Can you catch anything from garden snails?

[Yamaya]

Me and my son were looking at some snails in the garden and woke them up by putting a bit of water on them. Before I could stop him he stuck the end of his tongue in the water the snails were in!

Now I'm worrying he could get some kind of worm or disease from this. Does anyone know?

[Thepleasureofyourcompany]

I doubt it

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

I think there are things but it’s very unlikely. Children do play outside, they do put random things in their mouths but they very rarely pick up weird diseases and parasites.

[Yamaya]

Thank you, I do have anxiety but you've made me feel better. It's not like he ate one.

[Winterisalmostover]

I ate one when I was a toddler. Picked it up in the garden and gave it a good chew, shell and all. I'm still here and had no ill effects.

[ellery]

No, absolutely fine.

If he'd eaten it, different story (they definitely shouldn't be eaten without being purged).

[tobee]

They're not good for dogs. Ditto slugs. Which maybe what you've misremembered?

[mondaytosunday]

We used to put snails under our pillows at night (mother not thrilled).
I think if you could half the kids would have it.

[MsRead]

Years ago, step daughter came in from the garden with one in her mouth she was 5, she’d heard people in France ate them!

I absolutely panicked and phone the doctors ( in the days when you could get through) kindly GP called back to say she would be fine. I would hazard a guess that your ds will also be fine.

[Newuser82]

My son found a snail the other week and gave it a kiss 🤮. He is totally fine. He also ate a slug as a little toddler and was fine then too.

[Hamfish]

There is a snail borne disease called slimeitis which is transmitted by saliva. If your son starts to emit slime do let a doctor know asap as it needs swift treatment. Ditto if the skin on his back starts to get hard. Good luck

[LadyWiddiothethird]

@Hamfish Why do you need to be so downright nasty!

[Hamfish]

@LadyWiddiothethird it was a lighthearted joke you loon.

[ellery]

@Hamfish

There is a snail borne disease called slimeitis which is transmitted by saliva. If your son starts to emit slime do let a doctor know asap as it needs swift treatment. Ditto if the skin on his back starts to get hard. Good luck

[ItsAllGoneToHellAgain]

Obviously it’s just me thinking it’s strange to allow/teach a child to pour water on creatures for no reason.

[ChristmasKraken]

Depends on how fast they're going...

[sadsack78]

I think he'll be fine OP.

Kids put all kinds of bugs/ worms/ pebbles in their mouth and survive.

He's probably more at risk of catching something at soft play etc than from a snail!

[Chatillon]

Escargots, embrassez-les, ils sont magnifiques!

🐌🍽🍷

[Cherrysoup]

Lungworm is in some snails and can be transmitted to humans (we worm the dogs against this, especially puppies who eat anything). I don’t want to panic anyone, but it can be serious but unlikely to be caught by sticking his tongue in the water.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Indeed.
But also it can be treated so it’s not as if anyone would be doooooomed in the unlikely event they ate a snail and got it.

[mightymam]

@Hamfish

There is a snail borne disease called slimeitis which is transmitted by saliva. If your son starts to emit slime do let a doctor know asap as it needs swift treatment. Ditto if the skin on his back starts to get hard. Good luck

😂😂

[ladydimitrescu]

Mine stuck one in his mouth which I had to retrieve. He gagged, I gagged, whole thing was terrible - the snail lived and my child was unharmed. Feral.