Are garden snails safe?

[reptinate]

Hey,
I have a veggie garden and some of the plants are being eaten by snails, slugs and caterpillars. Just want to know if it's fine to feed these to my Shinglebacks, Bearded Dragon and Water Dragon. Also what about Eastern Long-necked Turtles?

I was thinking of keeping some and trying to breed them. Are they hard to breed and what do I need?

Thanks

 

[dragonlover1]

as long as you know there are no poisons being used it should be fine but your beardie won't eat them,not sure about water dragons or turtles but I doubt it.I keep some snails in a 50l tub for a bluey.About 150mm dirt kept moist plus some hides (bricks/plant pots etc.)feed them lettuce,cucumber etc.throw in a few worms to eat the leftovers and you're set.
I used to get soft shell yabbies when I had turtles,they love them.Good food plus exercise chasing them.

 

[-Peter]

They are a vector for Angiostrongylus cantonensis, rat lung worm. As with any harvested food source there is always the opportunity for parasites and infection. In the end you have to weigh up the risks. So setting up a breeding project would be worthwhile generally. All my lizards live outside so it isn't a consideration.

I would not encourage feeding long neck turtles to your lizards.

 

[PythonLegs]

Quarantine them for a while first, snail baits can take a while to affect the snails.

 

[AllThingsReptile]

I've always fed snails to Bluetongues, my Cunningham's skinks don't mind a few smaller snails either.
Although i know that no snail baits are used around my house.

 

[CrazyNut]

Yep fine so long as there are no poison's/traps being used near where you live. If there is you will need to isolate them for at least 24hrs.

 

[Chris82]

I've used them to feed my blueys and shingle backs my whole life. Like everyone has said no poisons. I'd also keep them for a 24-48 hour period in this time I'd feed them up on leafy greens and veggies. They would then pass whatever they had in their system and I would know what they'd eaten prior to feeding them out!

While I was in the zoo industry I had been told of a marmoset or tamarin that had eaten a slug and died (in a large zoo we all know), the result was that the slug/snail had a built up amount of rat poison which had no affects on the slug but enough poison to kill a small primate!

So I guess weigh up the risks of poisons and parasitic worms and go from there!

 

[Beans]

You can feed them snails and earthwroms from the garden thats fine. I used to get a few worms and feed them to my beardie. They are high in protein and are generally make a pretty good addition to any staple diets.

ONLY feed them if you are 100% SURE there has been no chemicals or fertilizers (manure would be fine) that have been used.

- - - Updated - - -

As mentioned about the slugs.

I'd just avoid those... you never know which ones are okay and which aren't. Garden snails and worms are fine though :3

 

[reptinate]

Thanks for the help everyone. When breeding them how would I stop the babies from getting out of the tub? Also, could I put reptile calcium in there for them?

Are the caterpillars okay too? Get quite a lot when I grow cabbage.

 

[MesseNoire]

Thanks for the help everyone. When breeding them how would I stop the babies from getting out of the tub? Also, could I put reptile calcium in there for them?

Are the caterpillars okay too? Get quite a lot when I grow cabbage.

You can use mesh to stop them getting out.
Try putting a piece of cuttlebone in there for added calcium too.

 

[AllThingsReptile]

Caterpillars would probably be ok as long as you're sure they're not poisonous sp.
I used to feed large moths to my Beardies and never had problems.

 

[Beans]

Avoid caterpillars cause you just don't know if they are toxic or not.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[Bluetongue1]

While I do agree that people should be aware of any risks in feeding 'collected foods' to reptiles, the degree of risk should also be taken into account. Too often the degree is only qualified with a "don't do it" warning but no real measure. To draw a parallel, one could advise that people should never use roads as people get killed, maimed or injured as a result of doing so.


Snails will void the contents of their gut within 2 days. Those that may have feed upon snail pellets will be dead within 1 day. Rat lung worm is rare enough in Australia that the form of meningitis that is sometimes causes is not a notifiable disease. You also need a well establish population of infected rats in the area. It is not known to infect lizards but there is a suggestion (only) that it may be transported by them. That means no eggs or infective larvae are produced and passed through and for the parasite to infect a mammal it would have to eat the lizard raw, or close to it. The common European garden snail is not listed as a host for this nematode species. Garden caterpillars are extremely unlike to be toxic to lizards. Unless there are dead insectivorous birds (not the result of cat predation) in the same area I don't think you have any cause for concern.


I found it was easier to get snails to go dormant in order to store large quantities for a mate's lizards, than to keep them active and feeding. Just withdraw food and water for a couple of days. Just add water to bring them back to being active. Otherwise they need frequent spraying to keep them clean and viable due to the amount of wastes they produce. Collecting them is easy. I often take the dog for a walk after dark and the number of snails that emerge from gardens to feed on lawns and verges is amazing. They are particularly prevalent after rain or in yards that have run their sprinkler system. Any premises with snails present in multiples of 10 are clearly are not likely to be using snail bait. If you are after very small snails in particular, then breeding your own would be warranted.


Blue