can snails get diabetes?

[professorcargo]

I am new to snail keeping but have spent a week reading through info. I have three generic garden snails in a ventilated terrarium in my van. They have cuttlefish bone and toys (sticks, moss, bark) dirt and sticks have been baked for parasites, and I mist them every two days.


I feed them a variety and leave it in a tray every day, though they mostly stay on the roof of their terrarium (I assume because its winter and they're cold) however they dont seem to like eating the butternut pumpkin, lettuce and cucumber- I gave them some sweeter food, bananas and apple, and they love it, finally ate a decent amount. however im worried that feeding them the sweet food they like (almost like a frustrated parent trying to get their kids to eat) will make them not want to eat more nutritional food. but above all I'm worried about the high sugar intake causing them to develop diabetes. I dont know if snails can even get diabetes, but I do know its a condition from constantly eating high amounts of sugar so that your body stops being able to process it. I feel like that would be my fault if I let them eat so much sugar that they get sick.

a side question, do other peoples snails go quiet when its winter? I stay up all night (my normal routine) and they only come down to eat the fishbone sometimes and then rush back up to the tubs ceiling and sit there for the rest of the night.


I currently don't have a heating pad or an UVB light but I think that's the only pieces I have missed.

[SuspiciousBagel]

Hiya! It sounds you’re doing a great job with them. The inactivity could be due to a number of reasons, such as it being not humid enough (depends what species you have but I’d suggest spraying once a day and covering up all the ventilation as it honestly does more harm then good by letting lots of humidity out and annoying insects like fungus gnats in, and snails don’t need to breathe as much as we do), or theyre settling in to their new home, or it’s too cold (though they’re garden snails so there’s no need to worry about heating the tanks unless it’s a big issue, plus it’s rather expensive), or a number of things! But snails sort of just wake up when they feel like it, I wouldn’t be too worried.

No, I don’t believe snails can get diabetes. I could be wrong but I’m not sure if they even have a pancreas and I’ve never heard of it happening, plus there’d be no efficient way to know if a snail has it or not considering how tiny and simple the little guys are.

However, too much fruit can indeed cause some health issues so I’d suggest only feeding them a very small amount once a week along with a regular meal. Snails can be very fussy, mine only like most foods when prepared a certain way so it’ll take a while to find out what they like and what they don’t. Some good veggies to try would be thin carrot peelings and zucchini as snails generally seem to like those!

[professorcargo]

thank you very much! there's bug nets on my windows so there's no gnats in my van, but I will spray them once a day instead of once every 2 days. I haven't tried zucchini yet but I will try more vegetables, and maybe just take the sweet option away until they learn they just have to eat the vegetables :^)

[snaileyhammy]

Hello! I agree with jinkerjam. You should definitely increase your humidity/temperature in their tank. Snails will hibernate in the winter, although in captivity it’s best to keep their tank warm so they will not hibernate. They can also estivate if it is too dry and hot, so keep it nice and moist. Snails cannot get diabetes so you are all good there. I would just get the food they don’t usually eat and spread them out over the tank so they have to eat them eventually. Sometimes they don’t like the food, and sometimes they just don’t want to eat it because they are picky. Picky snails is not uncommon so don’t worry about it! You just want to make sure they have variety.