We are on a family vacation to London, England, visiting my parents, and with all of the beautiful lush greenery and the plethora of little bugs hanging around, we decided to put together a little snail habitat.
Who knew snail habitats were so easy to make? My kids have watched these little guys chomp their way through two carrot shavings: and it’s only been two hours since we got them!
What You’ll Need
- A glass or plastic container with plenty of holes in the top to allow air through
- Soil
- Leaves
- Some food (here is a great link on what they eat)
What To Do
- Fill the bottom of the container with soil, and add the leaves and food. We added carrot shavings and tomatoes.
- Go outside, pick your snails and gently put them inside. That’s it!
Given that your snails were pulled off their space outside, and moved somewhere else, they may retreat inside their shells for a while because they’re scared. Be patient, they’ll eventually smell the food and come out. Check out these two time lapse videos we took of ours! My 3.5 and 5.5 year old watched the entire time and were fascinated!
The shell that this hungry guy walked all over soon produced a hungry snail who ate the entire inside of a tomato. We chose to put our snails back outside, but if you choose to keep yours, just make sure they have enough space (our jar was too small) and that the food does not rot.
Fun Snail Facts!
1. Snails have 14,000 microscopic teeth lined in rows!
2. They are hermaphrodites: meaning they’re both male and female.
3. They usually live for 5-7 years, but some can live for up to 25 years!
4. There are three types: land snails, sea snails and freshwater snails.
5. Some snails have hair on their shells!
Check out more fun snail facts for kids here!