Getting Your Pet
All you need to do is go out in your yard and find some! Look in the early mornings, and you’ll be sure to find plenty. If you can’t go in the early morning, then look under places that stay moist, basically any place you could find millipedes. “What if I can’t find snails?” you ask. Well, if you can’t find snails at your house, then ask a friend or neighbor. I’m sure they’ll have no qualms about giving up their unwanted leaf-munchers.
Housing
Snails don’t really need much space to live their lives, and they can be housed communally. Whatever container you choose, just be aware that a snail’s foot (what they use to crawl around with) is surprisingly strong. When I was young I used to occasionally keep smaller snails in jars with plastic wrap stretched over the top and held by rubber bands. I would then use a needle or toothpick to poke holes in the plastic wrap for ventilation. This only lasted so long, however, because I soon realized (through catching them in the act) that snails will hang upside down on the plastic wrap and stretch the holes with their muscular foot until they can escape. So whatever you do, make sure the ventilation holes aren’t “stretchable.” Once you have picked out your desired container, whether it be a peanut-butter jar which could house one or two small to medium-size snails, or a small kritter keeper, which could easily house ten of these interesting little creatures, start adding substrate. Make sure it’s at least 2 or 3 inches deep, and moist. Peat moss or even yard dirt free of fertilizers would work well for this, just make sure it’s moist. Then add a hide or two. Anything works, really, but depending on your enclosure you could use anything from a small terra-cotta flower pot buried halfway in the substrate, to bark.
Food
Snails will eat all kinds of things. I remember mine loved violet leaves and carrots especially, but they’ll also eat just about any kind of vegetable scraps, and certain leaves gathered from the yard. Beware of pesticides though—if the vegetables aren’t organic, give them a good wash before introducing them to your pets. Also, provide an egg shell that they can eat slowly for calcium needed for strong shells.
Snails make hardy, low-maintenance pets. I hope that you might try this, and even if you don’t, perhaps it opened your eyes to the world of free, easy-to-keep pets just outside of your door. :)