Does anyone use snails as a feeder?

I'd love to send you the surplus from my yard but since they are an Ag pest the state of PA? would frown on that. There was someone on eBay selling them from Greece for human consumption. Snails in the mail will send them to you thru a restaurant connection.
Just so you know chameleons run hot and cold on them just like any other feeder.:(
 
Snail shells are mostly calcium carbonate - chalk. Relatively easy to digest (like a "Tums").
Chitin (shells of bugs) is much different, if I remember correctly it's a much more complex molecule made from glucose bound to lots of other stuff.
As far as sources go, check the big auction site, they ship from Greece and from what I'm reading it's pretty fast shipping. I wanted to share but try not to spread the word beyond this forum because right now this seller seems like the only one that's out there.
I trust that anyone knowledgeable enough to keep chameleons understands that they could become potentially invasive and would make absolutely certain that no eggs or snails could escape, that you wouldn't put them in an outside chameleon enclosure where even a single individual snail could contact native soil for a second, etc. They can survive down to -5 or -10 so please exercise extreme discretion as you would any other potentially invasive species.
 
Tortdad said:
Snails... that's interesting. How can the Exoskeleton of a mealworm be too much but the shell of a snail be fine?
Click to expand...
Just speculating here but i assume it's because the meat of a snail is so moist and 'slimy' compared to that of a mealworm, that it acts as a natural lubricant for the chams digestive tract when it comes to the shell.

When my Cham poops after eating snails, i NEVER see any shell in the feces, so it's body is breaking it down and using it.
 
I think an analogy would be this: eat an antacid (rolaids, tums, etc.)and then eat an equivalent weight of your fingernails or toenails and see which one your body digests.
Seriously, chitin/keratin and calcium carbonate are vastly different. Drop a pice of chalk in vinegar and then do the same with some hair or fingernails to see the difference of how they break down in acid.
Insect exoskeletons are not the same as snail shells.
 
You have them in Seneca county:

http://www.fllt.org/behold-the-lowly-land-snail/

If you don't like walking in the woods after dark, my best advice would be to look for an area where several different mushroom species are growing and carefully turn over logs and search under the leaf litter. I do a lot of mushroom hunting and in my experience you will find that an area has either lots of different mushrooms growing in about a 50 foot circle or none at all. You can easily tell slug and snail damage to mushrooms, they make holes and leave shiny silver trails on the cap and stem.
You only need 2 to start a colony, they are hermaphrodites- so when they get freaky, both of them get fertilized and will lay eggs.
 
Franquixote said:
You have them in Seneca county:

http://www.fllt.org/behold-the-lowly-land-snail/

If you don't like walking in the woods after dark, my best advice would be to look for an area where several different mushroom species are growing and carefully turn over logs and search under the leaf litter. I do a lot of mushroom hunting and in my experience you will find that an area has either lots of different mushrooms growing in about a 50 foot circle or none at all. You can easily tell slug and snail damage to mushrooms, they make holes and leave shiny silver trails on the cap and stem.
You only need 2 to start a colony, they are hermaphrodites- so when they get freaky, both of them get fertilized and will lay eggs.
Click to expand...
Nice;)
 
Snails! Who'da thunk it! Regular brown garden snails in the Midwest will do, right? Just in a non-pesticide area, right?
 
That's what I was referring to, I can comment here about how long they take to arrive and size, etc.
Not sure if I am ready to start a colony of them or if they will just be snacks.
 
So I know this post is a little old but I have read so many good things about snails and would love to start "breeding and feeding" just curious before I order, are these ones ok? These will be coming from Greece, which I have read where most people have gotten them from but could never find an exact name on which ones. Thanks a bunch!!

10 LAND SNAILS ALIVE Eobania Vermiculata Muller Helix Little Cute Pets
 
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