New Person With Wild Snail...Now With Eggs!

[MLO]

Hey all. Found this helpful site when Googling wild + snail + care and while I've read a *lot* of posts, I still have some questions.

Here's the 411:

When walking to work the other day, I spotted a small snail crossing the sidewalk just before I stepped on it. I picked it up (it immediately withdrew into its shell) and kept walking, keeping an eye out for a place to put it.

Unfortunately, every place I passed was a meticulously kept garden or possibly pesticide-laden yard, so I arrived at work with the snail still in hand. I washed out a disposable tupperware container I had (with plain water, no soap), punched some holes in the top with a push pin, put in some damp paper towels, a few blades of grass, an eggshell and a small cube of apple (no skin). It pooped three times and spent most of the day on the top of the lid

The walk home was the same...irradiated lawns, gardens. I put the container next to my bed to keep an eye on it and fell asleep. I woke up once and it was firmly attached to one of the cubes of apple.

Next morning while walking the dog I found an ideal place to put the snail (empty lot, abandoned building, aka no lawn/garden care) but I didn't have it with me. So I picked up some bark, soil and moss from the area and took it home. I put a damp paper towel and everything I'd gathered into a larger tupperware container with airholes and transferred the snail into it by tipping the lid and letting it crawl on to the piece of bark.

It spent most of the day either sitting on the bark looking like it was dozing, or attached to the underside of the bark, waving its eyes around. I've pretty much carried the container to wherever I'm sitting and set it down there, but away from lamps. Once or twice I put it by the screen door as it was a humid damp cool sort of day.

Long story longer, I've become oddly attached to this small creature and would like to keep it for a bit before letting it go. I just wanted to know the following before I decide to do so:

1. What's the suggested ratio of container size to snail size? This snail is small...its only an inch if it really stretches out.
2. Are disposable plastic containers with airholes on top ok?
3. I know calcium is important and I've put eggshells in the container. How can I tell if its eaten them?
4. Is it possible to tell if a snail is content with its surroundings? If so, what are the signs?
5. Do snails nap or doze?

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips...

[crossless]

1. Think with small snails max about 2,5cm or little mit under 3cm shell length would be nice to at least have 1 to 3litres per one snail. But if snail is just a tiny 1cm shell length one litre to one or few snails is ok. Small snails are really active and can use every corner of tube really nicely. Then if wild picked snail is about size of your fist like helix family is then about 10litres per snail.

2. It's ok as long as you make air holes smaller that snail is so it can't climb out of hole..

3. I made few test with my Achatina fulica, I used peppercorn mill to make fine powder out of egg shell it didn't digestion at all. So I don't advice use it as calsium source.

You can get from drug store some calsium powder if you ask it last ages, you can sprinkle it on food or add little water to make small amount of paste to some small dish like if you have just little snail some plastic bottle cap is nice size. Paste is great to make, because otherwise when snail goes over dry calsium powder it would be all over the snail and terrarium, so paste would be less messy.

4. Snail is happy when it wakes every night to take bite of food and calsium if needed. Slime around a terrarium, stretch alot when wondering where to climd or if it's enjoining of nice spray of water. Hanging from sealing and moving around. Snail is sad when it sleeps "too much" like don't wake anymore at evening to do what it usually does. It takes always a while get use to new snails routines when it wakes when it sleeps etc. Snail is wake always when you can see it's stalk out, if it's in shell or eyes not showing in long time it usually sleeps then. Sometimes snails hide their eyes when they feel like eyes would be just in the way while they eat.. Snail has sense of touch and smell in it's stalks so it sometime wave them when moving around and seeing if something is food. Sometimes eyes might "bounce off" from wall when snail notices you can't go any further something is blockin it's way.

5. Some snails might take naps like they would be many times of day wake, just have naps time to time between wake time. My snails are mostly up at night (but they are not wc snails). But WC snails seems to be wake at morning little, sleep moment and be wake little bit during day time and next time at night they are wake. Maybe it has something to do with those times of day when it's usually dew and they use to be wake then.

Oh and these weird few letter things may confuse you so here few meanings. ;

CB - Captive Bred. This means that the animal as been bred in captivity, either by a prefessional breeder or privately. These tend to be healthy animals, free from disease and parasites, and are often quite docile and easy to handle.
CF - Captive Farmed. This means that a wild female animal is captured (while pregnant) and this is the offspring.
WC - Wild Caught. The name says is all, this is a animal which was once wild and has been captured and imported to be sold.
LTC - Long Term Captive. This is simply a WC animal which has been kept in captivity for some time and has adjusted to captive life.

I spray just terrarium in morning and evening, when it's more natural time to snails be wake. Spraying may wake snail so I like to spray terrarium really late so they can sleep as long as they like I don't like to wake animals with out any good reason..

[Deleted]

If your snail is on apple and yo dont know wether its sliming on it or eating it well heres my advice: my Helix Pomatia's are CB and when they eat their eyes go curved as if to curve around the foodand may look smaller so cute!

[coyote]

Hi mlo, welcome to the forum! Congrats on your slimy new friend.

According to the "snail calculator" here, your ideal tank area would be (length x depth): 175 cm² ( 0.02 m² or 0.22 feet² ) for 2 snails about the size of yours (the calculator didn't want to calculate for only one snail). You could probably reduce that by half for your one and it will be okay.

Yes, disposable plastic containers with airholes are fine.

Not all snails will try eggshell. You can find cuttlebones in the bird section of a pet supply store. Break off a small piece and rinse it off well before giving it to your snail. You could try grinding it into a powder and sprinkling it on its food too. If you can find pure powdered limestone, that would be good as well.

A snail is happy when it slimes around, eats, poops and lays eggs. Most snails are nocturnal, so unless you are a real night owl you will miss most of the action. Mine seem to perk up around 1 AM. Any new snail I've obtained usually takes 2 or 3 days to get accustomed to its new tank, and yours may be more inactive than usual for a while before it gets used to the new surroundings.

Snails do indeed sleep. I've been able to catch a couple of mine sleeping unretracted, with their eyestalks out. When they sleep like that on the side of the tank, often their eyestalks will droop backwards over their shell (and it looks so cute). But most of the time they are retracted in their shell when asleep.

Sweet potato and cucumber seem to be universally enjoyed by all snails, so you can try some of those with yours. Romaine lettuce, too. Avoid grains, though, as they can be deadly for snails. Otherwise, almost all the same fruits and vegs you and I enjoy will be enjoyed by your snail.

Can you get a pic of it and post it here? I'd love to see what it looks like, and maybe try to identify it. Feel free to ask any further questions you might have, and please enjoy your time here on the forum!

[MLO]

Thanks for all the replies...I appreciate it very much.

I will definitely take a picture as soon as I can catch it out and about. I could move the bark to get a picture, but my gut is telling me to leave it alone for several days...maybe more.

I read about cuttlebones, but I didn't have access to a pet store when I picked the snail up and I didn't want it to go without. Hopefully will have some tonight...meanwhile I'll crush up the eggshell. I caught the snail on the eggshell earlier today before he went back under the bark...how do you know if they've eaten some?

Good to know about snails sleeping. I was somewhat concerned when I saw the snail just sitting on the bark with its eyes completely still.

Apples seem to be the favorite out of what I've tried so far (clover leaves, dandelion leaves, grass of varying widths) I'll try cucumber this evening.

The snail is definitely sliming around, and pooping...which means (i hope) it's eating. I'm not sure what eggs look like though, so I'm not sure if it has laid any.

I would put in another snail, but honestly I don't see many where I live. It's probably due to the number of lawns/gardens around here that are regularly treated with pesticides or the like.

Thanks again. Will try to get pics up soon.

[crossless]

I have noticed that on next day what ever snails has been eating already yesterday. Poop comes out on next day. Snail poop is same color as food, so easy to notice what they eat. Some times poop is really highlighted if snail taste many things.

If you could get hands on birch or greater plantain they have quite lot calsium in them so you could use them as calsium source too till you find your way to pet shop or other place that sell calsium. I have heard that those two plants have calsium in their leaves.

[MLO]

I did notice that, when I first caught snail its poop was brown. Next day, after I put out apple/clover/eggshells, the poop was brown except last bit which was whitish.

Today's poop was also whitish...so either eggshells or apple.

I'll probably order cuttlefish bone online. Today I did crush eggshells a lot and I put drop or two of beer on it to encourage eating.

[MLO]

As promised...pictures:

Of the snail:


He had been on the eggshell but I couldn't get the camera in time



Of the enclosure:


Of enclosure with lid (little dots are airholes I poked with a push pin)


More airholes? Less? More green? More dirt?
Comments definitely appreciated.

[coyote]

A very nice little snail! I don't recognize the species right away, though.

If you have a large supermarket nearby with a pet supply aisle, you might find a cuttlebone there, with the other bird supplies. If the poop was bright white it was probably eggshell; off-white, apple. It also may have been both. Some snails will rasp of eggshell but it can be hard to see unless you know what the tiny rasp marks would look like.

Collard greens are another source of calcium. My snails love them.

I would make some of those airholes a little larger. Snails don't breathe the way you and I do, but they do need fresh air and oxygen, and carbon dioxide is heavier than air and will sink to the bottom of your container. Too much carbon dioxide will make the snail lethargic. Provide more oxygen (or better circulation) and it will be more active. Sometimes I take the lids off my tanks and use them to fan the tanks for a few seconds to make sure fresh air gets in. Then I mist the tanks before replacing the lids to make sure the humidity stays up.

If you have a small plastic flower pot, you could bury it halfway in the dirt, on its side, to be a hiding place for the snail. I don't recommend a terra cotta pot as the snail could break its shell if it fell onto the pot from the lid of the container.

I'm partial to coir (coconut husk fiber) as a substrate, but others prefer using sphagnum moss (both moistened, of course). I'd add a small layer of sphagnum to the container, and maybe a few leaves (washed off), and maybe a small stick from a non-resinous tree (washed off) placed diagonally for the snail to climb on. The more of a natural environment you can simulate, the better the snail will feel and the more naturally it will act.

I hope someone recognizes that species because I'm very curious about what kind of snail it is.

[MLO]

Will follow all of that advice. Is there a good online shop where I can purchase items such as coir or sphagnum moss? Should be able to get the cuttlefish bone tonight, but I boiled a couple of eggs and have the shells in a bag just in case.

You probably can't see it, but there is a piece of curved bark in the enclosure that the snail has been keen on crawling on and under; it's a pretty good natural hiding place.

Will make the holes larger. Will too much CO2 kill a snail?

Came home today and the snail was dozing upside-down on the lid of the enclosure. I was worried until I opened it up and he moved off...leaving a curl of poop behind.

[MLO]

Update: I've moved the snail to a larger container so that it will hold a branch I picked up a few days ago. I've also put in freshly washed cuttlefish bone. Other than that I've kept the other items that were in the smaller enclosure...especially the curved piece of bark.

I've poked larger holes in the lid of the container (I used a fork this time) and I've poked some holes in the sides of the container, near the bottom, to hopefully release any CO2 that might accumulate. I'm working on getting a different substrate...I just need to check a few online shops to see what's available.

[coyote]

Putting some holes near the bottom of the container is an excellent idea. Yes, a snail will die from too much carbon dioxide. Their respiration requirements are much less than ours are, but still there is a point where too much is going to be too much for them. You are doing the right thing.

If you have a PetCo or Petsmart nearby (or any pet supply store with a reptile department), their reptile section ought to have the substrate materials suitable for your container. A garden supply store or nursery would have sphagnum moss. I've even seen it in some of the larger supermarkets that sell houseplants.

[MLO]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. If anyone knows of what kind of snail this is, feel free to chime in. Also with tips on what snail eggs should look like.

Thanks!

[coyote]

Snail eggs in general will be small whitish spheres, like BBs (maybe smaller, depending on the species), usually laid in a clump or a ball.

The very first milk snail I ever got from the wild laid eggs within 48 hours of being placed in my tank. I felt honored, in a way. ;D

[MLO]

I got the peat moss substrate late yesterday evening and this morning I opened the snail enclosure to put some in right away as I didn't think the soil I dug up in the empty lot was all that great.

I guess the snail thought otherwise because, when I was taking out the moss, I found two eggs underneath.

I wasn't sure what to do at that point (keep soil, replace with substrate, mix the two together) so I put substrate over the soil in one half of the container, and left the soil alone in the other half...the half where the eggs were. I put the moss back and tried to arrange it the way it was, closed the lid, poured some filtered water over it (drops through holes like rain) and put it back where it was. When I checked before I left for work, the snail was either talking to a vertical piece of peat moss or was nibbling on it to see if it was edible so I guess everything was ok...

I figured the best thing to do would be to change things as little as possible since, from what you guys were saying, the snail is happy with the way things are now. The substrate looks and feels a lot better and nicer to me, but I'm not living in the container.

What do you guys think?

[coyote]

I probably would have done what you did. Keep an eye on the humidity, because the eggs won't hatch if they dry out too much. (But you don't want it too wet, either.)

Also, keep in mind that the eggs might not hatch at all, even if all the conditions are right. There's no way of knowing. Fingers crossed!