Fatal things for your snails to eat

[inky]

Hi, I would like to start a thread of what is fatal to your snails, not just for me, but other people browsing this.

COFFEE RESIDUE/BEANS
First of all, I've found that coffee residue can kill snails. I'm not sure what happens, but they just swell up and... I only just saved Penelope! The poor thing always tries to eat everything first!

DRY CAT FOOD:
I made a mash of cat food and sunflower seeds. I only just saved Penelope. AGAIN. It swells up their head and you can see the inside of their mouth is dark RED and if they lick you, sometimes (not usually) A little trickle of SOMETHING comes on you. If they slide into a food bowl of it, watch out, they fall over, covered in the stuff because it attracts them but usually cat food has a bit of salt in it. Poor Penelope, she's been in snail hospital twice in one day! (smaller snail tank with only grass in it)

RUBBER PLANT:
I haven't actually tested this, but it's kind of obvious. Rubber plant, even in tiny doses, can kill cats and dogs, so I don't think a snail will have much luck.
I usually see some small bites out of ours, but then I look on the ground, BAM, snail with its shell broken. It's kind of gross

Post some things that have taken your snails to a better place... then at least the people here will read it and make sure their snails won't die from their owners.

CELERY:
I haven't been on for a while, and suddenly all my posts are full XD
Apparently celery can hurt snails, I don't think it does but it's best to be cautious.

[SnailsPace]

I've had no problems with dry cat biscuits myself, I do soak them first and mine are ok

[inky]

Each cat food is slightly different. Mine was probably too salty.

[vallery]

When you say Rubber plant. What type of plant are you actually talking about? A Jade plant?

[coyote]

My snails always liked soaked cat kibble, but I always got the most organic, pure kind I could find. I don't feed kibble anymore, so my snails don't get any these days, but they did enjoy it when they got it.

The common houseplant known as the rubber tree (Ficus elastica) has a sticky sap that would very likely be harmful to snails, and I would not want to risk it. The plant I know as a jade plant (Crassula ovata) is a succulent and does not have the kind of sap a rubber tree has.

[inky]

coyote:
Ficus elastica is what I am talking about. And these are just suggestions. I almost killed my snail from it eating dry cat food, so I put it up.

[serenesarong]

My snails would never eat dry cat food... I always soaked it first but it just used to get left so I gave up trying them on it... none of them ever got ill so I assume they either avoided it because they knew it wasn't good for them (if it was too salty) or they just didn't like it...

Mine don't like celery either, but they've never gotten ill from it.

The coffee could be something to do with the caffeine in it... because it acts as a diuretic it might dehydrate them? Just a thought. Caffeine is also quite an effective insecticide

[latebloomer]

I have tried soaked dry cat food too but they are just not interested. I occasionally try them with minced meat but they are not keen on that either.

[saki114]

Hi everyone! I have a quick question: is it alright to feed snails celery because on some websites, I read that it is not very good for snails. Should I feed snails celery or not?

[ness]

Hmm I read the same thing and have avoided it, but also read of someone who does without problems. Personall I would be cautious and not, there's plenty of other food known to be safe

[saki114]

Yeah, I fed a bit of celery once to my snails before and they seemed to still be happy+healthy after eating it. Idk...

[inky]

Dec 28, 2011 1:01:38 GMT serenesarong said:

My snails would never eat dry cat food... I always soaked it first but it just used to get left so I gave up trying them on it... none of them ever got ill so I assume they either avoided it because they knew it wasn't good for them (if it was too salty) or they just didn't like it...

Mine don't like celery either, but they've never gotten ill from it.

The coffee could be something to do with the caffeine in it... because it acts as a diuretic it might dehydrate them? Just a thought. Caffeine is also quite an effective insecticide

Didn't actually mean to feed it to them. While I was mixing up their usual food I saw a few crumbs and left them there.

[kb.trekkie]

I have heard that foods in the onion group kill snails. Why is that so?

[muddydragon]

The allium family (onion family) contains a lot of toxic/poisonous and "bad tasting" compounds, one of the reasons they taste so strong! They are defences to stop them getting eaten (as the plant does not want it's storage bulbs to be eaten!). but to quote a lecturer of mine "humans are perverted and like the taste". if you could eat enough yourself (very difficult!) it would poison you too.

How dangerous they are in small amounts to snails i do not know.

[lescargot]

This maybe why onions and garlic are forbidden for cats and dogs. It can cause fatal anaemia for them. But for humans, doctors recommend a good consumption. It is a natural source as it contains natural antibiotic to help for example with flu virus. We consume lots of onions and garlic raw/cooked in the Mediterranean regions.

[muddydragon]

antibiotics do not work on viruses (hence why antibiotics are never given for colds, flus etc except to try and avoid secondary bacertial infections which may take hold in the weakened state)

Any toxin is by definition antibiotic it's just most humans have a good tolerance of those found in allium and the toxins do not build up in the system.

[vallery]

What about the different types of lettuce.

I feed all of my species green leaf lettuce or red fringed green leaf lettuce and they love it. Even my slug species.

I think I remember reading somewhere that Iceburg lettuce and Romaine lettuce where not good for snails so I haven't given it to them. Has anyone tried these?

Also other green leaf veggies, with mine, not one species will eat spinach not even my different slug species they won't touch it. Anyone else have this experience with spinach? Does anyone know why they will not touch spinach?

[malacophile]

I've feed my snails both iceberg and romaine regularly. I've yet to see any ill effects from it. Lettuce is lettuce, really. None of them are toxic. I swear, people can come up with some funny ideas as to what'll hurt certain animals.

Mine also eat spinach, and love the stuff. However, there are a few that don't like it. The Limax won't touch it, and at least one of my adult fulicas doesn't care for it.

Celery is another thing I've given them. They didn't like it much, though the baby fulicas ate a tiny bit, but there were no harmful effects.

[morningcoffee]

Nov 27, 2013 15:58:28 GMT malacophile said:

I've feed my snails both iceberg and romaine regularly. I've yet to see any ill effects from it. Lettuce is lettuce, really. None of them are toxic. I swear, people can come up with some funny ideas as to what'll hurt certain animals.

I think the reason iceberg is often quoted as something that shouldn't be fed to snails is that it's thought to be very low on nutritional content, so if they are eating mainly iceberg and don't have a varied diet, they may not be getting sufficient nutrition, rather than that it's actually harmful. However, iceberg lettuce actually has more nutritional value than many people think - darker green leafy lettuces such as little gem or round lettuce are still better nutritionally, and it's certainly not packed full of goodness, but iceberg isn't the "nothing" food that many people seem to believe. Not sure why romaine would be listed alongside iceberg as a "bad" food, as it's a darker green lettuce than iceberg and as such has better nutritional content, having more fibre, potassium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin K and folate than iceberg.

It's absolutely fine to let snails have iceberg on occasion. My snails certainly used to enjoy iceberg now and then although they also loved romaine, little gem, rocket, oak leaf lettuce and round lettuce However, it's best to feed all foods in moderation and ensure that snails (and slugs) are getting a varied and balanced diet and not having too much of one thing.

Also, spinach has a high oxalate content, which can bind with calcium and iron and inhibit their absorption in humans. I don't know if it's same for snails but some people advise against feeding spinach to snails for this reason. I don't know if that's why your snails won't eat it though, vallery - maybe they just don't like it Again, I personally think that spinach is probably fine to give to snails (if they like it!) in moderation as part of a varied diet.

[vallery]

Thank You malacophile and morningcoffe ,

I will certainly check out the stores for the mentioned lettuce I want to be able to give them all the nutrients they need.
It is odd that out of all my species even my slugs that none will touch spinach but good I suppose.
Basically all of them eat the same thing sliced carrot, English cucumber, green leaf lettuce and red fringe green leaf lettuce and my l maximus love mushrooms. Not much of a varied diet. But they love this stuff.
You wouldn't believe how fast those little trumpets can munch down a piece of cucumber slice, it's bizarre. I have tried fruit but they don't go near that either. I've tried pear and strawberry and grape. Can they eat watermelon?

vallery

[morningcoffee]

Dec 1, 2013 15:33:47 GMT vallery said:

Thank You malacophile and morningcoffe ,

I will certainly check out the stores for the mentioned lettuce I want to be able to give them all the nutrients they need.
It is odd that out of all my species even my slugs that none will touch spinach but good I suppose.
Basically all of them eat the same thing sliced carrot, English cucumber, green leaf lettuce and red fringe green leaf lettuce and my l maximus love mushrooms. Not much of a varied diet. But they love this stuff.
You wouldn't believe how fast those little trumpets can munch down a piece of cucumber slice, it's bizarre. I have tried fruit but they don't go near that either. I've tried pear and strawberry and grape. Can they eat watermelon?

My African snails used to LOVE watermelon

[kb.trekkie]

My snails LOVE iceburg lettuce. It is their main staple food. I offer many different foods, but they choose the lettuce instead. Why? Is this bad?

[muddydragon]

they tend to prefer what they are used to so if they grew up on iceberg they'll always eat it. I've found that quite often if they didnt get certain foods as a baby its harder to get them to eat it as an adult. However they do need a varied diet so try giving iceberg less often for a while and giving them other things

[vallery]

Hi morningcoffee ,

Thank you for your reply about the watermelon. I will give them some today to see if they like it as I just bought a seedless watermelon the day I posted asking about it. I will let you know what they do.

vallery

[vallery]

Dec 3, 2013 2:24:35 GMT kb.trekkie said:

My snails LOVE iceburg lettuce. It is their main staple food. I offer many different foods, but they choose the lettuce instead. Why? Is this bad?

Hi kbanimallover13 ,
morningcoffee left a post on this thread Nov. 27 saying " I think the reason iceburg is often quoted as something that shouldn't be fed to snails is that it's thought to be very low on nutritional content".
You should check out that post as there is more helpful information on it.

vallery