Keeping Pet Snails @ Home

Sick of your boring old pet?

Want a new exciting pet?

What about a snail?

Step 1: Housing & Substrate

A good sized tank is a 20 liters (5 gallons). I would suggest having one garden snail per 4 liters (1 gallon).

For the substrate i have used bird grit as it will give the snails calcium. This can be found at your local bulk food store or pet shop. If you choose another substrate it would be a good idea to provide another source of calcium such as a cuttle fish bone or crushed eggshells.

other substrates you can use:
Bark
Aquarium gravel
Peat moss
And soil

Make sure you wash it well first.

Comments

[nephicarrera]

I'm gonna try this.

[summerberry228]

Hey i just to know were i should keep the snails:

I have 2 snails in a 18 inches length and 18 inches deep tub with no lid i placed about an 3 inches of compost in the bottom with some garden soil i then placed some leaves in there and a small tray of water in there with some paper in it because they like eating it (apparently.)
(Its not too deep to drowned them).
put some boiled egg shells in too, i don't know if i should keep them in side or out i place a wet towel over the top and some netting to stop the birds eating them. i put 2 of the same species in together hoping they will have baby's i keep straying them with some water from the pond witch has aligi in it.
Please reply ASAP! Thankyou some much

Emily 13. xxxxx

[preciousxoxo420]

i made a house for my snails and i lined the bottom of the tank with what is called gravel and grit (for birds) i have noticed that they stay at the top of the tank most of the time. is this the wrong stuff? I read below they dont like sand cause it sticks to them so I was wondering if this is the same thing. if so what is the right was to line the bottom of the cage? Thank You

[aviva1]

i think it is because mulch holds water and gravel doesn't. YOU should try putting mulch and then gravel on top. That should help. My snails stay at the the top sometimes, so I make the aquarium look diferent by rearangeing the tank. the "house" should be like cover up so they can crawl upside and be under shade. hope it helped

[aviva1]

i don't Know what kind of snail i have.There are tan/brown and have very dark brown spots. I have 5 from my backyard. THey are living in a ten gallon aquarium. It has a little plastic log, 4 wood logs that are edible, a bedding made out of straw and grass/dead grass, dirt, grass, and mulch. Is it a good aquamiam for them to live in? I fed them every other day (lettuce) and pour some water in the tank. Sometimes i will put a wet paper towel in there. My biggest one has a black spot on its back. It looks like a chip, is it dead? Please answer my questions ASAP. Thank You to whoever answers.

[Natsitrall]

What can i feed them during winter, there's no green stuff here during the cold.

[mann546]

veggies.

[khope]

lettuce

[mann546]

I found 2 snails in my backyard. They are currently in a giant unknown-gallon sized tupperware container. I added a moist sponge. I made a little house for them by cutting off the bottom of a solo cup. I used the top part of the solo cup as a tube and put a moist piece of paper towel in it. I also have lots of sticks and a few rocks in there. I suggest that you go to http://www.mypetsnail.com/ for more info.     Any suggestions for my tank/ habitat???

[sophie templeton]

do snails need like other snails in its tank? (please reply)

[khope]

no they don't, it usually ends up with many baby snails afterward so if you don't want that then you should only have 1

[haclil]

Actually I have a question for the author or anybody who knows: We've set up a snail terrarium following all the above directions. The only thing I must change is to get some aquarium gravel. Having nothing better at the time , I put sand in the bottom. The problem: The snail stays inside his shell and up near the top of the glass most of the time (well, for the 3 days we've had him). He has eaten a little lettuce which I hung from the screen up top, but has resumed staying up there by the screen, not moving. What could be wrong? We're having an early spring and found the snail chuggin' along on the sidewalk. Would it be a good idea to put the terrarium on a windowsill, and if so a window with what exposure. Help!

[tibereassnail]

whell your problem my fellow snail lover is that garden snails or white lipped banded snails dont like sand as it sticks to their shells

[XxCurlyMichxX]

OK, sand is not a good substrate, because it's bad for the snail somehow... So put in bird grit, or for the cheaper option, garden dirt! Good Luck!! Oh Yeah, Check Out My Snail Instructable Too!!

[tibereassnail]

i have 3 pet snails one garden that looks fully grown(or almost anyway)and 2 small white lipped banded snails they look no older than a month-2 months old(the white lipped banded snails) their names are tibereas-garden snail mellten- white lipped banded snail and the smallest doughnut- white lipped banded snail they love their home tibereas comes out at night mostly

[snailluver]

i have a couple Q to ask! i found a snail outside in the grass and i almost steped on it! i am tryiing to keep it! i feed it lettace and tomotos. i have a couple sticks and twigs in it also one popsicle stick. i have it in a 1 gallon that good? comment ~

[play4fun]

My son brought home a garden snail at the end of the school year and we put it in a med size plastic fish tank with the vented top.I shoveled a large chunk of grass with the rooted soil and placed in the tank and on the opposite end we placed a sponge soaked in water.We feed him celery and he loves it.Half the celery stalk was eaten in 2 days.We soak the sponge daily and water the grass.This is our first time and so far we have a very happy snail :) They dont like the extreme hot or cold,so make sure they are not near air conditioners and dont forget to remove him from the home if you spray any household pestacides and air freshners. I almost overlooked that little fact.hope this helps others just starting with pet snails.

[sophie templeton]

i have got a snail and it is having a good time

[ahallock-1]

If garden snails are not your thing, also consider a water garden with aquatic snails. No fish needed. Just an air pump and some pretty aquatic plants. The snails will slowly get big. They will find a point where they quit breeding. If they are actively breeding in your aquarium, your water quality is poor. They are an excellent monitor of water quality, even though most people try very hard to rid their tanks of snails. In water, snail eggs look like small globs of clear jello stuck to the glass or the bottom sides of leaves. As they grow, there will be small dots in the "jello", until they hatch. If you start with "apple" or "mystery" snails, and let them breed, you will get a few long thin rams horn snails. You can actually choose to breed for certain styles of shell. It doesn't take too many generations to weed out the kind you want. I prefer the rams horn shell, but in the USA, no pet store sells that style. The fun part of snails is that you can easily tweak your own "breed". :)

[Arc Trooper 5555]

You can paint a snail's shell with non-toxic paint.

[Arc Trooper 5555]

Where can I get good snails?

[bennelson]

eww! They are actually cute!

[1littlelady]

Do the snails live in water? or just dirt tanks? I had aquatic snails before which breed like crazy but, I've never heard of keeping garden snails before. Are they legal in canada? Does anyone know?

[Miner_John]

Do the snails live in water?no. or just dirt tanks?yes. Are they legal in canada?yes. Does anyone know?yes.

[videogamemaster]

I keep aquatic Ramshorn Snails in my aquarium! They love my plants and decorations to eat the algae. I may try this pot thing. No, not THAT pot thing, the one mentioned in your Instructable.

[uroman1]

would this work for slugs to? It seems that i cant find snails in new york.

[hightekrednek2396]

where do you get garden snails

[Mypetsnail]

One more website link:
MyPetSnail.com
It's also a great site

[cmegge]

We have a single (1) pet snail and we just found a new baby snail in the aqaurium. So, our snail self-fertilized. Now, what do I do with any off-spring if I don't want a whole bunch of snails? We live in a cold climate - so I wouldn't want to put them in the wild during winter months.

[KrisKilledYou]

well, you could have them mug a tortoise

[Sebastopol Plantman]

A great use for excess snails would be to saute them with butter and garlic...but then, there are a lot of other vehicles for butter and garlic. ;)

[NobodyInParticular]

Hermaphrodites generally don't self-fertilize, though some can store sperm or dormant embryos for long periods.

If you prevent the larger snail from getting enough calcium, it may eat the young ones- maybe not the sort of answer you were looking for, but a perfectly natural solution.

[raquel1098]

i love snails!!!!!!!! tip: if the snails are not eating and getting thin(they can) feed them wet corn meal. i like to mix it with flour and make little dumplings with mushy plant filing.

[crossless]

 Why you have stones in your tank, I know this species isn't heavy, but I would not still put rocks in tank it's not nice when they may get mantlecollapse. Hope your snails live long and happy life I have snails too. :)

[londongrlxx]

this was a great help as I know nothing about snails and my little girl who loves them, would like to keep some as pets, thank you for all the info,

[victorsli]

say an up if i helped u

[victorsli]

snial web site links

the best:
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bug,%20Snails,%20Land.htm

others:
http://www.petsnail.co.uk/petsnail/how-to-keep-snails-as-pets.html
http://www.geocities.com/sseagraves/snailsaspets.htm

ops. the geocities one you just need to put source of calcium...

[victorsli]

hey man its awesome, just some things : it dont need to be very wash, just need to put worms and woodlice wat eat they poo 1 woodlice per snail, if its a baby or a kid dont need, and 1 or 2 worms and you gotta spray water everyday other ways they will dry out! if you want your snail to be very healthy give them: sinking pellets algae wafers iguana pellets juveline bearded dragon food zucchini brocoli stems carrot ps; never let the pellets be wet otherways it will turn to sour, smelling very bad and change one day, and dont change ther other, change one day and dont change the other day the pellets a good source of chalk in chalk rocks, natural chalk, cuttle fish bone and crushed snail shells some tall massive sticks with you have a big aquarium will be a perfect idea dont worry about my english because i've been in australia for 6 months, so..... have fun you guys!

[djbarista]

mmmm snails, err escargot

[djbarista]

<--natural snail predator......mmmm