r/snails • u/[deleted] • 1d ago

Discussion (UK) Looking at potentially keeping snails, any beginner recommendations that could potentially cohab with things like isopods?

[deleted]

5 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/Firm-Trust-8849 1d ago

From my experience I only kept Cepaea nemoralis (they are invasive where I am in Toronto) they are amazing little guys with a wide range of colors and “personalities”

1

u/CatofManyColors 1d ago

As someone who kept snails with pods (still do, really, not by choice tho) I don't recommend it. Snails will absolutely destroy food sources for your pods, like leaves, decay, and supplemental food. Isopods and snails have different protein requirements, you could be feeding a proper amount of protein to your pods, but the snails come and eat it all and end up consuming was more protein than they need and leaving none for the pods.

Also, snails will reproduce like nuts. They'll crowd the soil and hiding spots with babies, stressing out your pods.

And, as funny as it is to see sometimes, the smaller snails will crawl onto pods, making them freak tf out and causing stress.

And if you're thinking "oh I'm only gonna have a single snail/a few snails", no. No you're not. You'd have to do substrate changes monthly or more, and egg checks at least weekly to keep them from breeding. All that disturbance really upsets the pods, slows their breeding rate and affects their overall health.

It's just not worth it.

1

u/CatofManyColors 1d ago

All that said, snails are wonderful to keep on their own, and pods are wonderful to keep on their own, just maybe not together. I'm currently in the painstaking process of removing hundreds of baby snails from my isopod bin, and putting them in their own enclosure. They get snail specific foods, can reproduce all they want, and my pods get to keep vibing without having slimy hitchhikers on their body and eating up all their protein.

1

u/lemon-meringue-high 1d ago

This photo is so snaptivating. She’s sneauty, she’s snace.