My pet garden snail is biting me

[jacob31896xd]

Hi i have a pet garden snail (well i have 14-18) but my favorite snail is biting me, its like a hard pinch. and just to clear things up i don't want to know why he is biting me i want to know how to stop him from biting me

[mangoandlemon]

Snails rasp constantly which should feel like a tiny cat tongue. To my understanding they only bite when mating or having a fight with another snail. Did you handle food or another snail before him?

[etana]

My Tiger snail rasped my hand when I was holding him for the first time ever, and I just gently touched his face with my finger when he was in the middle of it. He stopped, and hasn't done it again.

[jacob31896xd]

mangoandlemon hi thanks for your reply, no i wasn't handling any food or another snail before holding him P.S my profile says my snail is a Achatina fulica but that is incorrect, i looked up pics of the snail and i seen that the snail in the pic had a spiral shell but mine is more of a flat shell
but anyway is there anyway to stop him from "rasping" me?

oh also i will say (this wont effect that he is biting me but its a different question) he has a hold in his shell (well healed over) its very small and what is wierd is he has a piece of shell is sticking up near the hole and it has a pattern on it, my profile pic is the shell if you would like to see the shell 

[Liguus]

Jan 31, 2015 21:14:14 GMT jacob31896xd said:

P.S my profile says my snail is a Achatina fulica but that is incorrect, i looked up pics of the snail and i seen that the snail in the pic had a spiral shell but mine is more of a flat shell
but anyway is there anyway to stop him from "rasping" me?

The species name under everyone's username doesn't refer to the snail they own, but is a kind of "rating system" on this forum based on how many posts the user has made. 

Your picture looks like a Cepaea hortensis, althogh it could be something else. Which country do you live in? That will help determine the species. 

As for the rasping, I'm not sure there is much else you could do other than push his face away when he rasps. Or you could try handling your snails only if you know they've recently eaten. Are they getting a good diverse diet?

[mangoandlemon]

If you want to learn about the ranking system you can go to the forum information page and there's a thread that will tell you about it.

[jacob31896xd]

hi Liguus now that I see the pictures of the Cepaea hortensis I strongly belive that is the same snail and to help to know what snail I have I live in Newfoundland Canada
and just to clear things up I don't own a giant land snail i own a (maybe 1 inch) common garden snail

[Zorst]

Just a thought, Cepaea Snails also need a source of protein as they eat green fly, black fly n white fly n other aphids when in the wild and up in trees n in bushes etc. You could try feeding them all some mashed up hard boiled egg, unseasoned of course , some cooked unseasoned ground beef or good quality cat biscets soaked or fish flakes once or twice a week. This may be what your snail is trying to tell you its lacking in its diet and its thinking your finger is a good substitute for this.

I feed mine this about once or twice a week and they are doing well.

Zorst

[jacob31896xd]

Zorst Thanks for the input, i plan to have a few and boiled eggs and toast for breakfast tomorrow so i will feed him a little piece of unsalted boiled egg
i hope that fixes the problem and i will do that about 1-2 times a week but i will add that im not COMPLETELY sure if that is his species tho so if it is not then could that do any harm to him? or can any snail species eat boiled egg?

[Cashell]

Feb 1, 2015 0:08:53 GMT jacob31896xd said:

hi Liguus now that I see the pictures of the Cepaea hortensis I strongly belive that is the same snail and to help to know what snail I have I live in Newfoundland Canada
and just to clear things up I don't own a giant land snail i own a (maybe 1 inch) common garden snail

Yaayyyy another Canadian! I hear that Newfoundland (As well as N.B) has a thriving population of Arianta arbustorum. Have you personally seen them in the wild before? Sorry for such a random question that's a bit off topic, but I must know.

[Zorst]

I'm Canadian also Cashell lol, I just live a very long way from home these days.

The hard boiled egg etc can be fed to any snails all the many different type that I have here love it, Snails will naturally fined and eat protein in the wild anyway and the baby GALS I have sure wolf it all down when they get any. Just don't leave it in the tank to long as any left can start to smell pretty bad.

Zorst

[jacob31896xd]

Cashell are different species of snail different skin color? because when i looked up the Arianta arbustorum i only seen darker skinned snails but my snails have a lighter color to them.

and also you asked if i ever seen the Arianta arbustorum in the wild and if all of them are darker skinned then i belive i have because every now and then in my Nan's garden (my source of finding snails) i will find a darker skinned snail
but also the Arianta arbustorum looks also like my snail so its possible that some of my snails are the Arianta arbustorum

[jacob31896xd]

Zorst i need to ask when i feed my snail the egg does he need the yolk the white or both? and also how much does he need?

[Zorst]

About a tea spoon of mixed mashed white n yolk, the more yolk the better though.

I keep Arianta snails here they can be both dark and light skinned as I have both and many shades in between. There shell colors also differ considerably.

Zorst

[jacob31896xd]

I will add that i see one of my questions were not awnsered

my snail has a (well healed over) hole in his shell, as seen in my profile picture do you think this could be a problem?

[morningcoffee]

If it's already healed then it won't be a problem.

[mangoandlemon]

By the way welcome to the forum!

[jacob31896xd]

Zorst so i fed all of my snails a hard boiled egg (cut up of course) but they all rejected it, i put them all on it and they just crawled off it, but what is strange about that is if say i put them on a apple or say a piece of lettuce they won't move and they will eat a lot of it but the egg they didn't care for.

[cliath]

You could try some wet fish flakes? My snails love them

[Zorst]

Some others on here say there snails aren't interested in hard boiled eggs either, mine though all love it but I do mash it down into a smooth paste. Anyhow I've many different types of snail n they all eat it.

As with any new food try giving it a few times if after that they still don't want it try something else. Wet fish flakes is another again some snails love then n others wont touch them. My old tiger snail hated them, yet all the others in his tank couldn't get enough of them.

Snails like us have there fav foods n others they really wont touch, so its kinda trial n error until you find what they like. I always offer something 3 times on different days and remove other food sources until they have had a good think about it, if after that they don't want it after that fair enough.Just give them as mixed and varied diet as possible.

Zorst

[Liguus]

You could also try dog food/dog treats, and pellet food meant for pet crabs/shrimp. Those are also good protein sources, and even bizarre snails like my Melampus coffea eat it. Just make sure salt isn't an ingredient (organic dog treats around here seem to be the ones with no salt.)

[astana]

Feb 2, 2015 2:41:24 GMT Liguus said:

You could also try dog food/dog treats, and pellet food meant for pet crabs/shrimp. Those are also good protein sources, and even bizarre snails like my Melampus coffea eat it. Just make sure salt isn't an ingredient (organic dog treats around here seem to be the ones with no salt.)

Melampus coffea? Pardon me for being off-topic, but how did you get a hold of those?

[Liguus]

Someone who sells saltwater aquarium supplies out of Florida mailed the Melampus to me. They are not fully terrestrial and will die without access to saltwater, and it's not a prohibited species.

[lolza]

Lolva: my snail nibbles3" author="jacob31896xd"]hi Liguus now that I see the pictures of the Cepaea hortensis I strongly belive that is the same snail and to help to know what snailnt color="29e619"]I live in Newfoundland Canada[/font]
and just to clear things up I don't own a giant land snail i own a (maybe 1 inch) common garden snail[/quote]Yaayyyy another Canadian! I hear that Newfoundland (As well as N.B) has a thriving population of Arianta arbustorum. Have you personally seen them in the wild before? Sorry for such a random question that's a bit off topic, but I must know.[/quote]

[Snail lover]

My snail nibbles me. Is this normal?