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Pet snails make great pets. No, seriously.
It’s easy to care for a snail!
Below you’ll find all the information you need to know, including general snail care, how to care for a snail, what to feed them and how to make a healthy snail home. Let’s get started.
Why keep pet snails?
- They’re quiet
- They don’t take much work
- A simple set up is quite inexpensive
- Children can handle snails (see important information below)
- They may be slow but they can be interesting to watch
- They are a unique pet
- Their food can be left-overs from your fridge
Where can you find snails?
You can find snails in the garden most of the time. In our previous house, we didn’t find a snail once (and we actively look for creepy crawlies) but as soon as we added a vegetable garden it was almost like it was an open invitation for snails to visit us. We usually find ours tucked up under a lettuce leaf.
Pet snail care
Pet snail home
The enclosure can be as simple or as extravagant as you’d like. It is can be a plastic takeaway container if you’re only intending to keep and observe them for a couple of days. But if you’re going to keep them for longer, a larger enclosure would be better for the snails.
It’s important the enclosure provides a good amount of ventilation. Snails don’t mind a bit of humidity but they do need fresh air. This is the enclosure I use for most of my children’s pet critters.
Soil/Substrate
We used regular soil from the garden and, because we had it on hand from making a wildlife themed terrarium a while ago, I also added some sphagnum moss. Both are great substrates for snails and should be added 7 -10cm deep in the enclosure. Keep the substrate clean and moist at all times. A spray bottle is perfect to moisten substrates and furnishings in the enclosure without making it too wet.
Snail Home and other furnishings
Snails like to hide in dark places, although some like to sit near the lid and others even under the dirt. Providing plenty of places that allow the snail to be where it makes them happy is good for your snails. We added a terracotta pot and a stick for climbing but you can add real plants, rocks and twigs too.
What do you feed a snail?
Snails eat fruit and veggies (avoid citrus foods) but these foods soil quickly. I’d suggest adding a food bowl. It makes the cleanup and addition of fresh food much easier than if you added it straight to the bottom of the tank. Remember to wash the food before you give it to them. Many fruits and veggies come home with pesticides on their skins and if you feed it to them, it will kill your snails.
Also, snails need calcium to keep their shells healthy, so adding a bit of cuttlefish or dried crushed egg shells to the side of the dish is important too. For a good list of food that snails love and for more information on why snails need calcium in their diet, visit this great website all about pet snails.
Is handling snails safe?
Is it okay to hold snails? It is fine to hold a snail but ensure you use proper health practices and wash you and your child’s hands straight after holding a snail. Also, I’d suggest that children be fully supervised as people can get sick if they eat snails.
Maintenance and snail care
There are plenty of positives for keeping snails but I love that they don’t take a lot of work. The side of the snail enclosure should be wiped down once a week and the substrate changed once a month. Also, ensure you take out any rotten food and replace with fresh food every couple of days. Easy!
I find watching snails quite relaxing. They just slither around at their own pace and enjoy their surroundings. The girls really seem to enjoy watching them too.
We had these snails in a takeaway container for two weeks while moving house and I could tell they were happy when put into their new enclosure. They became active right away.
We won’t keep them forever. We’ll have to decide if we are going to let them go in our veggie garden, I dare say we will.
Check out our snail ebook and printables!
Caring for a pet is a great learning tool for children, but it can also create more work for busy parents and educators!
Keeping garden snails as pets is one of the most low maintenance and cost-effective pet options available. This eBook includes everything you need to know about caring for, feeding, handling, cleaning and of course, snail safety.
In our modern tech-driven society, keeping pet snails can provide ways to enhance your child’s development, imagination, self-esteem, and sense of responsibility. Inside you’ll find tips and activities to involve your children in the slimy snail fun and reconnect them with nature and the environment during the process.
See what’s inside the Snail ebook Pack!
Plus there’s a heap of great snail printables to enhance your child’s learning opportunities. The pack also includes a:
- Snail observation journal
- All about my snail sheet
- What can a snail teach me poster
- Parts of a snail poster
- Snail vocabulary cards
- Snail nature craft
Have you ever kept snails?
Tell me about yours below!
Follow on activities
- Learn about snails, their breeding, predators and where they fit into the food chain
- Find out more about animals that carry homes on their backs
- Make a shell using recycled materials and put it on your back, now you can pretend to be a snail!
- Race your snails. Mark their shell with a little bit of nail polish (if you can’t tell them apart) and race them!
- Conduct snail investigations
- Make this fun snail craft
If you like snails you might like keeping mealworms as pets too!
