pretty thorough, so I'll just make a couple reiterations:

3- give your snails plant matter exclusively
4- maintain the mindset that you will never have a."parasite free" snail; "every snail, every time" when it comes to parasites,.as there are potential several that could cause harm.
5- c'mon, now...
7- I've seen jagged edges on plastic leaves cause injuries. When I had my snail thank, I ultimately decided I'd rather continuously replace live plants than see injuries, as uncommon as they were. They'll eat them in short order, but the constantly changing scene was actually part of the enjoyment for me.
8- see #4, plus skin oils

Thank you for the reply! The reason I was asking number 5 was because I wasn't sure how big their feces were and if they ate them or not. Thank you so much, again!

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Thank you for the reply! The reason I was asking number 5 was because I wasn't sure how big their feces were and if they ate them or not. Thank you so much, again!

They make no effort to avoid it, but I don't think they seek it out, either. Regardless, it's a great source for pathogens, so the less waste (for anything) the better.

 

[me and my Ts]

They are very invasive, I have a large paludarium with vampire crabs and mourning geckos and somehow there’s a bunch of snails in there too. I like them so it’s fine but still, like how?