Caring for older snails
GALS can live for 10+ years and older individuals require specific care catering to their more specialist needs. As your snails get older, you may find that their mucous production decreases and their bodies become dryer. In response to this, you will need to increase humidity within their tank by increasing moisture levels and tank temperature. Daily baths in warm water will also help your snails to stay hydrated. Use a washing up bowl (kept for their use only) of shallow water, ensuring the level sits below that of their pneumostome (the opening within the mantle through which snails draw air into their lung). Water will cool quickly, so monitor the temperature closely.
Loss of muscle tone may also occur and the days when your snails used to sleep hanging precariously from their tank lid may have passed. This tends to be more of a problem with larger snails, as they may have more difficulty in supporting their body weight than smaller individuals. To avoid falls from the top of the tank, discourage your snail from climbing up by providing lots of enrichment and a variety of foods on the tank floor. You can also stop them from climbing and return them to the floor if you spot them starting to make their way up the side of the tank. To avoid injury, remove any hard objects from the tank and provide a higher level of substrate to reduce the height from which they could fall. Alternatively, they can be moved to a shallower enclosure, such as a clear under-bed storage unit with added ventilation holes.
Some snails may eventually reach a point where they are no longer able to feed themselves efficiently. Leaves may be too tough for their radula to cope with and they may require assistance with feeding. You can begin by mashing cucumber with a fork into small, soft chunks and shredding leaves slightly to make them easier to eat. For much older snails, it may be necessary to puree their food into a paste that they can eat more easily. Organic baby foods may also be offered but be sure to choose those made only of vegetables/fruit and avoid anything with added salt, sugar or rice etc. Furthermore, these are rich and should only be offered in limited amounts to avoid causing colic. Purees and baby foods can be smeared thickly on to a lettuce leaf. This will keep the soil in the tank clean, make clearing up easy and ensure that if they munch through all of the puree they will not ingest their substrate. After feeding purees and baby foods, it is beneficial to bath your snail so that food residue is not left sitting on their skin. In the humid environment of a snails tank, these foods will need changing at least twice a day.
Loss of muscle tone may also occur and the days when your snails used to sleep hanging precariously from their tank lid may have passed. This tends to be more of a problem with larger snails, as they may have more difficulty in supporting their body weight than smaller individuals. To avoid falls from the top of the tank, discourage your snail from climbing up by providing lots of enrichment and a variety of foods on the tank floor. You can also stop them from climbing and return them to the floor if you spot them starting to make their way up the side of the tank. To avoid injury, remove any hard objects from the tank and provide a higher level of substrate to reduce the height from which they could fall. Alternatively, they can be moved to a shallower enclosure, such as a clear under-bed storage unit with added ventilation holes.
Some snails may eventually reach a point where they are no longer able to feed themselves efficiently. Leaves may be too tough for their radula to cope with and they may require assistance with feeding. You can begin by mashing cucumber with a fork into small, soft chunks and shredding leaves slightly to make them easier to eat. For much older snails, it may be necessary to puree their food into a paste that they can eat more easily. Organic baby foods may also be offered but be sure to choose those made only of vegetables/fruit and avoid anything with added salt, sugar or rice etc. Furthermore, these are rich and should only be offered in limited amounts to avoid causing colic. Purees and baby foods can be smeared thickly on to a lettuce leaf. This will keep the soil in the tank clean, make clearing up easy and ensure that if they munch through all of the puree they will not ingest their substrate. After feeding purees and baby foods, it is beneficial to bath your snail so that food residue is not left sitting on their skin. In the humid environment of a snails tank, these foods will need changing at least twice a day.
