# Are giant african snails harmful?



## Hesperia (May 11, 2011)

I've been interested in getting a giant african snail but I heard that they could be harmful. One person claimed that he had a simple garden snail on his hand and he felt a little jab, then began itching all over and having weird side effects. There wasn't too much that i could find on google, but I think that's because not many people tend to carry their pet snails.

Either way, if they are potentially harmful I wouldn't want to get any. But I wanted to see if any of you snail lovers had any such experience? I did have a snail in my hand several times, not for more than a minute though! but i didn't feel disgusted, if i decided to get one or two though I wouldn't want to feel in risk of getting harmed or getting strange side effects...

Any ideas?


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## angelgirls29 (Jul 10, 2010)

Harmful?
Nope, never heard that one before...

Snails don't really eat (as such) they rasp and you can feel it more with a bigger snail than with a smaller snail.

I handle mine quite a bit and I've never had anything negative and certainly not like you are describing...


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Thats an absolute load of bull lol. I keep Gals and my son handles them and they are fine just make sure you wash your hands after. Garden snails dont have the ability to spear people so it was obvious that guy was either telling a load of bull or mistook his garden for the sea and collected a conch lol


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## Amber (Jun 11, 2006)

selina20 said:


> or mistook his garden for the sea and collected a conch lol


Most likely explanation.


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## Hesperia (May 11, 2011)

So none of you have been bitten? Not even accidentally? I really don't know what to think of the claim, I think the side effects were a little extreme but I know for a fact that they can chew down bones, like cuttlefish, so I don't know what a bite on human flesh can do...


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

Hesperia said:


> So none of you have been bitten? Not even accidentally? I really don't know what to think of the claim, I think the side effects were a little extreme but I know for a fact that they can chew down bones, like cuttlefish, so I don't know what a bite on human flesh can do...


The shooting that u described is a defence mechanism used by some species. Snails cant bite you as they eat using a rasp like organ. They dont bite on cuttlefish they rasp it down into a powder.


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

Hesperia said:


> So none of you have been bitten? Not even accidentally? I really don't know what to think of the claim, I think the side effects were a little extreme but I know for a fact that they can chew down bones, like cuttlefish, so I don't know what a bite on human flesh can do...


It's rubbish, clearly pulling your leg.


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## wilkinss77 (Sep 23, 2008)

selina20 said:


> Thats an absolute load of bull lol. I keep Gals and my son handles them and they are fine just make sure you wash your hands after. Garden snails dont have the ability to spear people so it was obvious that guy was either telling a load of bull or mistook his garden for the sea and collected a conch lol


not even a conch will do that- they too rasp, at algae. the only snail that stings, is a cone shell (again, they only live in the sea, tropical seas at that)- & if one of them stung you, you'd be in yea trouble- they are as dangerous as many venomous snakes & can kill you. even the less dangerous ones are as nasty as a pokie bite.


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I suppose it's possible that he had an allergic reaction, it's possible to have a reaction to absolutely everything though, and it doesn't stop you from using a bar of soap etc. - Technically it's possible for the human skin to react negatively to almost anything out there, but the odds are very very slim and you can't go around in life being afraid of ever touching something unless you get a rash! "Potentially harmful" therefore covers just about everything in this world, but it's 1 in a million+ type of odds and worst that would happen to contact allergies is usually a rash of some kind.

I personally have very sensitive skin and am allergic to a wide range of chemicals, I get very bad reactions to spiders, I come up in a rash if I handle crickets, locusts, or most inverts, and I even get bad rashes from handling my hedgehogs...... but I've handled plenty of snails, no problem! 

There's no way whatever side effects he had were from a snail bite though. If it was a tarantula bite then that's possible, but snails can't bite like that.


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## ZOO CENTRE (Apr 1, 2010)

Hesperia said:


> I've been interested in getting a giant african snail but I heard that they could be harmful. One person claimed that he had a simple garden snail on his hand and he felt a little jab, then began itching all over and having weird side effects. There wasn't too much that i could find on google, but I think that's because not many people tend to carry their pet snails.
> 
> Either way, if they are potentially harmful I wouldn't want to get any. But I wanted to see if any of you snail lovers had any such experience? I did have a snail in my hand several times, not for more than a minute though! but i didn't feel disgusted, if i decided to get one or two though I wouldn't want to feel in risk of getting harmed or getting strange side effects...
> 
> Any ideas?


Harmful? Only for wild nature - in some states in USA breeding of them is prohibited (there are PESTS NO PETS!)- there can be penalty to $5000!.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

wilkinss77 said:


> not even a conch will do that- they too rasp, at algae. the only snail that stings, is a cone shell (again, they only live in the sea, tropical seas at that)- & if one of them stung you, you'd be in yea trouble- they are as dangerous as many venomous snakes & can kill you. even the less dangerous ones are as nasty as a pokie bite.


Thats the one i was looking for lol. Knew it began with a c lol


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## Hesperia (May 11, 2011)

Thank you all for your help.


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## Oderus (Nov 24, 2009)

ZOO CENTRE said:


> Harmful? Only for wild nature - in some states in USA breeding of them is prohibited (there are PESTS NO PETS!)- there can be penalty to $5000!.


Yup that's what I thought the thread was going to be about.




Would it be in bad taste to point out that any snails can be harmful..

if not cooked thoroughly enought. :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## spidersnake (Dec 1, 2009)

Take whatever you read on the internet with a few grains of salt. Before the internet ALL these stories happened to a friend of a friend of someone elses sisters father-in-laws uncle.
I was told palm geckos were docile, it ended up hanging off my knuckle for over 2 minutes. Then we found out they are nastier than tokay geckos.
The internet is full of usefull info, its also full of crap to. If enough different people tell you the same story, its probably true. Thats why forums like this one were created.


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