snail in winter

[linky]

I have a garden snail, who has grown unbelievably, but now winter is here and "'she'' seems to be eating allot less, is this normal? am i supposed to change her diet in winter ? she was eating lettuce, tomato, carrots, sweet pot, now eats very little , i am in south Africa winter is about 10 - 15 deg cel, i do not have a heater for her but she is not staying in her shell so i assume OK? anyway just wondered if this is normal, by the way i repaired her shell with a small pc duct tape over the hole and now she has repaired on her own, i removed the tape and it seems she has grown a film. also I found her on a grape, yet she does not seem to like fruit at all, especially not grapes , why is this ? i have tried apple too, shall i try banana? thanks

[Johnnywho]

She May Be Preparing For Hibernation... Just A Thought

[pickalilly]

She probably will be preparing for hibernation - it is natural for her, if she is, to start lowering the amount of food in her digestive tract. Otherwise, it could rot and infect during hibernation. It's the same with tortoises!

[coyote]

A garden snail is adapted to winter hibernation. A heat mat would upset that adaptation. It is normal for the snail to eat less and sleep more when the weather cools.

[linky]

thanks everyone for all advise ;)

[linky]

Hi Again, I think my snail is a Helix aspersa rather than the giant African snail. she has grown very fast but still a helix aspersa ;D
i have attached some photos for you to see how well her shell healed and how big she is. also wanted to know if she is OK alone or do snails get lonely? i would have to go search for a mate and not sure i want loads of them? another question is how damp should the soil be for her to hibernate? she seems to stay away from damp areas? how long should i expect her to hibernate for, just so that i don't panic and think she has died? she started out size of my fingernail, teeny tiny and in almost 3 months she is as per photo, is this normal growth rate?

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[ness]

That's a really lovely Helix aspersa that you have there.

It sounds like you are doing the right things with regards living conditions. Your snail might not hibernate if kept indoors. I keep mine in the kitchen without any heat source. My kitchen does not even have a radiator so it gets warm in the summer and very cold in the winter. The snails did ot hibernate properly but did slow down. I had rather a surprise because during this time I found a whole clutch of hatchlings - I didn't know my snail had laid any eggs because I wasn't checking, thinking that it wouldn't lay at this time.

Anyway - it may be an idea to arrange the soil so that there is a thin layer at one end and a much thicker layer at the other, and this will probably result in there being a range of dampness within the soil. Also if you provide your snail with a hide-out and an artificial plant your snail will have a choice of where to rest. It will find it's own favourite position to suit.
Most of mine rest on the tank lid but some of them like the artificial plant. None of mine bury.

If you would like a friend for your snail then I will be happy to send you one (or more). You may end up with a bunch of babies but if you check regularly for eggs and destroy unwanted ones then this shouldn't be an issue. Legally it is fine to release H.aspersa in the UK.

[coyote]

Linky is in South Africa, and I don't know about the legal issues (if any) surrounding H. aspersa.

I've kept single aspersas and they have always done fine. They are slightly less active by themselves than with other snails, but otherwise there is no difference in the behavior.

[linky]

Hi, Thanks, I think she is pretty beautiful myself ;D, pleased to know that I am doing most things right, She is also in my kitchen and I do keep a blanket over half of her tank to provide a dark area and a lighter one, I put the pot plant holder in her tank as winter began so that she could hide away in it, but she was afraid of it and stayed in one corner for a few days,Its taken her 2 weeks to go explore. She is eating less and less, Coyote, I went and bought her some gold fish food as per your recommendation, the one I was able to get has fish derivatives, cereals, yeast, minerals, oils and fats, veg by - product, algae, permitted colourants, Is this OK for her ? and how much would I give, I got the flakes by the way. yesterday I put mushroom, sweet pot, carrot, tomato, broccoli in her tank for her, she ate nothing I think a dash of sweet pot and that was all ? do they usually like mushrooms? pic is of shelly 3 mnths ago. Thanks for the offer, but as you now know I am in south africa, kinda far to send snails . In SA most people just stand on them or eat them, i am pretty sure I am the only one in SA with a pet Helix . I used to see them in the garden of the building i live in after the rain, but not any more, She came to me when a friend bought me some grapes from the winelands and she was on one of them, so I kept her afraid she would not survive in our garden as not much for her to eat in there. look forward to hearing about the fish food I got for her?

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[coyote]

It sounds like those fish flakes are okay for your snail. I would offer 1/4 teaspoon or so at first, and mist them lightly to be sure they are moistened. My snails get fish flakes weekly, and some weeks they eat them right away, and other weeks they don't seem very interested in them. But I offer them regularly anyway and let the snails decide how much they want each time.

Some snails seems to like mushrooms, but none of my aspersas have ever eaten any. Yours might, though. Keep offering little bits of it now and then.

Aspersas will eat decaying vegetation in addition to fresh fruit and veg, so there may be more in your garden for her to eat than you think (depending on how tidy you keep the garden, and how few chemicals and pesticides are used in it). Occasionally I will put a wilted houseplant leaf into the tank, and after a couple of weeks the snails will nibble on it as it begins to decompose. That is the role snails play in the environment; they help to break down dead and dying vegetation to release its nutrients back into the environment for new life to utilize.

During winter, I will let my snails rest for up to 2 weeks undisturbed before waking them to make sure they eat a little something before going back to rest again. Don't be alarmed at how little your snail will want to eat during this time, because it is adapted to slowing down its metabolism to cope with the cooler weather.

[linky]

Hi there, OK I will offer some fish flakes and see, thank you for all the info really appreciate it, the garden is not mine I stay in a block of flats and about 2 years ago they changed the vegetation to plants that need less water ? due to water restrictions, I think that might be why I no longer see snails around ? So would she sleep for about 2 weeks, even though we have mild winters, prob the coldest being 10 deg cel ? do i continue to mist the tank while she sleeps if she does ? I have 4 sticks in each corner of the tank, she loves to attach herself to these and just hangs out on them, I have noticed her eating off them, I assume the fungi ? I wash them and change them every 2 weeks or so, whenever I find new ones that are suitable, is this normal ? is it OK or does it mean lacking in something? clearly this is the first time I have owned a snail with all the questions ;D. By the way when I dropped her by accident and she was obviously hurt and did not move for a few days, my homeopathic vet suggested I give some crushed traumeel ( a natural pain killer and for inflammation for humans with arnica in it, I give it to my dog ) it worked like a charm and she ate what was given and was moving around after an hour, just thought I would let you know and also ask what you think? thanks

[coyote]

It's possible you've seen fewer snails in the garden due to the landscaping being changed and the watering reduced. They probably went nearby to moister places.

She may not sleep a full 2 weeks at a time, but it would not be unnatural if she did. Keeping her inside, especially in a heated room, will likely make her slow down a lot but not need to go into actual hibernation. Keeping her in an unheated room would be optimal, otherwise find the coolest room in the house for her. The days are shorter and she can tell there is less sunlight, so that alone will cause her to slow down a lot.

Be careful what kind of sticks you put in the tank, and avoid all sticks from pines and pine tree relatives, as well as any other trees that produce sticky sap or a resin. My first aspersa burned her mouth by grazing on a pine stick I put in her tank, and I had to euthanize her because she couldn't eat anything. Snails will graze on the microscopic algae and other spores on the bark of the stick, and will even eat the bark itself. That's why it's important to choose the right kind of stick for the tank. I keep the same stick in my tank for a long time, rinsing it off only occasionally. In the wild, the snail would naturally be eating bits of algae and other microflora, so I try not to disturb any such growth in the tank as much as possible.

I've never heard of a snail being given a homeopathic treatment, but I'm glad it worked for yours. I'm not sure what inert ingredients are in those tablets and I'd be apprehensive that they might cause a problem, but it sounds as though your snail did well.

[Robert Nordsieck]

Hi linky,

I am not so sure you are the only one in South Africa who keeps snails. There is even a book about South African land snails, which I am glad I have: Herbert & Kilburn: Field Guide to the Land Snails and Slugs of Eastern South Africa (Pietermaritzburg 2004).

I know that South Africa is very large and that you probably not exactly live in Natal, but this is one of the prettiest snail books I have ever seen (excluding of course my own which still is not past the layout), anyway on page 275 it gives a very nice chapter about Cornu aspersum, which apparently was brought into SA by a French priest during the third quarter of the 19th century.

What I like especially about this book is, it has lots of VERY fine pictures and loads of information, but also many stories, like the one about the gardener who got bitten by a (predator) snail (Natalina cafra) which he had just saved from the lawnmower. Well, no good deed goes unpunished, so it's his own fault.

Kind regards
Robert

[Robert Nordsieck]

Hi linky,

I found out something else:

Dr. Dai Herbert of the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg has written a small book about introduced molluscs in South Africa- Among those there is also Cornu aspersum.

You can download the whole book here:
www.sanbi.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=documentdetails&id=393

Best regards
Robert