The Care of Pet Snails
Land SnailsLand snails make really fantastic pets. They don't produce dander, dust, odour or noise, they can't bite or scratch, and they eat the same foods you eat, or at least should be eating. Fancy that - a house-pet that improves your health by improving your diet!
A snail won't bond to you (although they can be quite sticky), and it won't mourn you if you die, but it will 'come out of its shell' and become noticeably tamer with regular handling. A regularly handled snail may be able to differentiate between its usual human friends and other people, but its hard to tell, and we're not aware that this ability has ever been tested. |
Freshwater Ampullarid SnailsAmpullarid snails are truly amazing animals and quite unlike your average snail. Fast moving and socially active, ampullarids, unlike most snails, have a distinct head with well formed eyes, extremely long mobile tentacles and a gill as wells a lung under their shell - genuine super molluscs!
Reflecting their resilience and adaptability to new environments, several species of ampullarid (the apple snails) have been classed as invasive pests and are no longer legally traded in Europe and the UK. Luckily for responsible snail lovers, other tropical ampullarids (e.g Marisa) can still be bred and sold. |