Can Mystery Snails Eat Broccoli?

Last Updated on January 20, 2021 by cmoarz

Mystery snails absolutely adore broccoli! There is a whopping 22 grams of calcium per 100g serving so it’s an excellent treat to give your snails. Unlike many other vegetables, Broccoli is fairly soft and easy for your snails too much on. So there is no need to balance beforehand.

If you prefer to blanch your broccoli first, then that’s fine too. It will have no effect on the broccoli or the nutritional value. It could definitely go a long way in helping the smaller snails to get in on the feast too.

How to feed snails the broccoli

Without blanching: Simply cut the broccoli into little broccoli trees, and sink them into the gravel at the bottom of the fish tank. Your snails will crawl around and eat it with no problem.

With blanching: If you intend to blanch your broccoli, you can do so either in boiling water on the stove, Or simply nuking it in a microwave on high for 5-second bursts until soft.

The same procedure as the unbleached, place it at the bottom of the tank and bury the stem in the gravel to keep it upright.

It’s really that simple!

If they don’t eat it

If after a few days you notice the broccoli remains untouched then there might be a few reasons why the snails weren’t interested.

It was too hard, and they couldn’t chew it. This is fairly unlikely however, but its worth trying the blanched version in this case.

If they are still uninterested in the broccoli then it’s time to remove it. Some snails just won’t eat certain things that other snails will. Each snail has its own little personality and they are quite picky for being bottom feeders that eat anything.

Don’t leave it in the tank too long if they are not eating it. You should remove it before it begins to rot too much. Replace it with another dark green that they do like, such as peas or romaine lettuce, or carrots.

How often should you give your snails broccoli?

Snails need a diverse diet in order to be healthy and continue to grow. High in calcium and other minerals. Calcium is one of the most important of said minerals. Without a healthy supply of calcium, your snail’s shells will begin to crack, this will also stunt their growth.

They get a lot of the things they need from the tank itself in the form of leftover fish food and algae.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t feed them. Snails are ravenous when it comes to eating and you should feed them a balanced diet of greens 2-3 times a week.

How much depends on how many snails you have in your tank, As well as their size and other variables such as the amount of fish and fish food in the tank.

You should not just feed your snails broccoli every feeding day, as they need more variety than that to survive.

A good indicator of how often you should feed them is by seeing how long food remains untouched in the tank. Snails will only eat when they are hungry. Once full, they will just leave it there to rot away.

So if your broccoli or any other foods are just left on the bottom untouched, or half-eaten, It’s possible they are simply full. Cut back on the amount you feed them accordingly.

Overfeeding can cause problems in a tank’s ecosystem. It will cause cloudy waters, algae blooms, and filthy filters.

If you notice any of this, consider feeding less food less often, Or increase the number of snails in the tank (if it can comfortably hold more). Don’t overcrowd.

Bottom line

Blanched or unblanched, your snails *should* like broccoli. It’s packed full of nutritional value and calcium and makes the perfect part of a snail’s diet. If they decide they don’t want it, remove it after a few days.

Don’t overfeed them or it could muck up your tank, and remember snails need a varied diet and can not survive on only broccoli. You should feed them other nutritional foods such as spinach, zucchini, remain lettuce, carrots, etc.