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Why pet snails have become a lockdown favourite
Something slow and slimy has taken over social media...the snail of course!
These mollusc companions have become the perfect lockdown pet and the snail hashtag has more than 300 MILLION views on TikTok! Wow!
We caught up with snail-owning sisters Polly and Rosina as well as Isobel to find out what they love about pet snails.
We also chatted to The Pets Factor's Fabian Rivers to find out how to look after these tiny-shelled creatures.
Here are Fabian's top three tips for looking after a pet snail
Tip 1 - Water and temperature
It's really important that your snails and slugs have a place to drink regularly but it's also important that their environment is humid.
You can do this by spraying water from a spray bottle or you can buy a little mister which turns water into mist to keep their environment humid.
The temperature inside your snails home needs to be between 20-27 Celsius.
Tip 2 - Diverse diet
It can be really important to give your snail a good variety of food. Leafy green vegetables such as lettuce or spinach are the more common foods we feed snails.
However it is important to make sure your snail has some fruit too. A grape is a good tasty treat your snail can eat.
It's also important to make sure your snail gets calcium in their diet. Calcium is really important as it makes their shell strong and helps send nerve impulses around their body.
They can get this from eating cuttlefish or old egg shells.
Tip 3 - Environment
It is advised that you keep your snail in a glass or plastic tank and not a wooden one.
Snails have very tiny mouths and they can chew through wood but this can leave splinters in their mouth and can be really painful for them.