Cooking vegetables to stop pests hatching?

[Deleted]

Will dipping vegetables in boiled water for a few seconds kill any eggs/pests that may be on the food (I have giant African snails and as their tank is so warm I often get parasites and pests) If it won’t, please suggest any ways you kill them.

[SuspiciousBagel]

What kind of parasites and pests are you dealing with? If theyre like springtails, soil mites, nematodes, potworms etc then I'd leave them be as they're not a concern. The main problematic pest you can get in the tank is snail mites which are harmful to the snails and can kill them. They look like little white fast moving dots thet'll usually be seen on the snail itself and you can get rid of those by introducing hypoasis predatory mites to your tank (you can buy them online) which will eat the snail mites.

They probably aren't coming from the food, especially if the food you buy is non-organic due to pesticides. The pesticides in question are more of a concern in terms of safety of food for the snails honestly, fyi you can get rid of some of the pesticides left on the food by peeling and washing foods before giving them to the snails.

I would think that a pest would more likely be hitching a ride into your tank through things like sticks, leaves, substrate etc if you've gotten any from outside, especially if theyve not been sanitised through freezing/cooking first.

Hope this helps!

[snaileyhammy]

I agree with SuspicousBagel! ^^ You could boil the food if fungi gnats are the issue for you, but that is a bit of a hassle. If you are having an issue with pests on your snail's food, it's best to just remove the food as soon as it gets moldy, or before it does.

[Deleted]

Thanks for replying! I’m not sure exactly what type of pests they are, but I believe I’ve had springtails a few times before and recently there were several small white worms all over the tank. I don’t think any pests I’ve had are particularly harmful, but they freak me out and it’s such a hassle to clean out the tank.

[SuspiciousBagel]

Mar 29, 2022 8:16:40 GMT @armymoomoo said:

Thanks for replying! I’m not sure exactly what type of pests they are, but I believe I’ve had springtails a few times before and recently there were several small white worms all over the tank. I don’t think any pests I’ve had are particularly harmful, but they freak me out and it’s such a hassle to clean out the tank.

No problem! Yes, those sound fine. Those white worms could well be fungus gnats, like what snaileyhammy mentioned, which you can also avoid by sealing the tank well to prevent gnats getting in and removing small areas of substrate where they congregate. If it helps i believe hypoasis mites will also get rid of springtails and wormy things for the most part but then you'll have to deal with the mites til they die out so i suppose it wouldn't really solve the issue haha. Just to clarify, if by cleaning out the tank you mean removing all the substrate at once, I'd avoid doing that unless in extreme situations (like if the substrate was absolutely full of pests, or completely soaked, etc) because snails benefit alot from beneficial bacteria that cultures in substrate over time, and if you suddenly change it for new substrate that bacteria will all be gone and might impact the snail's health.