About the snails

You can watch the way they use their antennae and mouths to explore the world around them: to see, taste and feel

• Admire their brown and gold intricately patterned shells.
• Tempt them with different kinds of vegetables and fruit to find out which they like best.
• Handle the snails and feel them gently exploring your fingers
• See how they use their muscles to move slowly
• Find out about the history of snail farming
• Learn all about these intriguing molluscs

Helix aspersa maxima does well in the mild damp English climate, growing faster and getting bigger than its cousin, the common garden snail. In the winter the snails need to be protected from frosts until they lay eggs in the Spring. In the summer they can go out of doors when the weather is warm enough. The snails are protected by an enclosure which keeps out all the predators that might eat them: birds, shrews, foxes, rats and badgers to name just a few.