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What are the best things to feed a snail?
Snails are vegetarian and do eat quite a variety of food and they are very easy to feed. But there are some variations among different snail species as to what they eat and how they are fed. On the regular, Snails are nocturnal animals meaning that they are basically active at night. We will look deep into the best things to feed a snail to grow faster.
Snails look for food early in the morning or at night. They do use their powerful sense of smell to find food. Your baby snails can eat about twice as much feed as mature snails, and they prefer shoots and soft leaves. Snails do not have the set of teeth like mammals do but they do have specialized food processing organs common to all mollusks. They eat solid food by cutting or scraping it away with their radula (a part of snail anatomy used to chew up food) before the food enters the esophagus.
In case you missed it: Read here, How to start a successful snail farm
Keep their place of abode moist to encourage feeding since the moisture makes it easier for the snails to move about. Let’s look at some of the information you need to have at the back of your mind whilst looking for food to feed your snails.
- Snails do need calcium supplements for their shell’s growth and the proper development of eggs and embryos.
- Bone meal, calcium powder, cuttlebone, shells from dead snails, natural limestone, and wood ash are all good sources of calcium for snails.
- Vegetables and Leaves are snails’ favorite.
- Yes! Snails also eat tuber crops.
- Snails love soft fleshy fruits. Fruits are rich sources of minerals and vitamins but are low in protein.
- There are some edible flowers for snails.
- Snails do drink non-chlorinated water.
- Snails can be fed with concentrated or formulated feed containing basic ingredients such as groundnut, soya bean, bean, and maize.
Below are some of the features of foods that you should avoid feeding your snails;
- Avoid feeding your snail contaminated foods.
- Do not feed snails starchy foods because they expand within the gut, causing a blockage, water retention, and bloating in the snails.
- Do not give snails chlorinated water.
- Avoid giving your snails salty foods
Sam is a blogger and an entrepreneur. More about Bio