The Puffer Forum

So I've had my gsp, Jesse, for over a month now and so far I've just been feeding him freeze dried bloodworms and an assortment of frozen blocks (and a cricket once or twice, but my boyfriend doesn't like giving up his fire bellied toad's food to watch it drown/be torn apart...lol). I know that snails are one of the best foods for them, and have heard that many people are able to get the for free from pet stores because they're typically unwanted there anyway. Well after a couple visits to my local pet stores I finally decided to ask about why their tanks were mysteriously snail-free. Turns out it's illegal to sell/have them in Maine (which makes sense since they're so invasive, but I'm from New York so I didn't realize this was actually a law). So, while I could drive half an hour over to New Hampshire and smuggle some snails across the border (lol), I also live about a ten minute walk from the beach where there is a plethora of snails. Usually I would feel bad taking an animal out of its natural habitat for the purpose of "killing" it, but the amount of snails on the beach there is unbelievable, to the point where it is impossible to walk along the rocks at low tide without crushing the little guys beneath your feet because they literally cover everything. So basically my question is would it be safe to collect a few snails to bring home and feed to Jesse? The water is quite clear and seems rather unpolluted, but I'm not sure if there would be other concerns. And if this would be safe, how big in relation to Jesse should the snails be? I know it is easy to overfeed puffers. Also as a side note/question, since my boyfriend has at least a few crickets out of a couple dozen die before he can feed them all to his toads, would it be safe to try and feed these to Jesse? I feel like the answer would be no due to risk of disease, but figured I'd ask since I hate seeing food go to waste (be it for humans or pets lol). Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance!

You need snails that are around the size of their eyes. Add snails until his belly is slightly rounded to avoid obesity

Personally I would drive that half hour to get ramshorn snails or use ebay and set up a small 5 ~ 10g tank and put them in there. Just add algae wafers and watch them procreate like no tomorrow. It will take a month until you have enough of the right size I think but def. worth it.

If you want to feed snails from the beach I think you'll need to freeze them first before using them as food.

I assume that freezing them would kill them, so would he still recognize it as food once they're dead?

Aria13 wrote:I assume that freezing them would kill them, so would he still recognize it as food once they're dead?

Yes freezing them will kill them and any harmful parasites(I think). Once the puffer knows its food it won't even hit the bottom in one piece .

I would still recommend setting up your own snail breeding tank. It's easier then going out trying to find snails every week. It's better staple food than blood worms as well and the puffer will benefit from the algae wafers the snails eat.

If you don't want to buy another aquarium you can always use a bucket .

Yea I see how the snail tank would be the best solution, but I'm moving in 2 months and already have four tanks that I'll need to find a way to move safely, so I think it'd be better to wait a little on starting up that system.