Year: 2019

I’m in need of advice. I need a snail whisperer. If you are a person who knows about snails please leave a comment on the blog. The following is all the info I can think to provide.

The basics. Here’s the thing, I’ve got 4 adult Helix Aspersa, larger than a US quarter and three small babies in a planted terrarium with a mesh screen top. At first it was rather dry but now it seems wet. With it being wet they’re out more. They eat and crawl around then go to the top to sleep or sleep on the glass then do it again the next day. With a wetter environment I’ve seen a lot more activity.

Husbandry. Their terrarium is taller than wide at 12 inches by 18 inches. I lightly spritz the bio-active environment twice a day with spring water. There are crushed eggshells in the black soil. They have Sycamore bark and wood as well as a small thriving fern. I allow one of the carrots to sprout in the terrarium because it provides ready greens for them. Also provided is a small pool of spring water that is changed every 2 days. The pool has pond stones in it so that no one drowns. I wipe down the terrarium glass every other day and pick up any droppings that I see.

Food. I feed at night then take the left over food out in the morning. They seem to be most active at night. I feed the snails stuff like raw carrots, apples, soft banana, zucchini, eggplant and green, leafy vegetables. I’ve got a list from the net of healthy foods to give to them. They love carrots and eggplant the most but I’m not sure if it’s okay to feed them eggplant so I’ve stopped. I know not to feed them striped eggplant.

A month ago I began to dust their food with a calcium supplement which means that all three of their non-veggie foods provide calcium. The three foods are: Reptomin, Fluker’s High Calcium Cricket Diet and Fluker’s Repta Calcium with Vitamin D3, Phosphorus Free. The reason they’re eating the cricket and frog food is because I have crickets and frogs. If I need to get them a different snail food I will, but right now I just crumble and moisten what I have.

Now for mating. Early spring there was a lot of mating going on but that has stopped. I still check for eggs often. I lost three snails after they laid eggs. I’d like to know if there’s something I can do to better assist them in their recovery?

I got rid of most of the eggs but a few baby snails I allowed to remain. Those snails are getting big and their shells seem healthy. They’re living in with the adults.

If there’s anything else I should be doing, any snail tips that a snail whisperer knows, I’d certainly love to hear from you. Provided in this entry are photos of my set up and of the snails.

Faith