Cheaper feeding alternatives help

[adamsux]

Lately I've been looking for some cheaper alternatives for feeding my snail, and I've been wanting to incorporate foraging weeds and other plants from my garden into my feeding. Can anyone give me the green light on which of these plants I can feed to my snail, as well as a few other questions I have? Thanks!!

List of plants:

Hedge Bindweed

Calystegia sepium



Elmleaf Blackberry

Rubus ulmifolius



Ribwort Plantain

Plantago lanceolata



Pink-sorrel

Oxalis articulata



Common Sowthistle

Sonchus oleraceus


Stinging Nettle

Urtica dioica



Curly Dock

Rumex crispus



Petty Spurge

Euphorbia pelpus



Common Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

If anyone can let me know if these plants are safe to eat as well/use as a topping and as how to prepare them safely I would be very grateful!

Furthermore, I have some other questions about using some "waste" as food for my snail.
By this I mean, is it okay for me to feed my snail carrot peelings, potato peelings and banana peel and other alternatives?

Thank you for reading and I very much appreciate any answers or advice you may have!! 

[pasi9]

This thread is a good place to look for feeding ideas- petsnails.proboards.com/thread/9416/feed-snails

I don't recognise a lot of the plants in your list but I can tell you that dandelions and stinging nettles are excellent food for snails. Common sowthistle is good too. I'd avoid any oxalis, and my snails have always refused to eat blackberry leaves.
Just make sure you clean anything you've foraged really well so you don't introduce outside pests into your tank.

Snails love carrot peelings! Sweet potato peelings are also great. I'm not sure about regular potato and banana peels.

Another good food source is the "Wandering Jew/Tradescantia Zebrina" plant. My snails adore them, and they're super-easy to keep as a houseplant. I have a couple that I just take cuttings from and give to my snails semi-regularly. The cuttings often take root in the tank so they last a long time before being completely eaten.

Most herbs are good too, if you have them growing in your garden.

Do you have any branches/twigs with lichen growing in your area? Snails often enjoy lichen too. I usually dampen the twigs and put them in the microwave for a few minutes to kill off any pests that could be inside the branches, then put them in the tank once they've cooled down.

[adamsux]

Thanks for the answer! As for your question, no I do not have lichen anywhere near me. Such a shame!

Another question however: are nettles safe to pick when they are flowering? The nettles in my garden are flowering at the moment and I'm worried if that will harm my snail in any way. Furthermore, how do you prepare nettles and remove the sting? I've checked the internet but I've only seen mixed answers and I'd prefer my information from an expert.

Thanks!

[snaileyhammy]

You should boil the nettle before giving it to your snail, to remove the sting. I am not sure about the flower thing though, someone else will have to tell you that. Remember to wear gloves though!

[pasi9]

I don't think the flower makes any difference. Most foragers say that the best part of the nettle is the fresh new leaves near the top, so I would get those.

Like Snaileyhammy says, you can boil it before giving it to your snails, it only take a minute to remove the stingers. I recall reading somewhere that snails aren't hurt by the sting, but it will definitely make it easier for you to handle!

[littlegoldsnail]

What I do is just buy something like a whole zucchini from the farmers market (roughly $2 or so), dice it up, boil it and freeze it. Then, every couple days, get a little chunk out of the freezer and thaw it. That way it doesn't go bad, so you don’t have to be constantly buying produce.

Mix it up too. 1 zucchini lasts several weeks, then you can do a cucumber, or a few carrots, whatever you want. You can even spend like $20 on produce, boil it all, and then freeze it. It’d probably last you more than a year! And you can get out a cube of whatever veggie you feel like all year long.


That’s my tip for spending less money on snail food and wasting less produce.