Snails

[Shirley the tortoise]

So it seems Shirley won't eat the vegetation that I grow her, but she is happy to tuck into a snail that she has found in her enclosure. (Note that immediately after taking the photo I took the snail off her, but she had already eaten quite a bit, including the shell).

Who knows how many she has eaten, and whether she will get a taste for them. Clearly they are not good for her due to the protein content, but not sure what I can do about it if she is to go outside, as she would be unsupervised for long periods during the day. I don't put down slug pellets but can't vouch for my neighbours. I am worried, I can control what plants she has access to but not insects and molluscs.

Has anyone had experience of this? How did you stop it? Will it cause any harm?

I think this is more disgusting than when I found her eating her own poo.

 

[wellington]

I think it's a very cute pic though. I would just pick up the ones you see and don't worry about the ones you don't. Tortoises are opportunist and will eat things they find, like poop, dead animals, snails in the wild.

 

[RosemaryDW]

My tortoise has eaten the occasional snail. She gets a varied diet and has not developed a habit of cruising for snails.

I don't worry about it now but I felt the same way as you when we found her the first time!

However, my tortoise is in a safe (large) enclosure where I can be reasonably sure she isn't exposed to snails and slugs who have eaten pellets. I will have to let others speak to that concern.

 

[Pearly]

My babies LOVE snails!!!! They know what they're doing bcs of their shell calcium... Now mine are RF so animal protein is part of their diet. As for other species (herbivorous) do you really think you must remove snails from the outdoor enclosure?

 

[Loohan]

Also small snails probably keep the beak trimmed a bit.

 

[Tom]

The added protein should not be a concern for a well hydrated tortoise.

The pesticide issue should be a concern for everyone. Its a judgement call. How close are the neighbors? Do they admit to using snail bait? Do they have a paid gardener that might be using snail bait without their knowledge?

Personally, I'd remove any that I see just to be safe.

 

[interex87]

My sulcata loves to eat dead animals birds drop in the yard it doesn't happen often but I have lots of big trees in my back yard and lots of big birds of prey so it does happen.

1-possum
2-squirrels
1-baby bird

So I wouldn't worry about a snail to much but I do try to not let it happen.

 

[Shirley the tortoise]

The neighbours are right next door on all sides (it's a terraced house), I'm not sure how far snails travel but it's plausible that up to a dozen houses might share snails with my garden. I've spoken to the immediate neighbours about use of pellets, but it doesn't remove the risk entirely. I'm hopefully moving house soon to the countryside which will remove the problem.

All snails are removed on sight anyway in the interests of my veg patch, but clearly I'm not going to get them all and can't control where they go. I have beer traps set up which work really well, even if I get sad every time I have to share my beer.