Pond snails: To feed or not to feed?

[ReptileChick]

Hey all you BTS experts!
I have a few pond snails that I have been breeding for the fun of it and possibly for skink food. I know that Sly loves snails but are pond snails also acceptable feeders? Keep in mind that these snails have not been in with any kind of fish and that I breed them myself so I know exactly what they are eating and what they have been exposed to.

I really appreciate and value your thoughts and opinions

Thanks!

[Scotts1au]

They should be ok to feed in small amounts. Blueys have very good digestive processes and can handle digestion of small amounts of protein bound calcium carbonate. It is unlikely that you will encounter any problems with an adult bluetongue although impaction can occur in babies. Anyone who has kept water snails in a fish tank will be familiar with elongated white specs on the glass from time to time. These are immature life cycle trematodes (flukes) of which many species of aquatic snails are hosts, some of which are parasitic to a potentially large number of host genera of animals although Ive not seen evidence of fluke problems in blueys, you should be aware of the risks and mention it to a vet if your bluey starts to show problems putting on weight etc. Preference would be to feed land snails if they are available, but in general blueys don't need to be treated as fragile.