caught two wild snails today

[chenwb]

I found two snails in my backyard in Pasadena, CA. They appear to be Helix aspersa. I obtained a large reptile habitat and some coconut fiber substrate.

But I read that having these snails can bring parasitic infections that lead to meningitis. Is it safe to just take in wild snails? On the main site it says it is, but it doesn't provide any evidence. Is the risk of infection lower than, say, getting salmonella from a domesticated mouse? (I practice good hygiene procedures, washing my hands before and after interacting with the snails/tank).

Do you think catching wild snails is safe for humans?

Thanks for your help!

EDIT: It looks like one of the eye stalks of one is damaged. Will it heal?

[Bumblebee]

As long as you arnt going to kiss the snails and always make sure to wash your hands whenever you have handled them or done something in their tank, you should be fine

petsnails.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=pests&action=display&thread=4354

All kind of wild caught animals can give humans some kind of nasty stuff if the hygiene isnt good enough.

And the eye stalk should heal, depends a bit on how bad the damage is

[chenwb]

No, I don't kiss them =) I am a clean freak (kinda weird to have snails) so I wash my hands carefully before and after handling. In fact, today I washed so much my hands become dry.

Even though all wild-caught animals can spread some bad stuff to humans, snails are especially clean right? The only thing I found that they spread to humans was this parasite, and it seems it is only really present in tropical climates (not California), pretty rare among snails (more common in slugs), and even then it is spread mostly by eating the snails or touching mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth, privates) after handling snails. And even if you get the parasite, the risk of serious illness is relatively low. Has anyone here ever heard of someone getting in trouble from keeping wild snails?

I'll use this thread to try to find out more about my snails.

The snails were hanging around at the top all day, barely moving so I was worried. But they finally descended this evening to do some snacking (all I had were peas, I'm going to try for cucumber tomorrow). Right now they appear very active, moving all over the tank. I looked around the boards more today, and this appears to be normal behavior for this species, especially in new tanks.

Now I put some eggshells in there. Actually just one egg's shell, split roughly in half (as that is the way I cook with them) and placed with the inside part of the shell facing up. The snails tried to get on there today, but it looked pretty sharp (I don't think the snail was hurt though). So I turned it the other way. Do you guys crumble your eggshells smaller than this? Can they hurt themselves? I'll probably try to get a cuttlebone today.

Oh yeah, good news, the eye stalk was not broken at all. I guess he just retracted that one to avoid an obstacle or something, as I just noticed they like to retract their eye stalks independently of each other.

[coyote]

Hi chenwb, welcome to the forum!

In lieu of washing hands, you could also wear latex gloves while handling the snails and cleaning the tank. Any drugstore will have them, frequently on sale. I've never heard of any human getting sick from handling a snail.

My snails have never gone for eggshells they way they do for cuttle (and all mine but one have been wc). Ground eggshell might be more appealing, but I advice having some cuttle on hand anyway.

They will probably go nuts for the cucumber.

Good luck with your snails! Post pics of them when you get a chance.

[chenwb]

Thanks for the good tips. I got some Romaine lettuce instead of cucumber because it is more nutritious. I left a whole leaf in there; when I woke up this morning it was gone . One more hygiene related issue: where do you do the cleanings for the tank? Is the kitchen sink or bathtub OK? Or do you do it outside?

I have made a few other threads in the forum--sorry, I have many questions!

[Bumblebee]

My tank is way to big to be moved (100x40x45 ), but when im going to clean it ill be having a bucket with really hot water and clean it with a sponge
My achatina reticulatas live in a smaller storage box, and that i just clean in the bathroom above the bathtub, since the bathtub more or less is cleaned every day by people showering and so

And dont apologize for asking alot, if you dont ask questions you wont get answers ^^

[coyote]

My snails live in a smallish "critter keeper," so it's easy to set on the kitchen counter by the sink for cleaning and tidying up.

Ask any and all questions! Try to stump us! ;D

Seriously, please feel free to ask as much as you like. The more you know, the better you can take care of your snails.

[lucyjames]

Welcome to the world of snails ;D

Feel free to ask as much as you want...!!!

Regarding wild caught snails, when I was a kid I had loads of them and to be honest, my hygiene wasn't so freakishly meticulous back then - so I probably didn't wash my hands after handling them, used to let them slime all over me etc etc... and I'm still fine (though some may query that ;D ) so I shouldn't worry about illness, just keep your hands clean etc and you'll be fine!

Mine never went for eggshell, but they devour cuttle like no-bodies business.... you can also get limestone flour or limestone chips for them to rasp on!

And my vivarium where the bigger group live is impossible to move about so I bring a bucket of water to it, and put an old sheet inside and clean it out in situ! Harder task than I would like, but hey.... snaily comfort is paramount!!! The smaller propagators that I keep the other 3 groups in go down to the sink in the utility room and I do them down there...

Hope that helps...! You are in the right place for advice here - I have learn so much in my short time here ;D

Right, off to find your other questions now ;D

[muddydragon]

I'ld agree you'll be fine they have to say these various parasite etc things because it can happen ( a bit like the back of medical prescriptions side effects - they can happen but are unlikely). admittedly im in the uk but im alright and i was a right mucky pup as a kid (it's good for your immune system) a bit like pigpen from penuts - walk along in snow and get muddy and noone can figure out why! i kept wild snails and apparently when i was very small my parents discovered me in the middle of the garden with mud around my face half a worm in one hand and a maniacal grin on my face..... who knows where the other half went *YUCK!* - but they have suspicions but i'm still alright!
what you are doing should be more than fine i reckon. Trouble is everyone is a hypercondriac, you should have seen us after the parasite lectures in first year!
here is an example of paranoia: domestic dogs can carry parasites (even with worming etc) from urmmm sheep i think that can be passed to humans through dog saliva... you might think well i wouldnt do that, but who has been licked on the face by their dog? or not washed their hands after being licked by their dog? these parasites should not have a human host and hence muck everything up more than they would in their normal host, they migrate to various places including the brain where they can cause cysts which grow unoticed, expolde and you probably die! these cycsts can lie dormant for years and years and years. however given the number of sheep and numbers of domestic dogs the number of cases of this happening is insanely small (so dont panic)
the point of that was many things carry parasites and chances of infection are really small (for this sortof thing), but it's still wise to be somewhat careful but dont take things too seriously, washing hands before and after is always a good idea!
Anyway pet snails are great! have fun with them! ;D

[lucyjames]

urgh, i'm gonna spend the whole day imagining brains exploding now!!!!!!

[chenwb]

Pet snails are great. It's amazing how much these will eat. My two small snails will eat half a leaf of romaine lettuce a day! One of them discovered the sideways flowerpot and slept in it all week. The other one just discovered it yesterday, but now it's his home too. I guess they like it better than the top of the tank.

What's somewhat interesting about this is that they don't seem to communicate at all. You think that one could've told the other: hey, here's a nice safe place to hide!

The pot is covered with feces and some white moldy stuff, slime I'm guessing. I'll clean out the tank this week. How often do you guys clean out the tanks?

[Dusk]

I do a daily muck out with an old teaspoon, picking up the most obvious piles of poop and any leftover food that's going off, and a quick wipe-down of the glass and sides. That way it stays relatively tidy until it's time for a proper cleanout.

Mine love flowerpots too. Sometimes several huge snails in one tank try and cram into one, even if there's another identical one next to it! I don't know how they decide which is desireable and which isn't.

[coyote]

I feed my snails in the same area in their tank, and I often find little fuzzy bits of mold in areas free of food. I wonder if they poop out some kind of fungal spores that germinate? I remove anything fuzzy as soon as I see it.

[lucyjames]

I have noticed that too, like their poo is basically just veg, and that goes mouldy just like the fresh veg does!

I try to wipe my enclosures down every day to keep the worst away!!!

Then I do a big cleanout once a week, and a MAJOR boil disinfect and rinse everything cleanout about once a month...!