Common garden snails/slugs

[Bush baby]

The snails i have i purchased from a seller on ebay. Search 'Land Snails live Helix' on ebay. I believe they're in Florida.

 

[MamatoElvis]

Thank you. I'll try that.

 

[Bush baby]

Found it weird that snals seem to completely ignore sweet stuff. I've tried strawberries, pear, apples, bell pepper ( i know that's not sweet), etc and they keep going for the collard greens, kale, carrots and cucumber…..

 

[zlew]

I found three teeny tiny snails in the woods. I can confirm only one of them being alive because it came out. The other two I have no idea. I placed them in a bin on a piece of lettuce, waiting to see if they move.

 

[MamatoElvis]

I went to look on eBay. I noticed a few sellers selling babies. What do you think about getting those and feeding right away? I'd like to see if my panther will eat them before having a colony? Do you think it's really risky and I should wait until I get babies of my own that have been hatched in clean soil?

 

[Bush baby]

I went to look on eBay. I noticed a few sellers selling babies. What do you think about getting those and feeding right away? I'd like to see if my panther will eat them before having a colony? Do you think it's really risky and I should wait until I get babies of my own that have been hatched in clean soil?

That's what i did. I ordered 2, but the seller sent me three adults and a few small babies…about dime sized (i didn't ask for them, they just did). I asked the seller if they were wild caught, or if they breed them, and they said they bred them, so i fed the small ones to my Jacksons, who immediately went for them.

 

[MamatoElvis]

Ok, I guess I'll try that. I'd hate to breed them for months only to find my guy won't eat them.

 

[Lathis]

I fed a tiny snail to my new gray tree frog this morning
Still first generation babies, but I expect eggs by the end of the year. Snail breeding is definitely not a quick process.

Be very careful with internet ordering if the shipping is coming from another state. Without both the seller and receiver having proper permits, you may be in violation of USDA plant pest controls if you move agricultural pests across state lines. I don't know exactly what the penalties/fines would be for being caught, but I already know that it's more than I want to pay.

 

[MamatoElvis]

Yeah, that's why it was suggested I look on eBay. They have a few sellers from Florida where I live. Thanks for the warning though.

 

[zlew]

The isopod potato trap also attracts quite a few snails, FYI.
How big do these snails get? And how fast do they grow? The ones I've been finding outside have all been pretty tiny, I haven't seen any larger than half of a pinkie fingernail.

 

[Bush baby]

Does anyone else's adult snails go through a period where they stay buried and don't lay eggs? Mine have remained buried in the soil for about a month now and have not laid in that entire time. They occassionally come up for food but it's only about once a week…..

 

[Reddogzz]

In Hawaii, I believe that we have to be careful because rat lungworm disease (deadly) is carried by snails.

 

[Bush baby]

The young snails I have seem to really love purple bell peppers; weird, as they won't touch the yellow or red kind. They don't seem to like anything sweet. I've tried bananas, apples, grapes, blueberries..even strawberries (which I know slugs like) but they won't go near it....

 

[Dro B]

I had no clue anyone used these until recently, but I would use wild ones because slugs and snails carry a lot of parasitic worms. If you catch them and keep them for a bit you could collect the eggs and raise them. I'm pretty sure they grow very quickly. I wouldn't use a lot though, when I used to keep and breed red-bellied snakes I noticed that slugs gave them very wet and messy diarrhea and earthworms did not.

 

[Dro B]

I forgot to add that you can attract them with beer in a saucer if nobody else has mentioned it.

 

[Bush baby]

I had no clue anyone used these until recently, but I would use wild ones because slugs and snails carry a lot of parasitic worms. If you catch them and keep them for a bit you could collect the eggs and raise them. I'm pretty sure they grow very quickly. I wouldn't use a lot though, when I used to keep and breed red-bellied snakes I noticed that slugs gave them very wet and messy diarrhea and earthworms did not.

The shell of snails provides the correct ratio of 'hardness' so that my chameleon doesn't get diarrhea; in fact his poop looks exactly the same.

Yes, they grow pretty quick, so quick you can't feed them off fast enough before they get too big for your chameleon to safely eat them.

 

[Bush baby]

Anyone else still at this…?

My first generation babies are getting big. Not sure when they're going start making babies of their own….

 

[Lathis]

Yup, F2 just started hatching! Took about 9 months from the hatching of F1 from a WC starter set. We're up to hundreds of snails now. I really need to get a new Cham who loves snails, lol!

 

[bobcochran]

Yup, F2 just started hatching! Took about 9 months from the hatching of F1 from a WC starter set. We're up to hundreds of snails now. I really need to get a new Cham who loves snails, lol!

I understand parsonii like to eat snails, perhaps you should consider one of those.
I raise snails mostly for my quads, but if I start feeding young panthers very small snails some of them will continue eating them into adulthood.

 

[Lathis]

I understand parsonii like to eat snails, perhaps you should consider one of those.

With this many snails, I might need to get 2!