Snails for turtle food?

[Delilah1623]

Has anyone raised snails for their turtle? A lot of things I have read say diamondback terrapins love snails. I got some of those tiny pest snails free from the pet store and have them in a 1 gallon tank with an algae wafer and they are happy as can be. Would there be anything wrong with feeding one or two to my turtle a few times a week?

 

[dmmj]

Nope, nothing wrong with that idea at all.

 

[Jacqui]

I put those in with my turtles. I did try raising the land snails this year after being gifted with some. The redfoots and hingebacks love them. However, let just say I am no better with snails then cactus. I have also fed the canned snails, but they were not as welled liked and I think fresh is always better.

 

[Delilah1623]

Oh! I didn't even think about my redfoot being able to eat them!

Do you just put them in there whole? My terrapin is still tiny so I was thinking of smashing the snail before feeding so she didn't choke on it?

 

[Berkeley]

They are great for Diamondbacks. How big is the turtle, and how big are the snails? It is actually really good jaw exercise for them if you put them in whole- they crush them down before swallowing. Snails are one of their main foods in the wild.

--Berkeley

 

[Delilah1623]

She is just a baby. Don't know exactly how old, I've had her just over a month. The snails are tiny too but I worry about him choking if he swallowed them whole. The snails are about the size of a grain of rice down to about half a grain of rice.

 

[Berkeley]

Oh yeah, that is a perfect match of sizes! Don't worry about the turtle choking on them- they know that they are doing. They position it around and around in their mouths, and if it is too big, they spit it back out.
Go for it. It is a great source of nutrition, as well as calcium!
--Berkeley

 

[Delilah1623]

Ok! I just got the snails so I'm going to wait a few days so any yucky stuff from the water at the pet store clears out a couple then I will try! Thank you!

 

[Randi]

I would do more then one or two at a time. The shells have calcium and snails make a delicious supper! I normally feed my turtle in a container filled with tank water so that way the tank stays cleaner. They are quite capable of crushing the shell. My Reeves was eating snails at 13 grams and loving it. I feed the snails boiled zucchini. Live plants like Java Ferns or Anubias will collect algae and the snails will clean it up.