# Snails?



## PuffDragon (Nov 9, 2007)

Hey,
So I think I read somewhere that Tegu's eat snails? I have a B&W and have a huge pond located just around the corner from my house. I would say it's a clean pond and it's loaded with snails all along the shore line. I am not sure what kind they are but would it be ok to feed them to my Tegu? I could probably find out what kind they are if I need to.


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## greentriple (Nov 9, 2007)

Puff, I'm no expert, but my understanding is that most if not all snails in the wild are quite toxic, at least to humans. I'd not want to risk it with my tegu. What you can do is get yourself a bunch of snails and "clean" them out buy feeding them a strict diet. You should be able to find some suggestions on line under escargot.

Try this for starters.

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Gathering snails
Besides farming snails, it is possible to gather them free from artichoke, kiwifruit, avocado, and citrus growers in some areas. The growers might pick the snails for you for a fee. In citrus groves where copper bands have been placed around the tree trunks, the snails will crawl up the tree to feed on the leaves. They will stop when they come to the copper band and will remain there for days. The snails gathered just below the band are easy to pick off.

Snails gathered in the wild to stock a snail farm may have a high mortality rate as they adjust to the new conditions. These snails may have consumed poison baits, agricultural chemicals, or poisonous plants (e.g., nightshade); therefore, you should not immediately use them. Put them in a pen and feed them for at least 3 days to purge their system of any toxins and to give them a chance to die if they have consumed a lethal dose. If they are still healthy after 3 or 4 days, they should be O.K.. Withhold all food, except water, for the last 1 to 2 days.

Feeding
Feeding season is April through October, (or may vary with the local climate), with a "rest period" during the summer. Do not place food in one small clump so that there is not enough room for all the snails to get to it. Snails eat solid food by rasping it away with their tongues. Feeding activity depends on the weather, and snails may not necessarily feed every day. Evening irrigation in dry weather may encourage feeding since the moisture makes it easier for the snails to move about.

Put the breeding snails in the breeding pens in April or early May. Feed until mid June when mating begins and the snails stop feeding. Snails resume eating after they lay eggs. Once snails have laid their eggs, you can remove the adult snails. This leaves more food and less crowding for the hatchlings.

Snails of the same species collected from different regions may have different food preferences. Some foods that snails eat are: Alyssum, fruit and leaves of apple, apricot, artichoke (a favorite), aster, barley, beans, bindweed, California boxwood, almost any cabbage variety, camomile, carnation, carrot, cauliflower, celeriac (root celery), celery, ripe cherries, chive, citrus, clover, cress, cucumbers (a favorite snail food), dandelion, elder, henbane, hibiscus, hollyhock, kale, larkspur, leek, lettuce (liked, and makes good snails), lily, magnolia, mountain ash, mulberry, mums, nasturtium, nettle, nightshade berries, oats, onion greens, pansy, parsley, peach, ripe pears, peas, petunia, phlox, plum, potatoes (raw or cooked), pumpkins, radish, rape, rose, sorrel, spinach, sweet pea, thistle, thornapple, tomatoes (well liked), turnip,wheat, yarrow, zinnia. They will eat sweet lupines, but will reject bitter lupines and other plants with high quinolizidine alkaloids. Snails also avoid plants that produce other defensive chemicals, defensive stem hairs, etc.

Snails usually prefer juicy leaves and vegetables over dry ones. If you feed snails vegetable trimmings, damaged fruit, and cooked potatoes, promptly remove uneaten food as it will quickly spoil. You may supply bran that is wet or sprinkle dry bran over leafy vegetables. The diet may consist of 20% wheat bran while 80% is fruit and vegetable material. Some growers use oats, corn meal, soybean meal, or chicken mash. Laying mash provides calcium, as does crushed oyster shells. Snails also may eat materials such as cardboard (but do not purposely feed it to them); they can eat through shipping cartons and escape. Snails may sometimes eat, within a 24-hour period, food equal to 10%, and occasionally as much as 20%, of their body weight. Active snails deprived of food will lose more than one-third of their weight before they starve to death--a process that takes 8 to 12 weeks. Estivating snails can survive much longer.

Supply calcium at least once a week if it is not available in the soil. It should not contain harmful salts or be so alkaline as to burn the snails. Mix calcium with wet bran or mashed potatoes and serve on a pan; this will keep any leftover food from rotting on the ground.

Some researchers use chicken mash for feed. You can cut a plastic pipe in half lengthwise to make two troughs which can be used as feeders for mash. Mix laying mash (used for egg-producing hens) into the feed to provide calcium for the snails' shells. Commercial chicken feeding mash is around 16% to 17% protein, from fish meal and meat meal, making it good for growing snails. Supplying mash to hatchlings might reduce cannibalism. Two feeds that snails like and that promote good growth are: (A) broiler finisher mash consisting of 7% broiler concentrate, 58% corn, 16% soya, 18% sorghum, 7 % limestone flour (40% Ca); and (B) chicken feed (pellets) for layers consisting of 5% layer concentrate, 10%, corn, 15% soya, 20% sorghum, 44% barley, 6% limestone flour (40%Ca).

Pellets are fine for larger snails, but mash is better for younger ones. Partially crush pellets if you feed them to young snails. Snails do not grow well if rabbit pellets are their primary diet. Snails show a distinct preference for moist feed. Ensure easy access to enough water if you feed snails dry mash.

Be sure to frequently clean the feed and water dishes. The amount of feed a snail eats depends very much on air humidity and on the availability of drinking water. You can serve clean drinking water in a shallow container to reduce the risk of the snail drowning. Some types of chicken waterers may be suitable. Other factors (e.g., temperature, light intensity, food preferences versus food supplied, etc.) also affect feeding. A compromise, until you find the optimum feed, is to feed half green vegetable material and half chicken feed/grain/animal protein.

Young H. aspersa readily eats milk powder. Its rapid rate of assimilation promotes rapid growth.


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## olympus (Nov 10, 2007)

Thanks for the info and advice, i had some questions about snails and u kinda answered all of them.


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## VARNYARD (Nov 10, 2007)

Also snails can carry a host of parasites, I figured I would add to all of this great information.


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## COWHER (Nov 10, 2007)

So snails are ok as long as you are 100% sure the are clean and the way to do this is to basically breed them? just so i am clear on this. :roll:


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## greentriple (Nov 10, 2007)

Cowher,

that's how I understand it. Like roaches, crickets, mice, well just about anything we might want to feed our tegus. That's the problem with pollution, pestisides and what not.

However, after doing the research I might start a snail bin. So I'll have hisser's, orange spotted and snails in my garage. Talk about pest control!!!


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## PuffDragon (Nov 10, 2007)

Wow, thanks for all the info! I think I am just going to avoid them for the potential hazards involved. There are plenty of others things our garbage disposals will eat!


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