Hello.  I've been looking for information about raising land snails, and
this is the closest thing to an appropriate forum I can find.
 I'm not really a shell person, but I keep snakes, and at some point I'd
really like to be able to get some snail-eating snakes... which means first
I need a colony of snails going for food.  What I'm looking for in a snail
is one that gets pretty large (I think snails with shells around 1/2-1" in
diameter'd be about right for feeding these guys, and I'd rather have snails
that are significantly larger than that as adults, as then I wouldn't have
to wait near as long for them to mature), breeds often, grows quickly, and
can be kept easily.  I've found a few snails locally, but I'd assume that
since I live in Indiana any local snails would breed seasonally, which'd
probably be a pain to deal with.  I've also looked at aquatic snails at
local pet stores and such, but I don't know if they'd be accepted as food,
and all the decently sized ones I've seen have had opercula, which I doubt
the snakes could deal with.  So, does anyone know what snails'd be good to
use for this sort of thing?  And where on earth can I get live snails?
Thanks.

 Patrick Alexander