Snails
For Room 3
Minibeast fact
finders
Diagram of a
snail
Snails
How they breathe
•Snails need air to breathe.
•They have lungs. If you want to look at
them for a little while, put them into a plastic
container with a layer of damp dirt, some
stones and dead leaves.
•Make sure your lids have holes in them
so they can breathe. (Don’t forget to put the
snails back in the same place that you found
them after you have finished studying
them).
To look for its breathing hole, hold the snail
upside down and you will find it near the
mantle between the shell and its body.
Snails
What they eat
Snails are plant eaters.
They eat fruit and vegetables.
They eat rotten ones too!
They will eat grains and seeds and even dirt if they
have to. They have a rough tongue that cuts up
the food.
To make their shells hard, you can give them
white chalk to eat or wheat flour mixed with ground
white beans.
They don’t eat meat! Ever!
They need water to drink.
Put a damp paper towel or napkin into their
container near their food.
Snails have a great sense of smell,
that's how they find their food. See if you can
make them smell the food to motivate them
during a race!
Snails
Where do they live?
Snails can be found all around the world.
In New Zealand, we can find them in our
gardens because they like to eat the vegetables
growing there.
They do not live in very hot or very cold and icy
places.
Snails are nocturnal animals.
This means they move about mainly at night
but they can be found early in the morning and
early in the evening too.
They like damp, dark places and bright light makes
them hide in their shells.
If you want to play with them just sprinkle them
with water.
That ought to "wake them up"!
Snails
Do they have eyes?
•They do have eyes at the end of their long
tentacles or feelers but not on the bottom
short ones.
•Their eyes are different to human eyes
because they use them to help figure out light
from dark and to feel around them to check for
obstacles or things that get in their way.
•Do snails have ears?
No. They can’t hear you! Go ahead, shout,
whisper, tell them all your secrets, they don't
have ears!
How long can snails live for?
Snails can live up to 5 years but some have
been found to live up to 25 years!
That is a long time for a tiny creature
What animals eat snails?
.
Snails are eaten by lots of creatures.
Small creatures such as beetles, caterpillars and
frogs eat them. Birds eat snails too.
Ducks and geese love them!
In other countries, toads and snakes will eat
snails as well.
Humans eat snails also.
In France, they grow snails and farm them
for food to eat. They call them escargot.
These snails are of a particular species and are
fed a special diet that will make them taste nice
to eat. They are not the same species
that we find in New Zealand gardens.
Did you know that there are 200,000 species
of molluscs in the world including snails?
Snails (Escargot) on a plate.
How do they move?
.
•Snails are one of the slowest
moving creatures on earth.
•Snails crawl around on their foot which
produces slime. This slime is like a powerful
form of suction for them. That is why they are
able to move upside down.
•The slime also protects their soft body from
getting cuts and bruises. A snail can even go
over a razor blade without getting hurt!
Snails move slowly but steadily. They don’t
move in straight lines. Sometimes they may
turn around in complete circles!
.
This snail is laying eggs
.
Some more interesting information about snails.
Snails are hermaphrodites
This means that they have both male and female
organs. So they are both girls and boys all in the
one body!
They still need to mate to have snail babies
though.
It takes about 3-4 weeks for snail eggs to hatch and
this happens in spring when the weather is
warmer
These snails are mating.
Snails make hundreds of baby eggs!
Created by
Room 3
Snails
Are
Cool.
Snails
with a little help from
your
Teacher
And yes, I have
eaten escargots
and did I like them?
No!