The Wild One
Chameleon Enthusiast
Oops repeat
Snails and MORE!
- Thread starter TheLetterAfterP(Q)
- Start date
TheLetterAfterP(Q)
Avid Member
You're fine, thank you! I hope that HOLY COW is a good one! I'm super stoked about them. I transported one sack, now the next. Wish me luck!
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The Wild One
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ok..... good luck!
cham_urchin
Established Member
ME 3!
TheLetterAfterP(Q)
Avid Member
Jump on it!!! I'm telling you, it's so fascinating and your cham will love them (hopefully) and you will too, so long as you like them. I wish you the best of luck with it, keep us all posted!!
cham_urchin
Established Member
thank you...where did you get your "starter" snails? Wild caught? How big are they? Wondering what species are the right size for feeding...seen some for sale on eBay but really jumbo and look too big for a cham to swallow, with the shell 'n all. Looking forward to hearing more once you get your little green friend installed
TheLetterAfterP(Q)
Avid Member
@cham_urchin I found my starters right outside my girlfriend's house. They have so many!!! I figured, I'm doing both of us a favor as they have a garden in their backyard.
The best snails to use that ive found in my research is Helix Aspersa, a.k.a garden snails. Imo don't buy snails, just capture a few and have them mate. Right now I'm sure I have 100+ eggs waiting to hatch!!
If you have any questions in your research or need any help at all let me know. I'll try to respond ASAP!
I'm so excited to get my little guy, its going to be magical!!
The best snails to use that ive found in my research is Helix Aspersa, a.k.a garden snails. Imo don't buy snails, just capture a few and have them mate. Right now I'm sure I have 100+ eggs waiting to hatch!!
If you have any questions in your research or need any help at all let me know. I'll try to respond ASAP!
I'm so excited to get my little guy, its going to be magical!!
Rst_Cham
Chameleon Enthusiast
So, I woke up my snails this morning and put them in a better temporary enclosure until I can get a tank in next couple days. I had four, one died in hibernation, so now I have 3. They are awake and cruising around and eating. Is 3 enough to breed with? They aren't native so I'm unable to go out and catch wild ones. I have them in a humid 7.5 gallon sterilite container with 3" of substrate, branches, cuttlebone, food, and a plant, on a little heat mat set to 75 with a thermostat (probe in soil) to regulate. Should night temp be cooler? What do you feed for protein?
The Wild One
Chameleon Enthusiast
I haven’t the slightest idea
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
That's better anyway. Once you have eggs the WCs, and ALL there stuff has to be trashed. That's the point of breeding them out. Put babies in the fancy Viv, not the WCs.
Yes 3 are plenty, I managed to get 2 to breed, I started with 12, but due to my wife leaving them outside... I ended with 2, they still laid for me.
Rst_Cham
Chameleon Enthusiast
oooooooohhhhhhh, ok, that makes sense. So I will just keep them in there and see if they do their thing then. I'll look at getting a baby tank setup in mean time. How damp should soil be? Thanks!
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
Moist all the time not wet, Like tropical plants.
My first soil went putrid, so for a long time Viv I suggest a false bottom.
Also, the more surface area the more snail's you can have, like roaches. So obviously cardboard egg flats won't work. However you could use branches, cork bark, or pieces of Plexi glass. The more testing area, climbing area, the more snail's you can house.
I been told (these are adult numbers), 1 snail per gallon, by the snail lovers. That's a little extreme though. I read a study, that did a 6 inch tall Vivs (I find the snail's like to climb, so taller likely better) that in a 10 gallon eq, it had the best outcome for 3 per gallon. Their 10 gallon housed 30 snail's birth to adult hood, 27 made it to adulthood.
In the 10 gallon with 10, all 10 made it. In the 10 gallon with 50, 35 made it. So personally think 3 per gallon is the sweet spot. With an abeoral Viv maybe allowing more.
We are not keeping pets, we are keeping feeders. We don't mind some die off, just keep it effiencient levels
. Most of the deaths were near adult hood, the room ran small when the snail's got large. Ideally are Vivs will have 2-4 adults, and the babies/Juvis get fed. So there will be more room, to hold more that age. I feel like 1 clutch every few months would be ideal sustainable for a Cham or 2, if you have more, keep more adults and up Viv size. They take about 6-8 months maturity if not forced into aestivation.
If you need to slow growth, water less. If the Viv dries out, they will seal against the glass into a form of hibernation, they can live like that for up to 2 years at a time. We let ours aestivate, the second time they did it. It was winter, I wasn't actively feeding them and just said let them sleep.
My wife was fully certain they were dead, did this for almost 3 months. Sprayed them and boom, they all sprung up happy and healthy.
cham_urchin
Established Member
Hey sorry if I've asked this before, but where did you get your starter snails?
Rst_Cham
Chameleon Enthusiast
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MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Just curious how the cham manages to eat snails when the shell is hard.
TheLetterAfterP(Q)
Avid Member
You're only supposed to feed off baby/small snails. Their shell is still soft while they are maturing.
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
There shell is still hard, and you can feed adults, it depends on species. We feed babies/Juvis as adults are too large for Panthers. A large Parsons could be fed an adult snail, as long as it's sized right.
The typical species, Cornu aspersa (formerly Helix aspersa) we use, as you have seen Adults are quite large that's why the babies.
Snail's shell is a mixture of Protein and Calcium Carbonate, it's 80%+ Calcium Carbonate, which is what we use to dust feeders. They crunch the shell into pieces and it dissolves over the course of a few days in their stomach. The shell is a good source of some proteins and lots of calcium, the shell is why we feed them.
Chameleons also have been shown to eat land/tree snail's in the wild. There is snail/shell found in lots of WC specimens that are necropsied.
Snail's shells are not as hard as you guys think. You can crush them quite easily in your fingers. A drop from the top of a 10gallon tank on to a branch at the bottom will shatter the shell, it's extremely fragile. Land snail's, shells are nowhere near as thick or as strong as sea shells.
TheLetterAfterP(Q)
Avid Member
My apologies, to my understanding that was correct. Good to know. Thank you @cyberlocc
TheLetterAfterP(Q)
Avid Member
Just wanted to update you all on how my crew is doing.
I checked the first batch that was layed this morning, and to my surprise....
I could clearly see one little doods eye balls wandering around. There are more and more as time goes by. I'm so excited!!!!
I checked the first batch that was layed this morning, and to my surprise....
I could clearly see one little doods eye balls wandering around. There are more and more as time goes by. I'm so excited!!!!
snitz427
Chameleon Enthusiast
What are you using for a lid? My snails are growing slowly, no eggs yet I think I'd like to move them into a 10g aquarium just to make it a little easier to monitor them. They're in a semi-clear storage bin now, which works fine but an aquarium might fit my bug room better. I'm so eager to feed off some snails but they're not cooperating
I think I'd like to move them into a 10g aquarium just to make it a little easier to monitor them. They're in a semi-clear storage bin now, which works fine but an aquarium might fit my bug room better. I'm so eager to feed off some snails but they're not cooperating 
