Garden snails and Chams

[rande77]

Hi all
Has anyone ever fed brown garden snails to there chams? I have read that they are good for them as the shells contain calcium in a good proportion. If anyone has, do you know where they can be purchased because I've never seen them in my garden(Not that I would feed them{Chams} something WC.
Any help as always is appreciated.
Bob

 

[Lizardlover]

Hi all
Has anyone ever fed brown garden snails to there chams? I have read that they are good for them as the shells contain calcium in a good proportion. If anyone has, do you know where they can be purchased because I've never seen them in my garden(Not that I would feed them{Chams} something WC.
Any help as always is appreciated.
Bob

I dont know where to purchase them but they are great for montane chameleons(and other chameleons too), you could try carolina.com

 

[supermrchameleon]

I dont know where to purchase them but they are great for montane chameleons(and other chameleons too), you could try carolina.com

This thread caught my eye and I thought it might be a good idea to try feeding them to my Lennon. Do you think aquatic snails would work? I cant seem to find anywhere that would have garden snails at a decent price.

 

[Lizardlover]

I personally would not feed aquatic snails, I catch snails and have a few generations that I bred myself, I will try and find a source of snails for sale and post the link here for those who are unable to find them.

 

[jamncristian]

if found a place that sells live garden snails.

http://www.carolina.com/product/liv...sks/land+snail,+pack+of+12.do?sortby=ourPicks

 

[supermrchameleon]

Yeah I saw that add too but its really expensive.

So how do you not worry about pesticides? I mean its a good idea but it would worry me.

 

[Lizardlover]

Yeah I saw that add too but its really expensive.

So how do you not worry about pesticides? I mean its a good idea but it would worry me.

I breed them myself.....

 

[supermrchameleon]

I breed them myself.....

Well I got that but where do you get them in the first place? Sorry I just assumed you caught a few and started breeding them.

 

[Todnedo]

These might be an option.
http://www.growquest.com/snail_destroyer.htm

 

[supermrchameleon]

Well thanks! I think Ill try that out and the prices seem reasonable. But Im wondering how Id keep them alive? I guess Id have to find some plants and other snails theyd eat.

Edit: Well I just saw that they will eat veggie matter so I guess that would be a good gutload.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Snails are easy to keep alive and breed.
My panther chameleons like them.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/133-snails.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/snails-feeder-26373/
http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/care...nd-snails.html
http://www.nilesbio.com/subcat340.html
http://www.petsnails.co.uk/

 

[rande77]

Thanks all who have helped so far with this thread. I have ordered some decollate snails for my crew hopefully it will be another food source i can incorporate into there food cycle any other contributions would be appreciated.
I have learned that this is the only snail species that can be shipped from one state to another due to USDA guidelines.
Bob

 

[james L]

How do you guys rid the WC snails of parasites or other bad stuff? Ive been wanting to try snails as feeders but ive always heard snails are full of parasites and worms. I live in Florida and have a non-native snail (zachyrsia provisoria) that lives in every moist spot in my yard. It seems like a perfect choice, it has a fairly soft shell for a snail. Anybody else use this species? Thanks!

 

[Panda]

How do you guys rid the WC snails of parasites or other bad stuff? Ive been wanting to try snails as feeders but ive always heard snails are full of parasites and worms. I live in Florida and have a non-native snail (zachyrsia provisoria) that lives in every moist spot in my yard. It seems like a perfect choice, it has a fairly soft shell for a snail. Anybody else use this species? Thanks!

I have heard that you breed them and feed the babies (not the original WC ones.) But I have never kept them nor do i have a cham yet, so you may want to wait for someone to confirm this.

 

[xanthoman]

snails?

most wc snails are high in both pesticides and parasite loading. personally i would not feed aquatic snails or any snails that i have not raised through several generations myself. i would imagine that aquatic snails are prone to aquatic pararasites and that could be a problem for chams. i am guessing there are hundreds if not thousands of kinds of snails, and most would probably work, but the two types i would avoid are aquatic snails and predatory snails. most snails available online (including from the souces previously posted) are either predatory or aquatic snails. what you want is common brown garden snails. if you have a problem finding or identifying them, the master gardener or agricultural extension of your local university should be able to help. i am guessing that your local garden club or pea patch would be more than happy to round some up for you. it is illegal to ship snails interstate without an agricultural permit so you may have a problem getting another member to send you some. cf member kenya breeds her own snails (or at least used to) so you may be able to get more info from her http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2WLTqE5sgU jmo

 

[Lizardlover]

most wc snails are high in both pesticides and parasite loading. personally i would not feed aquatic snails or any snails that i have not raised through several generations myself. i would imagine that aquatic snails are prone to aquatic pararasites and that could be a problem for chams. i am guessing there are hundreds if not thousands of kinds of snails, and most would probably work, but the two types i would avoid are aquatic snails and predatory snails. most snails available online (including from the souces previously posted) are either predatory or aquatic snails. what you want is common brown garden snails. if you have a problem finding or identifying them, the master gardener or agricultural extension of your local university should be able to help. i am guessing that your local garden club or pea patch would be more than happy to round some up for you. it is illegal to ship snails interstate without an agricultural permit so you may have a problem getting another member to send you some. cf member kenya breeds her own snails (or at least used to) so you may be able to get more info from her http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2WLTqE5sgU jmo

I breed garden snails as well, Carolina.com sells land snails that ARE legal to ship across state lines for those who are interested. And also sell Texas snails that can be shipped everywhere but a few states.

 

[james L]

Lizardlover, what type of snails are you breeding? Do you collect them?

 

[Lizardlover]

Lizardlover, what type of snails are you breeding? Do you collect them?

yes, all I do is put some terra-cotta pots on the side of the house so its nice and dark and wet. Abandon them for weeks, then dump out all the dirt. You should find some baby snails in the dirt and even eggs. Thats how I collected my first ones.

 

[james L]

Did you use those first ones as feeders or did you raise them as breeders for cb feeders? Also are you using the species I was talking about (zachyrsia provisoria)?

 

[sandrachameleon]

I kept snails for awhile. They reproduce easily. I started with about a dozen wild caught ones (from an organic farm, away from the city and where pesticides are not used). It didnt take more than a few days before there were eggs being laid. Once I had lots of eggs, I moved the adults to a second bin (and still got more eggs, but didnt separate them). When the first eggs hatched, and I started noticing little snails, I moved the baby snails to another container.

Eventually, I gave second generation snails (not yet fully grown) to three male panther chameleons. they really really liked them.

But due to space considerations (Im running out of it) and the time it takes for the baby snails to grow to adult size, I dumped them all.

I did feed off one of the original adult wild caught grove snails to one male panther, and he ate it up immediately. I was interested to know if the adult sized snail would pose any trouble. I was aware of the parasite risk.

Since this time, I've had one fecal test done on all of them. so far, no indication of parasites. I get fecal tests done annually for all the chams anyhow, but I intend to have the droppings of the cham that ate the wild caught (long term captive) snail tested again ahead of that schedule. Just in case. Snails are reported to be very commonly carriers of many parasites. But maybe we got lucky.
it may be worth noting that I dosed all the males that the snails with that reptaid stuff as well, thinking it couldnt hurt.

Anyhow, I think snails make a great enrichment feeder. If I didnt already breed 6 or 7 different bugs, I would certainly consider keeping snails again. They were very very easy to keep happy. And they were certainly well liked by the chameleons.