Snails in the house are common today. The popularity of these animals is due to several factors. Firstly, snails need a little space. Secondly, they are unpretentious in leaving: they do not need to walk, bathe, comb out, vaccinate. And they do not wake the owner in the morning with a loud scream and screech. Isn't that the perfect pet? But ... Snails, like any other domestic animals, need to be loved, given attention to them, taken care of their health. To make your pet feel good, you need to know how and what to feed him with. What the snail eats, how much food it needs for normal growth and development, we will tell you right now.
Gastronomic preferences
The content of snails in the house should be as close as possible to the conditions of the wild. Try to diversify the nutrition of these animals with products that grow in the garden, park, on the shore of the reservoir. It can be clover, plantain, dandelion, wild sorrel. These same plants can be prepared for the future by freezing, in order to feed snails with natural treats in the winter.
Fruits, vegetables, greens from our garden plot - this is what the snail eats with great pleasure. Small snails are recommended to feed soft fruits, but adult individuals do well with bits and pieces. This is another reason why it is worth getting snails in the house. During the preparation of vegetable and fruit dishes, you will get a “non-waste production” - your favorites will eat up all the excess. And they are good, and you do not need to take out the trash.
Feeding is a necessary measure to maintain and enhance the health of the snail
At home, snails do not get enough calcium from food for shell development. Therefore, veterinarians recommend including natural nutrition in their diet. This is an egg shell, natural chalk (you can not replace it with school or chalk from rodent food), meat and bone meal, buckwheat, oatmeal, millet.
Drinking mode
Several times a day, the terrarium must be irrigated with clean, settled water from a spray bottle. Snails quickly understand the meaning of this procedure, immediately crawl to the glass and lick droplets with pleasure.
Categorical “no”
What does a snail eat? All that you give. And if you offer her a “forbidden” product, she will eat it anyway. Therefore, remember the list of products that these animals should not be categorically given:
- salt;
- pickled and canned foods;
- sweets;
- smoked meats;
- citrus;
- raw potatoes;
- flour products.
These products can cause your pet to not only feel unwell, but also to die.
When and how much?
Snails are nocturnal animals, so you need to put food in the terrarium in the evening. If a certain amount of food is left in the morning, it must be removed to prevent rot and infection. In the cold season, snails sleep a lot and wake up every few days. Naturally, they need to be fed less frequently during this period of time, namely, when the animals are awake.
Now you know what the snail eats. The rules for feeding her are not so strict. Keeping this animal at home does not require large material costs and physical effort. And this is the main argument in favor of snails among other pets.