What to feed/not to feed your snails

[pinkunicorn]

If all else fails with finding a calcium source a gypsum statue hobby kit might also work. Snails are known to eat gypsum and plaster of Paris off buildings, and gypsum is an approved human food additive (used as a coagulent for Chinese type tofu for example).

Not sure about giving a piece of old fashioned medical cast (made of gauze and gypsum) thanks to the gauze as it could be other than cotton, though I am sure it would get eaten.

But the home-made blocks are a nice idea!

[feelahthetigress]

Jan 26, 2013 23:55:04 GMT pinkunicorn said:

If all else fails with finding a calcium source a gypsum statue hobby kit might also work. Snails are known to eat gypsum and plaster of Paris off buildings, and gypsum is an approved human food additive (used as a coagulent for Chinese type tofu for example).

Not sure about giving a piece of old fashioned medical cast (made of gauze and gypsum) thanks to the gauze as it could be other than cotton, though I am sure it would get eaten.

But the home-made blocks are a nice idea!

Yeah, I found some recipes where people used plaster of paris kits, but i also ran into debates on how safe it was (don't know if it's true or not), so I decided to avoid it... Anyway, I found that the simple calcium carbonate and water held it's shape very well. Anyone who lives in the US at least should be able to find the calcium carbonate powder online (ebay and amazon). I even found out that it's cheaper than cuttlebone (at least on ebay and amazon). Anyway, just use what works for you, and if anyone wants to turn their powder into a solid, now you can!

[pinkunicorn]

I think gypsum is safe (considering it's a food additive), it's calcium sulphate and it is a source wild snails readily accept with good shell growth results. I'm not sure if plaster of Paris is exactly the same or does it have other additives than water. Calcium carbonate has a higher calcium bioavailability (how much can be extracted in the gut in this case) so it's a first line choice, though.

[feelahthetigress]

Jan 27, 2013 20:26:36 GMT pinkunicorn said:

I think gypsum is safe (considering it's a food additive), it's calcium sulphate and it is a source wild snails readily accept with good shell growth results. I'm not sure if plaster of Paris is exactly the same or does it have other additives than water. Calcium carbonate has a higher calcium bioavailability (how much can be extracted in the gut in this case) so it's a first line choice, though.

Actually, some people use DAP brand plaster of paris for their turtles because it only has three ingredients: calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate, and crystalline silica (and water, of course). Of course, there's some fear that other brands have additives in them (and it's hard to know because I've never found ingredients listed for any of the others), but I can't really be sure. Anyway, that's all I know about that. The DAP brand sounds like it's probably safe though...

[pinkunicorn]

Boiled pumpkin seems to drive my aspersas, cepaeas and pomatias nuts! Cooked for an hour without salt, I took some bits out of the pumpkin soup my partner is making before the bits are pureed. They just love it. Will offer it in the other tanks as well.

[malacophile]

Has anyone given their slimies thawed frozen peas and corn? Mine seem to think there's nothing better in the universe. They like them so much they'll totally ignore their mushrooms, and that's saying something!

[pinkunicorn]

Not peas but corn, yes! They luurve it. I usually buy a few fresh cobs and feed them with fresh corn kernels for a few days and then freeze the rest before it starts to spoil for later use. I've given the centres for the animals outside; they function as my "slime traps" where I can pick out new adoptees hehe.

[vallery]

Yesterday I purchased some Nutrafin Max Gold Fish Flakes for my snails.

Every species loved it except my cepaea all England/Toronto and Muskoka cepaea. They just made squishy faces and any of the cepaea that got a bit of the fish food on them, had to be bathed so they would stop making the the squishy faces. (did look kinda funny the squishy faces).

The species that loved it were the subulina Octana Brazilian Trumpet snails,
the Pleurodonte isabella Barbados snails
and my local oxychilus alliarus glass/garlic snails.
Haven't tried it with my Heath snails yet.or my slugs.

vallery

[vallery]

Well my cepaea decided they like the new fish flakes I bought after all.

I guess that brand is an acquired taste .

vallery

[vallery]

Is it better to blanch vegetables for your snails or give it to them raw?

vallery

[pinkunicorn]

Depends. I offer both versions of some veg. I notice cooked carrot is more attractive than raw, but sweet potato is preferred raw. Cook small amounts and see which ones they prefer. I trust my snailies when it comes to choosing the foods they need out of the selection I offer.

[malacophile]

I've noticed that mine prefer their sweet potato raw, too. When I tried to give them some cooked, they barely touched it. Even the pillbugs didn't want it, for some reason.

I recently found out that slugs and snails, like most animals it seems, looooove peanut butter. I have some organic unsalted PB that my boyfriend and I didn't care for (precisely because it has no salt) that's been sitting in the fridge for a few months, so I decided to see if they enjoyed it. I though they'd eat it, but the response was overwhelmingly positive. The snails were actually piled on top of one another, and the slugs were sliming over the snail-piles to get to it. I've never seen them so enthusiastic about anything.

[mellie82]

Gardens snails devour the leaves of my hosta plants, would these be safe to offer gals?

[berrie]

Can african land snails eat oranges?

[berrie]

Can the snails eat oranges?

[morningcoffee]

Apr 3, 2013 20:00:42 GMT berrie said:

Can african land snails eat oranges?

They aren't poisonous or overly dangerous, but they are high in acidity which is potentially not ideal for snail's mouths and skin. If you want to try it I would suggest only giving a small amount of orange at a time.

[morningcoffee]

Mar 17, 2013 22:37:24 GMT mellie82 said:

Gardens snails devour the leaves of my hosta plants, would these be safe to offer gals?

If they were properly washed/rinsed and grown free of all pesticides, sprays etc. I don't see why not. Maybe just try a small piece of leaf first to see if they're interested though, before you go demolishing your hostas and then discover they don't want to eat it! ;D

My mother also complains that garden slugs and snails are very fond of her hostas

[malacophile]

Just about everything loves to eat hostas, it seems. Deer, various caterpillars and even iguanas enjoy them, as well as wild gastropods. I don't see why our pet gastropods couldn't eat them. They also seem to be fond of oranges. I feed them regularly, and I've never had any problems. They even eat the peel!

[janedryad]

I've been grinding up uneaten bits of cuttlefish that my GALS leave and giving it to them as a paste mixed with a bit of water, but I feel its too rich for them. Could anyone recommend anything to mix with it to dilute the cuttlefish at all?

[morningcoffee]

Apr 6, 2013 21:26:05 GMT janedryad said:

I've been grinding up uneaten bits of cuttlefish that my GALS leave and giving it to them as a paste mixed with a bit of water, but I feel its too rich for them. Could anyone recommend anything to mix with it to dilute the cuttlefish at all?

In my experience, snails don't like to eat cuttlefish that's damp or wet, so it might be best to instead sprinkle the powder / ground-up cuttle over their food?

[janedryad]

Thanks, I'll give it a try!

[moon]

Does anyone know if Rocket leaves are ok? I'm a bit worried about trying them as they look similar to spinach.

[malacophile]

Rocket (arugula) is fine, but your snails may or may not eat them due to their pungent flavor and smell. Spinach is okay, too, and is often a big hit.

I've also found that snails really, really love dandelion greens. Not too surprising, though, since dandelions are so closely related to lettuce. Both are in the tribe Cichorieae, the chicory plants.

[elegans]

I just gave my Acusta despecta a leaf of rocket and he ate a ginormous hole in it over the space of a night, when he wouldn't touch anything else (the leaf of mustard that's still lying in his tank right now, for example, or some lettuce) for days.

[Dumbledore]

What about grapes? I had a WC slug die the same day I caught him, and he ate some grape before he died, so was that coincidence..? I'm not experimenting further.