# What should I feed my African snail?



## African_Snail Owner (Mar 2, 2009)

I am a fairly novice owner and I own a Giant African Snail. 

What would be an appropriate diet regime for it? I currently feed it chopped apple, small bits of brown bread, chopped cumcumber and lettuce which it seems to like It also has a cuttle fish as well. But I want to make the diet more varied, so I would very much appreciate some suggestions of what I could feed it each day in the week.


----------



## ferretlad (Mar 6, 2008)

You can buy a proper organic snail diet from ebay, just look up African land snails and put a bid in for it, i use this for my two G.A.L.s and they do fine on this.


----------



## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

Nothing from the onion familyxxxx


----------



## x_Living_Dead_Girl_x (Feb 16, 2009)

They eat most fruit and veg tbh, so you have plenty to choose from. Sounds like you already feed them a pretty varied diet. Try peppers and tomatoes aswell.
Oh and iceberg lettuce isn't the best for them (just in case that's what you feed them), the proper leafy lettuce is better for them


----------



## kizzy21_uk (Sep 6, 2008)

pretty much anythink.xxx


----------



## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

I usually feed:

Monday: Lettuce, cucmber and tomato
Tuesday: Lettuce, carrot and pepper
Wednesday: Lettuce, cucumber and fruit
Thursday: Lettuce, carrot, squash and brocolli
Friday: Lettuce, peas, fruit and tomato
Saturday: Mix of leafy greens
Sunday: Mix of greens, fruit, carrot and cucumber

They also have constant acess to cuttle fish and a variety of grasses (lawn grass, timothy grass and orchard grass)


----------



## Skyespirit86 (Feb 23, 2008)

I try and avoid cucumber and lettuce most of the time, only giving it occasionally as a treat. Of course they always wolf it down, but it doesn't have much nutrition. 

I now also make sure there is LOADS of cuttlefish. I keep 9 snails at the moment, in a tub and I used to just put 1 or 2 pieces in, but they would often ignore it after a while, or if they were at one end of the tank, with the cuttle at the other they wouldn't eat it. I have found they like it if you give the cuttlefish a good scrub every now and then, not just to get dirt off but the soften up the surface again. Once they've worn half way down they will be used much less so although I leave these bits in for a bit, I add new pieces since if the worn one's the only one going they won't be eating enough.

The reason I know putting what looks like too much in is better, is because since doing this my snails shells have been growing absolutely perfectly, all shiny and smooth whereas before they were a bit scabby at times. They really need to be surrounded by the stuff. 

I tried making my own seed+grain mash like what it promotes on the snail trail website. It suggests buying chicken mash, or making your own. Doesn't have to be exact amounts ofstuff but could contain corn flakes, bran, oats, various seeds etc. I put some wild bird food I had into a pepper grinder and made some powder, then added some calcium carbonate powder I have for my reptiles, plus some warm water turning it into a mash. They like that. You can also give some dog/cat biscuits you've soaked in water, even fresh meat! I tried some liver which one of the snails had a go at, but mince is supposed to be good but not all the time as its not their primary food source as I'm sure you know. Wholemeal/brown bread is good and not much different to the mash I don't expect. 

As for fruit and veg- the main part of the diet -I give tomatoes, potato, green beans, carrot, oranges, pear, swede, squash/pumpkin, grapes...and anything else we might have. Haven't found they like tough brassicas much like greens, cabbage, and brocolli, nor apples but try them all the same...

I would stop feeding lettuce everyday and just use it as a treat. Also the snail food you buy is not their whole diet, it is always advised to give them plenty of fresh fruit and veg too. I usually chop up a variety of maybe 2-4 different ones every time I change the food over- I haveto say I don't do it every day because the food I put in doesn't go off or disappear that quick. Just try not to be giving them the same thing continuously. It's ok for a couple of days, but then change it or at least swap 2 of the items if for example you feed 3.


----------



## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Skyespirit86 said:


> I try and avoid cucumber and lettuce most of the time, only giving it occasionally as a treat.


See, I was always told differently about the lettuce (As long as its not iceberg - I only usually use lambs lettuce, romaine lettuce and round lettuce) and I feed cucumber for the moisture (I tried a water bowl but the snails tipped it up and made it into a hide Lol). I usually only feed a little bit of lettuce though as when night falls the snails tend to go for the grasses and weeds and alot was being wasted which works out pretty well though since my two hardly ever eat cuttle fish I know they are getting a good amount of calcium in the danedlion leaves and I sprinkle a bit of cuttle fish on top anyway.


----------



## African_Snail Owner (Mar 2, 2009)

*Thank you*

:2thumb: Thank you everyone who has replied to my question so far. Your information had been really helpful. I did not know about Iceberg lettuce being bad for them, so i definately will not be feeding that again to my snail.


----------



## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

African_Snail Owner said:


> :2thumb: Thank you everyone who has replied to my question so far. Your information had been really helpful. I did not know about Iceberg lettuce being bad for them, so i definately will not be feeding that again to my snail.


Its not that its "bad" to feed but it is full of water and contains little to no nutrition so can be fed as a "treat" but shouldnt be a main diet. : victory:


----------



## African_Snail Owner (Mar 2, 2009)

Cool, ok thanks.


----------



## cubeykc (Aug 8, 2008)

iv got 15 atm and i was told to keep them just on cucumber and lettuce it p:censor:s me off when people tell you shite


----------



## Skyespirit86 (Feb 23, 2008)

i can't believe your snails don't eat much cuttlefish, mine are always on it. it has to be fresh mind, as soon as it's a couple of weeks old and got dirty/worn down they just won't go for it as much. so like i said before i scrub it up a bit. it won't dissappear as qickly as a lettuce leaf, because it's hard obviously, but you can see where they've been chewing it. and when you've just put plenty of fresh stuff in you can see their poos are often white. Sometimes it's to do with what you notice, because i got some snails off someone who said they didn't like tomatoes, but couldn't believe it, put some in and they ate loads...

iceberg should always be avoided like you say, lettuces like romaine etc like you mentioned are safe, but are low in nutrition. The snails get moisture from water you spray in their tank, and i also have a shallow water bowl. so you don't have to feed cucmber just for moisture. potatoes, tomatoes and fruit etc have moisture too anyway.


----------



## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

I have never seen one on the cuttle fish and never seen bite marks - I have tried keeping fresh, scrubbing it off, scraping some off of the top, leaving some powdered on the top but they arnt interested.


----------

