Any thoughts pro/con? My redfoot seems to love them!
Feeding live garden snails to redfoots?
- Thread starter mgreen
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If pesticide free; then go for it. My kids actually keep the slug population down...
If I had them (or the slugs) I would be feeding them. There could be a chance of them getting something from them, but they would be eating them if they crawled into the enclosure any how.
Feeding slugs and snails to redfoots (and other omnivorous chelonians) is a great idea. As long as the mollusks are not full of pesticides or herbicides, they are a good source of protein and, in the case of the snails, a good source of calcium, too.
Mine tear them up 
I'll try it! Hope he likes them!
mattgrizzlybear said:
I'm sure he will. Mine loved them!
Make sure your neighbors don't have any snail bait out either.
One way to insure they are safe is to catch them and keep them in a jar and feed them for a week or two. This will clear their bowels of any toxins and if they are still alive after two weeks, you can be pretty sure they are okay to feed. I use a jar, keep a damp crumpled paper towel in the bottom for moisture and humidity and feed them lettuce or leafy greens of some sort daily.
One way to insure they are safe is to catch them and keep them in a jar and feed them for a week or two. This will clear their bowels of any toxins and if they are still alive after two weeks, you can be pretty sure they are okay to feed. I use a jar, keep a damp crumpled paper towel in the bottom for moisture and humidity and feed them lettuce or leafy greens of some sort daily.
If a slug or snail has ingested pesticides or herbicides, then its tissues can still retain those toxins, even after its gut has been evacuated.
GeoTerraTestudo said:
Do you think they'd live and eat well for two weeks if they had ingested poison?
I'm curious. Everyone is deathly afraid of pesticides and herbicides. If so, then, and call me crazy, maybe you should stop spewing those things all over your property.
yagyujubei said:
I agree, but none of us can control what our neighbors do.
Anybody too concerned about the quality of the wild snails, just keep in mind you can buy canned ones sold both for humans and tortoises.
Tom said:
Yes, there are two circumstances in which a snail could continue to live after expelling all poison from its gut, but continuing to retain the poison in its tissues:
1) The dose is sub-lethal.
2) The snail comes from a population that has evolved resistance.
This is why, if a slug or snail has been exposed to toxic compounds, it should be not be available as prey at all.
yagyujubei said:
Here, here! Well said.
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