Garden snails are popular creatures for gardeners to keep as pets. They are low maintenance, and can be quiet amusing to watch. Common garden snails are herbivores, and they will eat any soft, living plant materials that they come across when foraging.

Well-watered plants, such as lettuce, will provide a large quantity of food for your snails. There are few predators for garden snails, though some birds and lizards will eat them.

Garden snails are a fascinating creature that can live up to 9 years! They're not just for the garden, they also live in fresh water systems.

Garden snails have been around since dinosaurs walked the earth and have survived through all sorts of changes. Learn how long do garden snails live and what you can do to help them survive as well!

What is a garden snail?

A garden snail is a gastropod that lives in the soil and eats plants. It has an external shell that protects it from predators, much like turtles do with their shells.

Garden snails are herbivores, eating mostly vegetation but sometimes they eat insects too. They feed by using rasping mouthparts to scrape off plant material or chew on smaller pieces of food and swallow them whole.

Garden snails can be beneficial as well because they help recycle dead leaves into nutrient-rich compost for other plants!

The most recognized kind of garden snail is the "escargot" that we often see served in French cuisine dishes such as escargot à la bourguignonne (served baked with garlic butter sauce and parsley).

How many types of species

There are more than 1700 species of snails in the world, and when it comes to garden snails, there are a few common species that you might see, including the dark brown garden snail , the orange-brown Roman snail, and the spotted strawberry snail.

While garden snails can be great for your garden, they can also be a problem if they decide to live in your garden, especially if you're an avid gardener.

Snails are land gastropods, and as such are part of the taxonomic class Gastropoda. Gastropods are the largest class of the phylum Mollusca, and they are among the most successful animals on the planet. (Are you ready for this? Gastropods include sea slugs, octopus, squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus.)

There are three different classes of gastropods.

The first of which is the Pulmonata, which includes a subclass of a subclass, called a pteropoda, that is made up of sea slugs, sea hares, and sea butterflies.

The second is the Caenogastropoda, which is further divided into two subclasses- the Prosobranchia, which includes snails and slugs, and the Heterobranchia.

The third is the Aplacophora (a superorder) that are sea creatures with no shells at all.

Snails can be found in most parts of the world, although some species cannot live where it is too dry or cold because their shells will crack and break if they freeze.

The average life span for garden snails ranges from one to four years with an occasional specimen living up to ten years! Some people who find garden snails in their garden might be tempted to kill them because they are seen as pests.

Interesting facts about Snails

• Garden snails are hermaphroditic.
• There is a snail parasite called Schistosoma haematobium that may attack them and cause the death of an infected individual within hours.
• Snails need to eat at least once every two weeks in order to survive for more than one year, so they will typically find food sources during rain storms or after dark when other animals have left the area.
• When garden snails feel threatened by potential predators, they release a slimy substance which smells bad and can be toxic if it comes into contact with creatures like humans who might ingest it through their skin or eyes!
• If you see small holes near your vegetables growing outside such as lettuce, cabbage, or carrots then you might be dealing with a garden snail infestation.
• Garden snails can live for up to ten years in captivity and if they are not killed by predators, disease, or other factors.
• Snail eggs hatch into larvae which turn into adults after about three weeks of development time. Snails have numerous natural enemies including frogs that will eat them from the bottom up and birds like blackbirds who prey on their fleshy upper parts as well as earthworms which compete with them for food sources.
• There's only about nine inches separating water level and ground surface when it rains so snails need to find shelter quickly after rain occurs or else they may drown.
• Snail eggs take between six months to three years for them to hatch depending on how much moisture there is during this time.
• Snails have mollusks for teeth and use them to eat food.
• They can be helpful in controlling pests like slugs, millipedes, sowbugs, earwigs and other insects because they feed on some of the same foods that these creatures do.

What is the best kind of snail to have in my garden

Of course, when many people think of snails, they think of slimy pests, but not all snails are that way. If you're a gardener, you may be interested in having a few snails as part of your garden's ecosystem.

There are many different types of garden snails that you can choose from, and which one is best for you will depend on your specific gardening needs.

Everyone loves their gardens and some people might want to bring a garden snail into theirs. But what is the best kind of snail to have in your garden? Is it one that eats plants, or one that you can buy at a pet store?

The answer: neither!

Garden snails are actually really beneficial for agriculture by eating harmful fungi like those which cause plant diseases.

There's no need to go out and collect them from nature because they're most likely already there. You just need to make sure not too many other animals eat them before they do their job!

So instead of bringing in more creatures, we should leave well enough alone--especially if these "creatures" serve an important purpose such as helping with agricultural problems.

So the garden snail lives a very long time, with many individuals living for up to 20 years! They can also live in both wet and dry habitats- unless they're eating plants just on one side of their body or another due to how they graze using their radula (a tongue that's covered in microscopic teeth).

As you can see, there are many things about these creatures worth learning more about. Garden snails have been around since prehistoric times--some people think as far back as 400 million years ago!--they've seen it all from two mass extinctions to the rise of agriculture.

But unlike some other species which exist today, garden snails are still doing well because we haven't found any reason yet not to like them.

Maintenance and snail care

Garden snails, unlike many other species which exist today, are still doing well because we haven't found any reason yet not to like them.

Gardening practices such as fertilizing with manure will have benefits for the garden snail population. Compost piles should be kept moist by watering regularly during hot weather; it is a good idea to sprinkle water occasionally onto the pile to prevent it from drying out.

Garden snails help control pests in gardens by eating their eggs and larvae, as well as leaving droppings that will decompose into nutrients for plants. They're also a food source for many animals such as frogs, birds, ducks, herons and even some mammals like hedgehogs and shrews so they do have natural predators which keep them under control!

If you see garden snails while walking around your yard or garden looking at flowers--they are easy enough to catch with an empty jar using a piece of cardstock paper twisted up inside the top (to create a trap door). Snail traps can be put anywhere there is vegetation.

It's important to remember that garden snails are not a pest, but actually beneficial to the environment.

What are the common types of snail in North America?

There are over 100 types of snail in North America.

About 14 species of Garden Snails are native to the United States and the most common type is a brown garden land snail. They typically have two growth rings around their shell.

The next one you will see often is the purple garden snail which has three rings on its shell, but it can be hard to tell them apart from other snails because they are all brown.

The third common type is a white garden snail that has two rings but will have a pointed shell. It also reaches the largest size of any other species which can be up to one inch long.

Snails get their color from chemicals in food and dirt so if you're not sure what kind it is, try removing its outer layer with your finger or thumb before making an identification.*

Fertilizing gardens with snail or slug feces will encourage their presence in your garden just make sure there are no chemicals applied beforehand so snails don't get killed by it!

Garden Snails should not be handled often since they carry diseases such as meningitis which may not show symptoms until months after contact has been made.

Some snails can have shells as thin as a fingernail and they rely on their mucus for protection. Garden Snails move slowly because of this, but at least it protects them from predators!

They will curl up in defensive positions when threatened. Unfortunately, garden snails do not reproduce or live very long so you may need to buy more over time if your population is dwindling.

Is it a good idea to relocate snails or should they be killed?

Garden snails should be relocated. If they are killed, their body will decay and leave behind a bad smell that will attract other garden pests such as ants or flies to your yard. When you relocate them, make sure not to place the snail next to plants because it may eat through some of its leaves

It is important to move the snail as quickly and gently as possible because any sudden movement or jarring can kill them. You should place the garden snails in a safe area that is away from plants, but still close to where they were found. It's good to put some leaves on top of them so predators such as birds don't see them easily.