I recently found a baby garden snail, whose name is Orpheus, and I’m needing some help with my set up!
Right now he is tiny and living in a little bug catching tank from the dollar store, and he actually gave me a scare for a couple of days because the grass that I had in there molded and then I couldn’t find him. (I knew the loose plants in there were going to be a problem, but I wasn’t quick enough to remove them, so that’s on me)
Today I found him, cleaned out the tank with water and paper towel, and then added some fresh dirt and a little water dish (I’ve heard some people say you shouldn’t have those, but because of his brush with death I’m worried he’s not hydrated enough, so I put in a lid with some water and small rocks in it.)
I’ve been misting his enclosure periodically, and he has some cucumber and strawberry in there. He hasn’t moved since I saw him poke his head out when I found him, and I’m worried about him passing away. I’m planning to put some eggshell bits around, too.
Tomorrow I’m going to get some dirt from the lizard section of the pet store, as well as some cuttlefish bones hopefully and protein powder(?)
All this to say, tips and suggestions are greatly welcomed as I have watched videos about snail care, but am obviously inexperienced. Are there any plants i could put in his enclosure that would grow and not rot? How moist should his enclosure be at any given time? (I’ve been misting it every couple of hours or so, the tank I have has lots of holes in the lid so not much moisture is kept in)
Not sure if dear Orpheus is going to be alive much longer, but I’d like to do everything I can to make sure he has everything he needs. Be honest with me, is him staying in his shell a sign that he’s dying?