Keeping a Land Snail as a Pet

This page is a wip! Sorry if it's so barebones.

Why?
  • Keeping a local species is estremely cheap and easy, and even exotic species don't require much more care (except bigger enclosures, and more attention to keeping humidity high)
  • They're very hardy creatures! They will survive even in sub-optimal conditions, by hibernating.
  • They're very curious, and are usually not afraid of being handled, if it's being done so properly. When offered a hand while they're in an "explorative" mood, they're likely to climb up there on their own and explore around!
  • They eat what amounts to vegetable scraps and little more - some animal protein (usually in the form of dehydrated mealworms) and some calcium (scraped from things like cuttlebone), which makes them very cheap to keep over the long term.
  • You can keep just one at a time, as they don't really have the ability to feel lonely and seek out contact. They're very basic yet charming creatures - as long as you can provide for a relatively spacious and well misted habitat and a good supply of food, they're happy!
  • They're so cute!

Why not?
  • They're not interactive animals. You can handle them, but it's not really recommended to do it often, as there's substances on our skin that might irritate them.
  • You will likely get fungus gnats in your room (harmless flies that look like tiny mosquitoes and eat decaying plant matter - but can be annoying to have as permanent housemates!)
  • You will get sucked in a neverending spiral of invertebrate keeping.

What will you need?
  • A container! For small, common snails (think of garden snails), you need to measure at least one gallon per snail. A simple plastic box like the ones to store clothing in are perfect - you can just drill a few holes in and you're done!
  • A substrate. Surprisingly, snails love to dig!
    You need to make sure that anything you use is pesticide-free. Regular topsoil is best (snails like to eat soil, and topsoil is nutrient!), but coco coir is also a popular option.
    They need enough soil to completely bury themselves into if they so want, so calculate the lenght of their shell + a bit more.
    Avoid "compost" and anything with added fertilizer.
  • No hard materials! Snails love to climb and will climb anywhere. But they can fall! So it's important to never put anything like rocks, glass, or metal inside the enclosure - they could fall on it and break their shell. Wood and soft plastic are safe options, and moss can be useful to cushion any blows.
  • A hiding place. A piece of bark or a soft plastic pot is perfect.
  • Food, clearly! Lettuce and cucumbers, while popular choices, are almost completely devoid of nutritional value (they're mostly water and fiber), so they should be avoided.
    You can feed them things like carrots, sweet potato, cabbage, broccoli, kale, mushrooms, and leafy greens that are actually deep green in colour! As well as things like basil and dandelions. Most veggies you can eat are okay for your snail - in doubt, check online.

    Absolutely never feed anything containing salt, spices, or cooked. Same goes for onions and garlic and all citruses.

    Snails will self regulate with food and calcium, so it's best to always keep a bit of everything available.
    Since they're so sensitive to pesticides, it's good practice to give every vegetable a very good wash and scrub before feeding it.
  • A calcium source! Eggshells are cheap, but they can cause issues unless they're grated into very fine powder. The best option is to get a cuttlebone (it needs to be 100% cuttlebone with no added nutrients). They're still cheap, and will last a long time.
  • A protein source. Most land snails are not actually herbivore - rather, they're detrivore! They eat waste, and that includes bits of dead animals. Dried mealworms are a popular choices. You can rehydrate them by keeping them in hot water for 30 mins or so - this way, your snail will have an easier time eating them.

Resources to learn more: