Cuddles!

[acovert]

Ok. Awesome. I was curious because of the shells. Not quite sure how that would work.
Do they eat them in the wild?

[kibakiba]

I'm sure some do... I know dekayis can pull snails out of the shell, but I don't know if garters are able to do it too.

[acovert]

Hmmm. Would snails be a good thing to try with Cuddles once in a while? I'm already planning on trying slugs here and there, since we'll get them occasionally starting in the spring.

[kibakiba]

They can carry parasites, but it's for you to decide whether it's worth it or not... I do give them to mine when they're available because my snakes likely have parasites already, since they are wild caught... Everyone feels differently about that, though.

[acovert]

What about store-bought or home-bred snails? Would they have a lot of parasites?

[EasternGirl]

I don't know much about snails...or slugs, but I thought someone said something before about being careful about slugs because there are a type that can be bad for the snake. Personally, I stick with stuff that I know to be safe. You could do a search on the forum for snails and slugs and you would probably find threads discussing them.

[acovert]

I'll take a look. If it's a possible food source then I would like to try it since he seems so picky. To put some variety in his diet.

I haven't had any luck with frozen fish, and I only have 1 pinky mouse left, so I want to wait until he takes something dead before I try that last pinky. I got a couple cheap guppies - not feeders, but still guppies - that I'm going to try to use to convince him that the frozen fish is good.

[katach]

You want to avoid the really dark brown slugs. If your snake ends up liking slug, you could use it to scent too. That way there is less of a chance of choking on the slug slime.

[acovert]

I haven't been interacting with Cuddles much lately. I feel bad, but my brothers, sister, and mom have all been sick, along with the baby we have for daycare. Changing diapers and holding the older brother, I don't know what might be on my hands anymore. So I've been avoiding Cuddles in case it's a bacterial infection of some sort. Whatever it was, I wasn't the only one to get it, so it obviously wasn't salmonella. Because my sister and my mom never touch Cuddles, and the baby has never been in contact with Cuddles either. She got sick before we were watching her more regularly. It's got to be some bug that's going around in the area.

[guidofatherof5]

It's that time of the year. Bugs going around.