Land Snail Care and Breeding

You may be as surprised as I was to find out that some lizards love to eat land snails. I discovered this when I read an article about the Jackson chameleons in Hawaii eating so many tree and land snails that they were concerned about some of the populations.  They even went as far as to say that some endangered snail species may be pushed to extinction by the invasive Jackson chameleons.

Link to Article on Jackson Diet in Hawaii

This lead me to look for a way to start a land snail colony for my chameleons. I purchased my snails from NilesBio, they have reasonable prices, however you need a permit if you live outside of California and these are wild caught snails. Wild caught snails can be used for breeding but should be kept separate from the babies as there is a chance they may carry parasites. I would dig up the eggs weekly and put them in a separate bin to grow for feeding (to be covered later). Snails in the mail is another popular site for purchasing land snails, although more expensive.

The USDA permit was free and not difficult to obtain, however some states may have regulations against importation of land snails given their status as an agricultural pest.

Given that these prey are so high in calcium and moisture, I wanted to provide them as an option for my boys.

First you will need to set up a home for your land snails. I use a Sterilite 51 Qt as shown below.

You will need to ensure you have at least 2 inches of soil if you want the snails to lay eggs. I use a mixture of equal amounts of fertilizer free top soil and play sand and also add sphagnum moss for moisture.

I then mix the soil together and pat it down gently.

I then spray the soil with water to ensure all is moist. I will also add homes for the snails to hang out in, I use cut in half red solo cups and plastic plant pots as they seem to work well and are inexpensive. I provide a shallow dish with water for them to drink and bathe in as well as some leaf litter.

I also cut the lid and hot glue screen to allow for air flow as shown below.

The snails will eat a variety of fruits and veggies. I feed them a variety of greens, lettuce, papaya, mango, cucumber, carrots, red and orange bell pepper, yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, sweet potato etc.

I also sprinkle plain calcium on their food every other feeding in addition to providing cuttle fish bone as a calcium source. They require extra calcium to build and repair their shells.

Snails tend to be nocturnal hence, I will mist and feed them in the evening.

Snails can reproduce alone or with a partner. If you start with more than one snail you may witness breeding which is an interesting process. Snails are hermaphroditic and can take on either sex role or both. They may exhibit courtship behaviors prior to mating and one or more love darts may be shot in to the body of their partner. Their reproductive organs are on their head so you may see them with their heads attached with an appendage between. The love dart is supposed to allow the sperm of the shooter to have a better chance of survival and therefore increase the chance of paternity given that both snails will produce and exchange semen.

My snails mating with a love dart

After fertilizing the eggs, the snail will burrow in to the soil and lay the eggs. They may burrow all the way in to the soil for some time to complete the process.

The eggs are white and about the size of bee bees as pictured below.

The eggs will take a couple weeks to develop in to baby snails. I like to bury the eggs on the edges of the tank so that i can watch them develop.

I will mist the tank daily and feed them every other day.

I typically clean them every 2-3 weeks as they are very dirty. Some people will just remove the top layer of soil, but I find it easier to just have an extra bin and transfer them over to a fresh bin every couple weeks. I then wash the old bin with soap and water and store it until the next round of cleaning. You want to be sure that you freeze the old dirt prior to discarding it to ensure there are not eggs or snails in it that will go on to infest the environment. They are a serious agricultural pest and must be frozen prior to disposal, this includes any unwanted snails.

I have also noticed that they will breed more in a clean bin. They do breed pretty fast and will quickly create populations that are far beyond your needs. I know people who have mellers and panther chameleons who will eat snails, but out of my group only my Jackson eats them. He loves them more than any other food item, so I breed all these snails just for him.

1 week worth of snail mess

Snails are one of the easier feeders to breed and totally worth it if you have a pet that will love them. As you can see my Jackson goes nuts for these high calcium, high moisture prey.