Feeding Skunks Land Type Snails?

[farmercoope]

Hey all,

Just wondered what your opinions was on feeding snails as an occasional treat/protein part of a skunks diet, I know obviously in the wild they would eat them, and probably much more than we would ever give, and obviously not alot can be said of there diet in the wild, but just wondered what your thoughts would be and if any of you already do give them? Cheers in advance!

[Nerys]

i've not so far it has to be said, tho do give the coatis adult giant land snails..

wild snails, i would um and err about because of the parasite load more than anything..

you can feed them on greens until their poo goes green, and that means they are then free of any toxic things they might have eaten (or so i believe) but i am not sure how you would go about making sure they are parasite free..

i know in humans, you can get a rare form of meningitis from something called Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which is found in undercooked snails..

Eating snails can kill

snails are carry the lung worm, Angiostrongylus vasorum, which has been reported to be fatal to dogs if not treated. Lung worm is carried by an average of 10% of wild foxes.. this rises in urban areas to up to 23%.. and garden snails and slugs eaten by domestic dogs, are the way lung worm passes from wildlife into domestic pets..

Lungworm Parasite Strikes The UK - What Would A Dog Do | DogTime - Dog Blog Network

snails are also known to carry flukes... are you one of those poeople who like to chew grass stems if you are out walking?? well.. if they are anywhere near water.. DON'T !! semi aquatic water snails are the host for the liver fluke.. part of the life cycle of which involves leaving the snails body, climbing up grass stems nearby, and waiting to be eaten by a passing herbivore, so they can then continue their next stage of life inside the mammalian host they have found!

mind you.. parasites like worms are also carried in pet shop bought crickets and so on..

if you do use them, i would certainly do the keeping them on watercress for a few days before hand to make sure they are at least toxin free tho..

hth

Nerys

[farmercoope]

Maybe not then! Hah, thanks alot for that though, was going to try getting a couple of my own and having a go at breeding them but probably wouldn't be worth it i suppose, I did read about some goats being kept on lush grass which looked really nice but they ate a sort of snail which was fatal to the goat as they just arn't used to it, they arn't grazers there browsers type of thing. Thanks for your help, would probs be best to do mealies if i was going to do anything i suppose!

[davebrum]

with snails for human eating you feed them on cornflower till they poo white to make sure they are safe to eat - but as said by nerys they can carry all sorts of problems other than just whats in there digestive tract

[farmercoope]

I think it pretty much is upto the individual actually what they are fed for human consumption, as i've never heard anyone doing it with cornflour, here we use carrots, what I was thinking of actually doing was getting land snails so I know exactly what they have ate anyway and then if you cook them this will kill the endo parasites in the snails. Was just asking for skunks though, not really human consumption

[davebrum]

Originally Posted by farmercoope

I think it pretty much is upto the individual actually what they are fed for human consumption, as i've never heard anyone doing it with cornflour, here we use carrots, what I was thinking of actually doing was getting land snails so I know exactly what they have ate anyway and then if you cook them this will kill the endo parasites in the snails. Was just asking for skunks though, not really human consumption

LOL i was not suggesting doing it for human eating- just saying that that is how you have to do it if you wish to, outward bounds courses and there random facts -scarred me for life learning that sort of stuff <G>

[farmercoope]

Originally Posted by davebrum

LOL i was not suggesting doing it for human eating- just saying that that is how you have to do it if you wish to, outward bounds courses -scarred me for life learning that sort of stuff <G>

Okay I never said you was Aha, my gran often actually has the snails out of her garden, she always has and loves them.

[carlycharlie]

mmmmmmmmmm garlic sauce........now feel hungry after reading this thread

[tillie]

George eats the slugs and the snails from my garden and has never had a prob.

[farmercoope]

thanks alot, does he just free roam your garden then!