Where can I buy snails in the US?

[Snailzilla]

I wish to acquire a few different land snail species, but can't seem to find any retailers (or independent sellers) in the united States. ...like, at all.
I'm sure they must be out there, what am I missing?

[Liguus]

Well, transporting snails across state lines is illegal, so that prevents any type of retailers from starting a business. The best you can do is try to find someone within your own state to sell some snails to you. If you haven't seen, there is a fb link in my signature to a USA group where you may have luck finding other hobbyists to trade/buy from.

[Snailzilla]

Mar 31, 2018 15:16:07 GMT Liguus said:

Well, transporting snails across state lines is illegal, so that prevents any type of retailers from starting a business. The best you can do is try to find someone within your own state to sell some snails to you. If you haven't seen, there is a fb link in my signature to a USA group where you may have luck finding other hobbyists to trade/buy from.

...Illegal unless you have the proper paperwork from the USDA.

That being said, I agree that a Massachusetts retailer would be ideal. Thank you for the link.

[Liguus]

Mar 31, 2018 22:06:47 GMT Snailzilla said:

Mar 31, 2018 15:16:07 GMT Liguus said:

Well, transporting snails across state lines is illegal, so that prevents any type of retailers from starting a business. The best you can do is try to find someone within your own state to sell some snails to you. If you haven't seen, there is a fb link in my signature to a USA group where you may have luck finding other hobbyists to trade/buy from.

...Illegal unless you have the proper paperwork from the USDA.

That being said, I agree that a Massachusetts retailer would be ideal. Thank you for the link.

It's basically illegal since the USDA does not issue permits 99.99% of the time. A single hobbyist is definitely not going to get one if even zoo's or other wildlife organizations have a difficult time obtaining them. Most of the time the USDA will waste your time redirecting you to different people, who then just tell you to submit an application, then once it's submitted they take their sweet time to write back that they won't issue one or just ignore you completely from then on. They also raised the potential fines and jail time recently, and possibly released flatworms to kill off invasive snails along with rare native ones because they were paid off by Big Sugar in the warm areas of the country. I believe the USDA just hates all snails.

[Snailzilla]

Apr 1, 2018 0:56:39 GMT Liguus said:

Mar 31, 2018 22:06:47 GMT Snailzilla said:

...Illegal unless you have the proper paperwork from the USDA.

That being said, I agree that a Massachusetts retailer would be ideal. Thank you for the link.

It's basically illegal since the USDA does not issue permits 99.99% of the time. A single hobbyist is definitely not going to get one if even zoo's or other wildlife organizations have a difficult time obtaining them. Most of the time the USDA will waste your time redirecting you to different people, who then just tell you to submit an application, then once it's submitted they take their sweet time to write back that they won't issue one or just ignore you completely from then on. They also raised the potential fines and jail time recently, and possibly released flatworms to kill off invasive snails along with rare native ones because they were paid off by Big Sugar in the warm areas of the country. I believe the USDA just hates all snails.

Oh.

So, how do I get snails?

[morningcoffee]

Apr 1, 2018 5:01:27 GMT Snailzilla said:

So, how do I get snails?

Find someone in your state who is willing to sell/send you some, or simply go outside and collect some from the wild.

[Liguus]

Yeah, like I said it has to be bought from someone within your state or caught by yourself.

[Snailzilla]

Apr 1, 2018 23:31:42 GMT Liguus said:

Yeah, like I said it has to be bought from someone within your state or caught by yourself.

Okay, how do I find someone in my state?

For all my searching, I found one person. That's how I got the snail I have now. I want to expand my menagerie, but don't know where else to turn. With a population of just shy of 7 million people, there must be more than two snail enthusiasts in Massachusetts. Right? Where are they? What am I missing?

So, I'm trying to find out. How do other (more experienced than myself) people do this?

[astana]

So there are multiple ways to get snails but you have to be wary of the many buying-online-sort of options.

I obtained my menagerie solely by collecting, not buying. I know that it may seem like there are just no snails in the state you live but I assure you that there are. You will be limited to certain species obviously, depending on where you live, but searching and finding snails on your own is still the most reliable way to go about things.

You will find that there are people who sell live land snails on eBay, but I would be very cautious of them as their snails are usually misidentified, overpriced, ILLEGAL TO CROSS STATE LINES, and just overall shady in nature.

There are also a lot of people who drive to other states, collect snails, and drive back with them. I have never heard of anyone getting into any trouble, legal or otherwise, for doing this, but I'm also not entirely sure how legal it is.

In the end I highly suggest looking for snails on your own. Drive far out after it rains, venture into the woods at night with a headlamp. Set out snail traps with beer and fish food. It might be difficult but it is entirely possible, and again, far more reliable than looking for potential sellers online.

[tigersnail]

There's a handy app called iNaturalist that lets you record observations of creatures you've seen. It's really helpful if you don't know where to look for snails! Just looking at a map of Massachusetts and surrounding states it seems that you have a pretty good diversity of snails, including grove snails which can be quite common in some areas. Look for them beside bike paths and in local parks. They can be found under leaves or bark and climbing on grass or trees.

[Snailzilla]

I'm definitely going after Grove snails as soon as it's seasonally appropriate.

How would I go about getting a Roman snail?