What Food Do You Use

[lilmissvix]

i want to experiment on what i feed my snails as in other foods like dog biscuits they like and like oats, just wondered what every one else has tried and there snails ate.

[ade]

well mine like dog biscuits occasionally , fish flakes, peppermint tea leaves ( must be 100% natural ) rip the bag open pop em in the tank add a tiny drop of water and away you go. raw beef steak. amongst other things .

[welsh]

raw beef steak does it have to be sirlion LOL!

[ade]

only if i'm sharing with them lol

[snailcrazy]

ooo I'll have to tell Mick I'm feeding my snails steak and see what he says. "DIVORCE" probably. ;D

Mine like dog biscuits sometimes. Not tried fish flakes never know which to get or if any will do. Peppermine tea leaves, I'll get some offmy mum to try. My step dad drinks peppermint tea by the gallon.

I know some people give their snails cat biscuits.

[lilmissvix]

is it only the peppermint ones you can give?? or any organic tea leaves?
i might try the fish flakes, doesnt sound to yum to me, and mine wont be getting any meat lol as im vege. lol :-) i have herd tourtoise food?? and hay?

[lucyjames]

Lol... mine love soaked cat/dog biscuits, but I've never thought of some of the other stuff.... may have to give them a go ;D

[snailcrazy]

Hmm hay. I've always got hay in for the rabbit and gp. Had anyone tried the freeze dried hay. I use it in my gp food.

[lilmissvix]

i am going to get some hay and try them on it, my snails go crazy for the cuttle fish it mad they rather eat that than the other stuff i put in for them.

[AlienSnail]

I'm planning on linking this thread to the care sheet soon, there's loads of good food suggestions....

With regards fish flakes, can I just check it's ok for snails to eat fish derivatives which were found in every fish food flakes I looked at? I've been feeding it to them but I've suddenly got a bit concerned. Do your foish food flakes fed to the snails contain fish?

Thanks

[Dusk]

You can get flakes for vegetarian fish that are plant-based, but the flakes I've been giving mine that have gone down a treat are Nutrafin Tropical, Tetramin Goldfish and Sera San Colour and Growth, since those three are the ones I buy in buckets for the fish Goldfish flakes contain more plant material than tropical flakes, and they're easy to find in pet shops, so you could look for those.

They've all loved algae wafers and next I'm going to be trying them on some of the sinking pellets I have for the catfish - squid, green lipped mussel, bloodworm, earthworm, etc

ETA: It's just occured to me that i could list small quantities of fish flakes specifically for land snails with all the other stuff I list on eBay. Anyone think that'd be worth doing?

[AlienSnail]

Thanks Dusk

You could perhaps mix some limestone flour with some fish flakes and algae wafers into a bag and sell it......

My snails ignored the algae wafers though.

I have Aquarian Goldfish Flake Food, ingredients: fish and fish derivatives, cereals, derivatives of vegetable origin, oils and fats, algae, vegetables, minerals, eggs and egg derivatives, yeasts.

I couldn't find any that contain more veg than fish, or any containing only vegetarian food.

[Dusk]

>>You could perhaps mix some limestone flour with some fish flakes and algae wafers into a bag and sell it...... <<

Ooh, what an excellent idea! Thank you

>>My snails ignored the algae wafers though.<<

Did you soak them beforehand?

>>I couldn't find any that contain more veg than fish, or any containing only vegetarian food.<<

Spirulina flakes and flakes designed for cichlids, discus etc are higher in vegetable matter than most flakes, but since I don't have those fish I'm not sure exactly how much

[AlienSnail]

Thanks again Dusk,

But I assume it is ok for snails to have some fish derivatives?

um..... no i didn't try soaking the algae wafers.... (slides to the corner and reaches for the Dunce's cap) - I'll try that tonight Thanks again Dusk x

[Dusk]

Well, most gals are vegetarian for our convenience rather than biologically. I know some people serve them chicken, anc cat and dog biscuits definitely have meat and fish in.

So, based purely on experience and heresay with no lab statistics to back it up, I'd say yes, they're fine ;D

Remember algae wafers expand hugely in water - the snails probably took one tiny nibble, felt it swell up in their mouths and realised it would do the same inside their body and moved on The snail equivalent of food-based swimbladder problems, presumeably - wouldn't do them much good. I'd let 'em soak an hour or more before serving.