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Post by prowljazz on Aug 7, 2012 17:57:07 GMT
OK Thanks pinkunicorn NO Rice Krispys for You Jazz....
I've Got some fresh Carrots, Going to Try and get the tops to grow...
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Post by vallery on Aug 27, 2012 21:48:11 GMT
Cepaea hortensis/cepaea nemoralis I find that my cepaeas will not eat certain vegetables raw such as carrot or sweet potato unless it is steamed. They go crazy for it if it is steamed. Won't touch it if it isn't. Steamed vegetables hold a lot of the nutrients. They steam very quickly. I just use a bamboo steamer on a pot of water, 10 minutes tops. vallery  |
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 28, 2012 15:44:13 GMT
I've noticed the same with carrot. Sweet potato is eaten raw by all but carrot is preferred cooked by even those that eat it raw as well. I measure preference by which foods get eaten first if I have several favourites offered the same time.
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Post by shaydeesnail on Sept 2, 2012 21:52:13 GMT
Those in the UK may recognise the weed "dock leaves", the ones people use for nettle stings. Well they're everywhere, pretty big and my snails ran (well... slid) over to them as soon as I put a leaf in the tank. Can save a lot of money feeding them these!
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 3, 2012 2:00:05 GMT
Hmm, Pinkunicorn, that's funny. My snails will eat raw carrot, and actually seem to prefer it over lettuce. I've heard that many other people have the opposite problem of their snails wanting nothing but lettuce. Of course, they're aspersas, and probably not as picky as cepeas are.
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Post by PennyFarthing on Sept 3, 2012 13:33:43 GMT
My snails love courgette and fish food the best. They will eat cauliflower leaves, green beans and some broccoli (but not much).
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Post by pinkunicorn on Sept 6, 2012 21:29:20 GMT
Feelah, it's really funny how individual snails and slugs are with their preferences! Some of mine don't touch lettuce unless they've not gotten any other food for days, and others (mainly the achatinas) enjoy many types of lettuce. Yesterday every tank got a selection of lettuce, red grapes, blueberries, cucumber, tomato, cooked carrot, cooked broccoli, raw sweet potato, pear, peach, strawberry and soaked pine nuts, walnuts and fishfood to see what's preferred. I see they've eaten a bit of everything in each tank but overall carrot, peach, tomato, cucumber and pear have been eaten the most! Oh the leopards and the arions also got shiitake, which was popular as always. Tonight they eat the slightly spoiled remains, though I removed anything that looked like it would get moldy over the night. Interesting to see what's left tomorrow.
I don't buy all that for my snails, btw, they get everything I buy for myself lol. I spoil them silly according to my partner.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 7, 2012 16:52:54 GMT
Hmm, it is rather funny. I really need to try out pears and see if they'll eat them as I don't believe I've tried that yet. Due to my horrible finances right now, they've mostly been stuck on a diet of carrots, lettuce, and sweet potatoes. They do like these foods, but I'd love to try out new stuff. I've noticed that my Aspersa's are not very picky, and will eat mostly anything. Basically, if it's a garden vegetable that a gardener wouldn't want them to eat, I know they'll probably like it. I've noticed that they like mushrooms too, along with tomatoes. Sadly, I went to great lengths to make them some snail jello as a treat, only to find that they don't care for it much. Sigh.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Sept 7, 2012 21:59:39 GMT
Yeah been there with snail porridge and gotten it refused! One great food is sweetcorn I've noticed. I buy a few ears of fresh corn and cut the kernels off, and I freeze them for later use. The day after corn dinner there's tanks littered with kernels carved empty of the juicy flesh, no matter if it's frozen or fresh. Oh and yellow poo is funny.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 8, 2012 18:34:21 GMT
Ha ha, I think I'll try the sweet corn! I must ask, though, what exactly is snail porridge?
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Post by prowljazz on Sept 13, 2012 15:15:54 GMT
What about Purple Basil???
Thanks Guys
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Post by gunshotglitter on Sept 13, 2012 16:20:45 GMT
Okay they love seeds, why not nuts? I have a lot of these growing around my house and I was thinking if we could give walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds to our snails?
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Post by pinkunicorn on Sept 13, 2012 17:46:11 GMT
Ha ha, I think I'll try the sweet corn! I must ask, though, what exactly is snail porridge? Snail porridge that I made had cooked oatmeal, fishfood, berries and carrot pureed.. and something else. Calcium I think. Some liked it a lot, but the initial interest did not result in everything eaten. Maybe it was weird on the first tasting and they might like it if they get it more often. Has anyone fed fennel to snails? I got some leftover bits from cooking, and I wonder if there's any reason I should not give my slugs and snails fennel? |
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 14, 2012 17:06:35 GMT
Pinkunicorn, I've actually fed my snails fresh fennel, and they seemed to like it a lot. Of course, that was with my TN species, I haven't tried it with my Helix Aspersa. It didn't seem to harm them in any way besides.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 28, 2012 17:04:25 GMT
Sigh, I tried some sugar snap peas thinking that they would really like it (based on what other users have reported) and my snails basically nibbled on it a bit then glared at me and refused to eat it (if snails can truly glare, perhaps I'm anthropomorphizing). They just don't seem to like it at all, I even left it there for four days and they refused to eat much of it. Then I put in some of their old favorite sweet potatoes and they gobbled those up. Pesky picky beasts. Humph. I guess I should move on to trying the sweet corn or pears.
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Post by vallery on Oct 7, 2012 1:42:30 GMT
Any suggestions for food baby cepaeas will really, really go for ?
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Post by shaydeesnail on Oct 7, 2012 2:36:59 GMT
If you have a potato peeler, try using it to make a really thin slice of carrot then press it against the side or roof of the tub, my baby H.pomatia and A.arbustorum love that and so do all my adult snails |
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Post by vallery on Oct 7, 2012 2:58:04 GMT
Hi shaydee , That is a very cool idea  . I just finished cleaning out my banded cepaea tank and removing some babies that hatched from a batch of eggs I missed last I swept the tank. So I had also swept the baby tank so I got your suggestion just after that, just as all the babies are on their way back up. So I have just now put the carrot peeling on the sides and top so we will see what happens. I didn't use the very outer peel I went for the juicier inside of the carrot. I am pretty excited I think this may work. Thank You. I will let you know what happens. vallery |
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Post by vallery on Oct 7, 2012 3:37:46 GMT
Hey shaydee check it out it's starting to work the babies are starting to slowly gather at the carrot. What a great Idea. I am always stressing about the babies. This makes me feel so much better. Thank You. vallery Attachments:
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Post by shaydeesnail on Oct 7, 2012 15:55:08 GMT
Glad it's working! It works with cucumber, nectarine and apple too, but carrot is by far the easiest to clean up after as it doesn't go mushy. I'm considering getting a thin piece of plastic, like acetate or something, and putting the slices on that then attaching the plastic to the inside of the tank to make it like a plate, and hopefully that will be easier to clean up after |
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Post by vallery on Oct 7, 2012 17:30:15 GMT
Hi shaydee , Well I have a lot of happy munching little babies. Thank you. Let me know how your Idea works with the plastic. I gave the Adults a strip of carrot in their tanks as well as you said and they really enjoyed it. Quite a few came sliding over to munch. There were no Adults near the slice and It was great watching them all slowly sliding over for a snack, snails must have good sniffers (never thought about snails smelling before  ). Generally they won't eat carrot unless it is steamed but they loved it in the thin strips like that. In the one Adult tank so many got on a strip it eventually fell and there was a big pile of happy snails on it. Thank You vallery |
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Post by gunshotglitter on Oct 8, 2012 13:48:10 GMT
I ended up doing the same for my Cepaea babies, it works like a charm, thanx shaydee for this great idea Only, I put courgette, all my Cepaea are completely nuts about it, it always literally disappears no matter how big the piece is. ^^ |
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Post by pinkunicorn on Oct 16, 2012 0:41:15 GMT
What's the opinion on baby food?
I know some folks feed fruit baby food to snails, and I've tried one variety myself with varied results. But what about unsalted, unspiced savoury baby food, ie those with meat and potato and stuff? Pasta and rice are off the list but potato behaves a little differently as it has a bit different carb/starch content. I'm unsure of it nonetheless. So I'm looking at meat+vegetable kind of foods, assuming they exist (probably in health food or organic supermarkets). Could make some myself but I'd like to just buy a can to try how well it's liked before I make a batch.
Assuming it's salt-free and no spices, any good reason why it'd be bad for snails?
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Post by shaydeesnail on Oct 16, 2012 8:02:43 GMT
I doubt it would be a problem, I've seen snails eating chips and cheese of the sidewalk before! You could always try a small amount first then wait a day, if the snails are as normal as ever then they should be able to eat more |
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Post by vallery on Oct 23, 2012 13:16:22 GMT
What about alfalfa sprouts or bean sprouts that you can purchase at the health food store. Has anyone tried these? Does anyone know if they are safe for snails. I have cepaeas, oxy's, heath and trumpetsnails and P.Isabellas.
Thank You
vallery
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. 
). Generally they won't eat carrot unless it is steamed but they loved it in the thin strips like that. In the one Adult tank so many got on a strip it eventually fell and there was a big pile of happy snails on it.