Feeding
Your snail’s diet should be varied, your snails will eat a large variety of foods, including vegetables, some fruit’s, bread, dog biscuits, wild plantation and meat, the list is very long.
They also enjoy ground mixed seeds and grains, blended together to make a mix, which when warm water is added to it, it makes a porridge like substance, which my snails love.
There are some foods that should be avoided, in particular Pasta, this can swell inside the snail and cause blockages in the digestive system which can lead to premature death of your snail, also care should be taken with any vegetable or fruits that may have high acidic levels i.e. oranges, onions etc.
Food List
Below is a list of some but not all of the foods that your snails can eat, try as many of them out as possible, just like you and I snails like a varied diet and in the wild they would find all sorts of foods on their journeys so it is best to try to offer them as much as possible, don’t worry if they don’t like something, many of mine are quite fussy, having particular favourites, where others we eat almost anything put in front of them (gannets!!!)
VEGETABLES
Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Courgette, Cucumber, Cauliflower, Green Beans, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Peas, Potato, Pumpkin, Spouts (ewww!!!) Swede, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potato, Turnips.
FRUIT
Apple, Banana, Blackberry, Grapes, Kiwi, Mango (my snails fight over this) Melon,
SEEDS AND COMMON
Ground/Crushed Hemp Seed, Sunflower Seeds , Oats, Chicken Mash, Brown Bread, Dog Biscuits (dry or soaked) raw meat (mine like mince), Dandelion Leaves and other common leafed plantation
Seeds, Oats, and other dried foods are best served after having been soaked in water for a while, and mashed into porridge like substance and allowed to cool before offering to your snail.
Water
Although not essential (because your snails will get most if not all the water they need from their tank (from spraying it daily) and food), I like to give my snails a shallow water bowl, they do drink from it but also at times like to bathe in it, remember though not to make it too deep as baby snails could easily drown, no more than a centimetre deep should be fine.
I have found the best sort of water dish to use is the type made for reptile tanks, not only are they made to look like rock or wood, but most have an incline inside them creating a shallow and deep end, so the snail can gradually dip into the water.
If you choose not to use a water bowl you must ensure that your tank remains moist with daily spraying.
Calcium
Calcium is vital to your snails well being, and shell growth and repair, and there should always be a supply available to your snails, although it is contained in many foods, there is insufficient amounts in their diet to give them what they need, therefore it is imperative that you offer them an alternative source of calcium, this is done by giving them a fresh cuttlefish bone, the same type that is given to birds, it is important that it be placed in such a way that they can easily get to the soft side of the bone and not the harder shell like side, one of these should always be available to your snails, you can increase the life of your cuttlefish bone (as they become damp in the humid tank conditions) is to have more than one and rotate them to allow one to dry out why the other is in the tank.
Larger snails can get through these quite quickly, so it worth getting a supply of them or finding out where you can obtain them on a regular basis, typically in pet shops they cost anything between £1.00 - £2.00 each.
Aditional methods is to give them Limestone flour otherwise known as Calcium Carbonate, a very fine powder form of calcium, it can be sprinkled on food and in tanks, I include this in my snail mix and sprinkle pinches of it onto foods, it is important though not to give them too much as this can cause other health problems, another source is Liquid calcium, this can be added to water bowls and when spraying your tank