How to Care for Pet Snails!

In today's video we show you how to care for garden snails! We go over enclosures, substrate, diet, handling, maintenance, and more!

SNAKE DISCOVERY MERCH!

SNAKE DISCOVERY PATREON

Music by BenSound and Epidemic Sound

[TanukiBuki]

As a snail keeper, I do want to recommend that rocks are avoided in enclosures, or they're at least covered with moss. Sometimes, snails will climb to the top of the enclosure and then detach themselves, dropping onto the rocks and harming their shells. Moss is a literal life saver!

[llCoupDEtatll]

Just a few little notes of my own from a long time snail owner:

1) just an add on to the substrate section of the video. Make sure the substrate you are using does not contain any fertilizers as it can be harmful to your snails, its also best to avoid substrate with peat moss in it as it is slightly acidic and can damage their shells.

2) I personally don't recommend giving them a water dish, specifically because I have heard of people's land snails drowning themselves unintentionally in water dishes. Instead I just ensure the enclosure is well misted, or I put a tiny bit of water with moss in the dish so it is super wet in there but not enough for them to possibly drown by accident.

[haleytriem]

Throwback to when I rescued a dehydrated snail (“Merlin”), set up a beautiful tank, and then started searching for the species type… long story short it was a wolf snail, one of the only snails that exclusively eats other snails for their diet. Needless to say, Merlin was quickly rehydrated and returned to the spot I found him

[VianTheGryphon]

I had a friend in college who had a pet giant african land snail and a garden snail. He rescued the garden snail off of a new plant he bought for his balcony, and rather than releasing it in his garden (they are native here in the UK), he decided to keep it as a pet. That garden snail was the most charismatic snail ever. While the GALS would spend almost all of it's time half burrowed in the substrate, the garden would be cruising around all over it's enclosure. It even seemed like it enjoyed people's company, since any time we took the enclosure off it's shelf, the little snail would climb up the walls to the lid and if you offered a hand to it, it would climb straight onto it and then just chill, though I'm probably anthropomorphizing a bit.

Definitely a great, simple pet to keep. Just be prepared for the regular influx of babies, maybe see if there's a local pet store who would like free feeder snails. My friend would bring spare GALS hatchlings to our college (it was an agriculture/animal focused one) and they would be added to the colleges snail colony to diversify their genetics a bit, or would be offered to the various insectivores in the colleges little zoo.

[oriirae]

I had a pet garden snail for a while when I was younger. I named him Sheldon. He was adorable. I loved listening to him crunch on his veggies. Sometimes I would take a mini flashlight and shine it through his shell, because you can see their heart beating! He was such a fun and unique pet <3

[riverAmazonNZ]

I’ve been thinking about pet snails! I have isopods that I adore. Snails interest me too, so I am excited to see this video!

[bubbletea]

I've been keeping snails for a few years now, here's my tips:
1. Snails may hibernate during winter and can sleep for 3 months at a time. If you think a snail is missing/has escaped, check the substrate to see if they're sleeping there
2. If your snail's shell is looking rough, sprinkle a little calcium powder or ground up cuttlebone on their food
3. If you can't get cuttlebone, bake leftover eggshells and grind them up super fine like sand
4. Never feed snails hot chilis (anything with capscasin) or vegetables that are members of the onion family. These will hurt their skin. Also NEVER give them pasta or rice!! It can cause bad swelling. They do enjoy oats mixed with water though, as a treat.
5. A snail's mantle may be puffy after mating, don't worry if you see that. It should go away in a day or two. If not, it's probably their diet.
6. Check your snails for mites. These are tiny white bugs that crawl on the skin and under the shell. You'll need to buy a pack of predatory mites to eat the harmful ones, I forget the name but if you search for snail mite cures you'll find it
7. Spray the tank with water from a spray bottle twice a day to keep it moist

[dreamy]

Corrections from a snail owner:

-don't use water bowls, snails can drown in them, just mist their enclosure well

-don't give them eggs or egg shells, they can cut themselfs and die, it also doesn't contain nearly enough calcium.

-snails need protein at least once a week, snailmixes are perfect, but if you can't give it you can try soaked dog food, or raw beef or mealworms, make sure neither contains salt.

-don't change the substrait, snails need the bacteria to stay healthy, leave some of the old substrait in and mix it with the new one.

-use moss carefuly, it can harm their shells, make sure to check it's hp level

-don't handle your snails bare hand, wash it very well before and mist it. The natural oils and salt on our skin can hurt them. Also don't pick them up from the shell, it can actually kill or injure them.

-check the substrait once a week for eggs, if you don't want them you can crush them before they hatch, if you want to keep them move them to a small enclosure, adults can crush them. Don't forget to cull snails if you breed them, only keep the larger healthy ones, or their population gets easily sick.

-some snails do need heating depending on their species, do your resreach and only use heat mats.

-some vegetables are highly toxic to snails, safe check everything before you feed them to your pet.

-avoid rocks and hard objects, snails fall pretty often, hitting a stone can be deadly.

-check for parasites, snails often get worms and other illnesses, the most humane way to put them down is to give them a little beer then freeze them.

Edit:
Also some snails can live 3-15 years, they aren't short term pets. Please do your resreach and don't get them unless you can comit for long periods of time.

[NeoNovastar]

Also of note: if the snail eggs are unwanted, or the population is starting to get a little crazy in the tank, DON'T THROW THE EGGS DIRECTLY IN THE TRASH! Or outside, etc. There's always a chance they can survive and contribute to their invasiveness. Iirc it's reccommended to freeze the eggs to kill them first before disposal, but correct me if I'm wrong!

[eddvcr]

My kindergarten class had pet snails, and ever since then, I adore them!
What’s really cool about them (at least the snails in Japan; I grew up there) is that whatever colored fruits/veggies they eat, they poop out those colors. For example, after they’d eat watermelon, their poop would be bright red. After they’d eat carrots, they’d poop bright orange. After eating greens, their poop would be bright green!

[rachealsilburn]

The hosts personality and with the way she talks about the various animals/insects, as well as the way she handles them makes them all seem so harmless and not worth being afraid of. Even after watching footage of some of them hissing/biting her, she STILL makes them all seem so harmless. I just love her.

[OliviaLovesPugs]

When I was a kid, I had 2 pet snails one summer (Garry and Larry) that I found outside. I fed them different veggies, and they loved carrots. Well they both ended up laying a clutch of eggs near the same time, and all the eggs hatched into the cutest tiny little baby snails, and I went from 2 snails to like 35. At the end of the season, I released them all. That was a really cool experience that I still remember to this day, and I’m thinking of getting some pet snails again (properly sourced this time!) as an adult.

[exnedu]

Yes snails! They are surprisingly fun pets! One thing I noticed, sometimes they can carry meningitis, so PLEASE make sure to wash your hands after handling.

[jada]

Speaking from experience (I have three milk snails and plan on getting more) I'd add more branches, my snails love being up high! Which leads me to say, the water bowl could be a problem if a snail were to fall on it. My snails are prone to falling and if a snail does break their shell, in most cases, it leads to death. Snails drink water off of the glass and attain it from their diet. Also, in the winter, snails can hibernate. I've heard to prevent that (if that's a problem for you) you can get a heat lamp with a dimmer switch or a heat mat depending on your set up. I'd also recommend a snail food with dewormed in it just as a precaution if you're feeding them to any animals. And when it comes to handling you should make sure your hands are always moist as snails can absorb the oils on your skin. <3

[___n]

I’ve been taking care of two Cornu Aspersums (Garden Snails) for a couple of months and they are the sweetest creatures ever 💙💙🐌

[mary-jane]

Few more things from a snail owner!
1. My snails love to climb so I recommend a some what taller cage (not too tall) mine love two feet tall!
2. If rocks are in your cage (or anything super hard) cover it with something soft like moss, this is because snails love to climb and don’t really fall but things do happen. Thanks for taking time out of you day to read this! Bye Happy Holidays

[froggiedragon]

YES!! 🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌I have 5 garden snails and I love them!! I have 4 younger ones, and 1 older more elderly one. I've had the elderly one for about 7 years, and her name is Wiggles (her boyfriend passed 2 years ago, names Munchie). The 4 younger ones live together, so I deal with a lot of eggs. Their names are Dandelion, Basil, Lilac, and Periwinkle. I've had them for 2-ish years in a 10 gallon aquarium tank. They're my babies! (I'm a snail mom, what can I say) I 100% recommend garden snails as pets!-- IF THEIR SHELL CRACKS, give them crushed/powdered cuttlebone! They will automatically know to eat it, they're smarter than you think. If its really bad and you can see their "goopy skin" through the cracks, it may not be healable. That's what happened to Wiggles and Munchie, long story. But if the crack is that bad, the snail may need specific needs (like Wiggles does). Just constantly keep fresh crushed cuttlebone in the enclosure, and make sure the snail is moist so it doesn't dry out.-- I also wanna say, I suggest using cuttlebone instead of eggshell, as the eggshell may cut their bellies. Other than that, great video guys!!

Edit: I apologize if my comment brings up any concern. The snails aren't an invasive species in my area, and I do keep most of the babies just in case. I've worked with snails for years, and my garden has always been alive and healthy and happy :>

[BibbleTheHOLYLord]

I like it how you mentioned hermit crabs 10:35. I think you should do a care video and add them to the zoo.
Hermit crabs are so mistreated, I think you just posting a care video would help a lot of them.

[ezrathesilly]

Hey Emily! I've had two garden snails for about two years now, their names are Marshy and Mello. I was so excited to see you guys post a video on these guys!! They're such underappreciated babies. :]
Edit: I should also mention you need to mist your hands before you handle them. It helps them move around a lot easier.

[invertebratesandstuff]

I have a few points to bring up about this video.

1. Do not add rocks! I learned this the hard way as my snail fell and cracked his shell.

2. You do not need leaf litter or sphgagnum moss, you could just use some coconut fiber and bark chips and they will be happy.

3. A water dish is very dangerous! They will try to go in there and drown because of it, all they need is the water that they get from misting.

4. Garden snails do not need a lot of food, all they need is a teaspoon of whatever you are going to give them (Per snail.)

Otherwise this is a good video!

:)