Things I've Learned About Foods From Having Pet Snails

[lindsay]

Aww...the snail is so cool looking. Thanks for sharing your experiment with us. :)

This reminds me of the kids I used to take care of. The oldest daughter caught a beautiful monarch caterpillar, and it would go through milkweed like crazy and poop a LOT of little green pellets.

Out of curiosity, did you cut up any of the produce or did you put it all in the tank whole with rinds intact? I ask because when you cut open things like fruit, you are activating their natural enzymes to break down the flesh.

Thank you! They are beautiful creatures. The whole pet thing was on accident. I picked up a pretty shell one day (which went missing in our apt. for a month) and then found two more - was planning to make earrings and then one morning the shell began walking toward me as I was drinking my coffee. I was so intrigued by it, and saddened when I saw them getting crushed under peoples' feet in front of the garden), that I kept the 6 I found on the sidewalk. Then I found ten more in the spring and they began making babies. Yikes!

I am sure monarch caterpillars must be so interesting to watch! If they poop like a snail, I imagine it's a lot of poop!

Regarding your question about fruit and produce, I cut everything open so the snails can access it. The lettuce leaves I just put in there and spritz lightly with water - I'm not sure they would do so well if submerged in a warm environment. Kale maybe, but probably not romaine. However, basil leaves sitting in the damp soil are surprisingly resistant to mold. I peel the potatoes too - they didn't have much interest in the peel. The watermelon I put in with part of the rind. They like the watery-ness of the melon, but the initial face they make when they touch the juice makes me think it stings them or something. The younger ones seem to like sweet foods more than the adults, which makes sense.

 

[lindsay]

Beautiful post! I wonder what kinds of problems snails can solve. Baby snail love.

Pretty sure I saw a snail rectify relativity and quantum mechanics. Should have written that down

Problem number one - how to escape from a giant slippery canary melon. Success!

 

[lindsay]

I have nothing more to say than I heart snails. So jealous of this snail population you get to observe.

If you happen to live in Connecticut, I'd be happy to give you as many of them as you'd like ;-) They are beginning to take over our apt.

 

[Such_Saturation]

True. But my point was that if you have slow or difficult digestion, foods that quickly grow mold could be problematic. I digest oranges much quicker than other fruits - they do not mold the same in my refrigerator (though I need to test it in the humid tank). Citrus fruit is special, I think. Ever leave a lemon cut open out on the counter? It doesn't mold. Shrivel up, yes. Mold? Nope.

If it is not organic it could have fungicide on the surface. Testing like this is good to establish if it has fungicide. But usually it should say on the label.

 

[lindsay]

If it is not organic it could have fungicide on the surface. Testing like this is good to establish if it has fungicide. But usually it should say on the label.

As often as I can, I only buy organic produce. Especially if I plan on eating the peel. And I will only feed the snails organic produce because I'm afraid that pesticides would kill them or make them ill. If I buy something at the farmers' market and am not sure if it's been heavily treated, I wash the skin with soap and water and then remove it, as I did with the zucchini squash. Certain vegetables (like potatoes) I will only buy organic or not at all.

 

[Jennifer]

@lindsay - Oh wow! What a shock that must of been to see your future earrings coming toward you.

Thanks for explaining about the produce. It makes sense to me now why they rotted so fast. The good thing is that fruit moves through us so quickly. I'd be curious to see how meat and milk hold up in the hot, wet environment. I imagine raw milk would just sour and/or start to curdle, and pasteurized milk might spoil quickly, and the meat, well...umm...yuck! I honestly don't think meat would fair so well. lol

Another interesting thing to consider is the Brix of the plant. I once read that Carey Reams (a master agriculturalist) grew a watermelon that he won first prize for in a compition. He won the following two years with the same exact watermelon. He has been quoted as saying that high Brix plants don't rot, they dehydrate. I notice I'll often get grapes that turn to raisins if left in the fridge too long. They tend to have a high Brix so maybe there is truth to what Reams said? Every time I buy my produce and it rots quickly, I think of his quote. What's sad is when tested with my refractometer, quite often I find conventional produce to have a higher Brix than organic.

 

[BastiFuntasty]

Haha these snails must be in paradise. Eating, pooping and reproducing all day long...wow

 

[lindsay]

@lindsay - Oh wow! What a shock that must of been to see your future earrings coming toward you.

Thanks for explaining about the produce. It makes sense to me now why they rotted so fast. The good thing is that fruit moves through us so quickly. I'd be curious to see how meat and milk hold up in the hot, wet environment. I imagine raw milk would just sour and/or start to curdle, and pasteurized milk might spoil quickly, and the meat, well...umm...yuck! I honestly don't think meat would fair so well. lol

Another interesting thing to consider is the Brix of the plant. I once read that Carey Reams (a master agriculturalist) grew a watermelon that he won first prize for in a compition. He won the following two years with the same exact watermelon. He has been quoted as saying that high Brix plants don't rot, they dehydrate. I notice I'll often get grapes that turn to raisins if left in the fridge too long. They tend to have a high Brix so maybe there is truth to what Reams said? Every time I buy my produce and it rots quickly, I think of his quote. What's sad is when tested with my refractometer, quite often I find conventional produce to have a higher Brix than organic.

My shock quickly turned to fascination as I saw the snail proceed to climb upside down underneath the table :) They are so cute and very inquisitive - seem to like people too. It's a shame we call them pests and try to kill them. I think they have an important roll in turning up and fertilizing soil. Plus, their shells are like a work of art!

I'm not sure about milk and meat - I've had difficulties with both, and it seems to come down to two things - digestive enzymes and thyroid function. But they don't contain fermentable fibers. When I take thyroid, I can handle both fairly well. But this morning (and yesterday), I ate a lot of grapes - washed them thoroughly with vinegar and baking soda - and have felt like I'm digesting bricks in my lower GI. Same last week with melon. I haven't been able to get ripe oranges, or else I would just buy those. Oranges are the one fruit I can truly digest quickly and with ease. Mangoes I need to cook, bananas - forget it. Berries, awful. Kiwis are okay. But truth be told - I don't really like fruit and never really have unless it was in a dessert or cooked. Or dried. I love dried fruits and digest them better I think. But if you gave me a choice between fruit and a salad, I would pick the salad. I prefer savory to sweet 95% of the time - unless it's candy. There's always room for candy :)

The thing with dairy and meat is that if you lack the enzymes to digest them, it can be very difficult and slow - I totally get that. I have to take Ox Bile (due to my lack of gallbladder) & sometimes Betaine because my years of not eating meat made it very difficult for me to digest. Now it's gotten better. But I still prefer seafood to most meat and choose eggs often for the price point. I don't think eating tons of meat protein is necessary or beneficial, but I was vegetarian for 8 years before changing my diet and the added dairy and meat have been very helpful for me - especially the vitamins. But I eat moderately - I never was one to try and pound excess thousands of calories into my system drinking tons of milk and OJ. My bones and teeth especially were also weak, receding & decaying and have gotten much stronger. I keep telling myself that when I stop craving dairy I will stop eating it, but it never happens. Meat I eat very little of, but when I do, I usually take bile or betaine. I really think we are all different and I think a fiber free diet is impossible. I cannot function without fiber and have found that pickles (I love salt), carrot and oranges are my preference. Every time I eat lots of fruit, I get freezing cold - even in summer. I think it works well for some people and not for others and I'm sure there are many factors that come into play. But I'm not a fruit lover. I tried and failed. Dried pineapple, however, and I are long standing friends :)

Regarding the Brix, that's super interesting! And sad about the conventional. I do eat conventional when there isn't another option and find an orange is better than no orange - conventional or not. I just won't eat the peel if it's conventional :)

 

[lindsay]

p.s. @Jennifer - in partial answer to your question about dairy and meat and how they might look after some time, I just cracked open a bottle of coffee with lots of half & half that had been sitting in my car for two weeks in the hot summer weather. I have been dreading opening it, but finally decided to take the plunge. Surprisingly, the cream was only partially chunky (like cottage cheese) and the coffee still smelled fantastic. Was pleasantly surprised! Then again, it was cold brew coffee - which is full of antioxidants. Note to self - put some meat in the glass bottle and let it sit for two weeks and see how it goes ;-)

 

[Jennifer]

Yeah, it is sad. I would never kill a snail intentionally and certainly not because they eat at some of the plants in my garden. I agree that they play their own important role in our world. I won't even kill insects intentionally. If they're indoors, I just put them outside, unharmed.

Thank you for sharing what has worked for you. I hope you don't think I was trying to convert you to a fruit eater. LOL I don't believe people should eat what they don't like or don't feel best on. I remember you saying in the past that you have a hard time with most fruit. It's great to hear you're tolerating eggs again. That's a nice improvement given the scary reactions you used to get from them.

I was just expanding on your theory of food rotting in a dark, damp and warm environment and how that translates in the human body. I think any food that we don't digest well and which sits in our intestines too long, is a potential problem due to feeding unwanted microorganisms and the possible accumulation of metabolic waste. Whether a food molds or rots quickly outside the human digestive track with its many enzymes and digesting bacteria etc., I honestly don't know. It certainly is fun to make experiments and observe.

I did an experiment last year where I gelatinized corn starch with boiling distilled water and then exposed it to enzymes and vinegar overnight to see if it would degrade into fine particles instead of staying the big gelatinous lump it had turned into; it was just like a gelatin gummy. I was attempting to recreate as best I could, the enzymes and acids the starch would be exposed to in our digestive track. Come morning, it was still that same gelatinous lump. I was trying to understand more about persorption and if I really believed it.

It was during this time that I started researching about amylose and amylopectin as factors in a starch's digestibility (was looking for a starch that I could digest since fruit season was over) and wondered if this also played a role in whether or not a starch is persorbed more than others like Ray seemed to conclude from his alkali treated corn experiment he did with his students in Mexico. If I had had waxy corn or hadn't run out of Thai glutinous rice (both about 100% amylopectin), I would of experimented with those, but I only had the corn starch on hand. I still don't know if my experiment translates the same in the human body, but it was fun to do. :)

 

[Jennifer]

p.s. @Jennifer - in partial answer to your question about dairy and meat and how they might look after some time, I just cracked open a bottle of coffee with lots of half & half that had been sitting in my car for two weeks in the hot summer weather. I have been dreading opening it, but finally decided to take the plunge. Surprisingly, the cream was only partially chunky (like cottage cheese) and the coffee still smelled fantastic. Was pleasantly surprised! Then again, it was cold brew coffee - which is full of antioxidants. Note to self - put some meat in the glass bottle and let it sit for two weeks and see how it goes ;-)

Huh, that's interesting! Do you think the acid could also be a factor in semi-preserving the half & half?

Remember that raw milk experiment I did where I left it on the counter for weeks in an attempt to make raw cottage cheese? It just wouldn't curdle and so I finally gave up. Dear god, the smell I got when I opened the lid for the first time. It was like potent manure. I had made manure milk! Hmm...I wonder how well a product like that would go over with the WAPF crowd. They really love their raw and cultured dairy.

Okay, knowing how bad my milk experiment turned out, I can't wait to hear about your meat experiment.

I feel like Mr. Wizard. Do you remember that TV show from the 80s?

 

[thegiantess]

If you happen to live in Connecticut, I'd be happy to give you as many of them as you'd like ;-) They are beginning to take over our apt.

I would take you up on that offer, but for the fact that I live in St. Louis. Damn! I think they're just so pretty. I don't understand how people eat them. Snails and octopus. I could never.

 

[lindsay]

I would take you up on that offer, but for the fact that I live in St. Louis. Damn! I think they're just so pretty. I don't understand how people eat them. Snails and octopus. I could never.

I'm guessing you can find them where you are - just look for a garden without pesticides I'd happily send some of mine in the mail, but I think it is illegal. I'm planning to release some of my adults and babies by a local brook off a trail in the woods. I think they will be happy and safe from sidewalk feet there. Of course, I will keep some of my favorites. They are fascinating and beautiful little creatures. I would never want to eat them - totally agree. Especially not after admiring their inquisitive little selves. The way they look at you with their tentacles is adorable

 

[dd99]

Great post, Lindsay - thanks.

I live in London and we had a warm winter this year which means - snails galore in our garden! They seem to be eating our herbs, mostly (the sage is all gone), and like to climb all over our jasmines. Better than the foxes we used to get!

 

[lindsay]

Great post, Lindsay - thanks.

I live in London and we had a warm winter this year which means - snails galore in our garden! They seem to be eating our herbs, mostly (the sage is all gone), and like to climb all over our jasmines. Better than the foxes we used to get!

Glad you liked :) I hear the UK is full of snails! So is Estonia - both very moist environments, where snails thrive. My snails are different from the ones in the UK - they are garden snails, but they are yellow-white in color with brown spirals, and they tend to prefer dead plants. They only slowly nibble at the food I put in the tank and tend to prefer it when it's slightly past the point I would want to eat it ;-) I think the snails in the UK are the brown shelled ones? They are the true garden "pests", as people like to call them. I've heard you can deter them by planting certain herbs they like next to the herbs you want to protect. Basil would be a great one to test - mine really like basil, although they mostly hang from it and nibble very slowly. Or you could put sweet potato out in the garden to attract them. From what I understand, all snails like sweet potato!

 

[dd99]

Yes, we've got the brown ones! Nice tip on the sweet potatoes - I'll put some out and post how it goes.