Last year, I had posted about finding a single snail in a purchased orchid and giving it a home. Because that’s me, dear reader. Critter caretaker of all the homely and the homeless. Even sometimes, the occasional pest.
Since then, my snailarium (or Snail Town as we sometimes refer to it) has evolved into a proper set-up complete with moss, humidity and temperature gauge, proper medium matter and all the trimmings including better food options. I’m still learning as I go.
One of the issues I had to get around was the fact that snails enjoy devouring decomposing matter, in addition to the tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots and green veggies. This means most of the photos I take are of food matter on the edge of being a mold poof. I let some of the food (not all of it) develop the occasional fuzz, but only if I see the snails really going for it. The rest I pluck out in a few days with tweezers.
For these quick gloss snails, I’ve noticed they love the grape-sized tomatoes, slices of baby carrots, small broccoli stems, raspberries, cremini mushrooms, finely chopped spinach, and reptile calcium crushed up with egg shells.
When it comes to watering, I usually squirt in a few milliliters of water into the moss and soil. I try to check for any crawlers before watering to avoid dowsing any directly but it’s an imperfect effort where I can’t see in the medium. It also works well to water around the edges where I can see the water make it’s way to the bottom of the medium where there are no piles of snails too.
When I upgraded the tiny bug catcher container, I was not quite educated on what was best for snails. Not knowing any better, I placed Scooter the snail in a bug box with all the trimmings (moss, leaf matter, sticks, dirt and a miniscule water dish). The problem with that set up was the soil: It was potting soil complete with the little fertilizer balls in it. That is horrible for snail health.
Thus, I found myself immediately overnighting a proper terrarium with organic coconut noir medium. Researching other information about all types of snails, tiny reptiles, and anything living in humidity also led me to the concept of monitoring temperature and moisture levels. So thanks to Amazon, I also included the little temperature reader I now have.
Since the time I first began with one snail named Scooter, I’ve lost that first one but gained many since. And this brings me to the close with a word of wisdom: Evidently, quick gloss snails are hermaphrodites. So they do not need a member of the opposite sex to reproduce. Consider yourself now warned! You will not keep with just one. In all seriousness, though, these little critters are a joy for this lady who lives out in the middle of nowhere.
Cleaning the terrarium, arranging the moss, rocks and food is a bit of zen. My husband and I will break out a magnifying glass and make a rough count of them from time to time to keep on top of how many we have. But they really are nifty critters when you slow down and observe them. It’s a little like looking for shark teeth at the beach – you have to relax, be observant and it’s amazing what you’ll get to see them do.
If you are getting started out with snails or similar critters, here is a list of resources and purchases I’ve found helpful so far:
Thermometer / Hygrometer Device: REPTI ZOO Reptile Terrarium Thermometer Hygrometer Digital LCD Display Pet Rearing Box Reptiles Tank Thermometer Hygrometer with Suction Cup
Insect Culture (keeps medium clean): Live Springtails, Mixed Seeding Culture, by Critters Direct
Food I’ve Used:
- Calcium with D3 Powder (helps with shell growth) Zoo Med Reptile Calcium with Vitamin D3, 8-Ounce. Instead of tossing away egg shells from the kitchen, I grind them up after they dry and mix with Calcium powder in a small ziploc for sprinkling around rocks / edges. Snails like this and it strengthens their shells.
- Leaves to help create shelter and leaf litter (mimics natural habitat) SunGrow 50 Pack Catappa Indian Almond Leaves for Snails and Crayfish, Mini Raw Dried Leaf for Fish Tank Aquarium, Maintains pH Levels.
- Snacking tomatoes (you can use any kind, I just try to save money and buy small).
- Mushrooms (snails LOVE mushrooms – so far I’ve used shitake and crimini).
- Broccoli – Who would have thought, right? Small florets with with stems.
- Carrots – Baby carrots are most cost effective cut into little slices.
- Spinach (salad greens) – Chopped into tiny slivers/pieces.
- Raspberries – I experimented with these a short time just because I had them. Avoid too much mess by pulling the berries apart into tiny sections (5-6 bumps of the berry are plenty for 2-3 snails to enjoy).
Other Tools I Found Helpful:
- A strong pocket flashlight.
- A good quality magnifying glass.
- Long tweezers.
- A prodding tool (I like something similar to this potting stick for succulents).
- Water delivery (I’ve used an oral pet syringe all the way up to a squeeze bottle that I also use for other home uses). Valchoose Larger 1000ml Tattoo Squeeze Bottle, 32oz Wash Bottle Exactly Reach Plants, No-leaks Tattoo Bottles White (1Pack). Whatever your tool, slow and measured delivery – just enough to moisten the soil and maintain humidity.
- A microfiber cloth I’ll never used on electronics – helps with those stubborn water or fingerprint stains on the terrarium. Also, lightly damp q-tips are great for just above the soil line (I don’t risk cleaning products inside the terrarium just in case they left any film or chemicals).
