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If you are looking for terrestrial snails that live on land, I just don't see a lot of them in New Jersey. I occasionally find snails when I am turning over rotten logs and rocks scrounging around for panfish bait, but it's not very often. One of the reasons slugs are more successful in this area than land snails is that they don't have the same Calcium requirements as snails, so they can live in are less abundant in Calcium.

If you can't find enough land snails, maybe you can switch the topic to slugs. They are just like snails, but without the shell.

If you are looking for the aquatic snails, you just have to look carefully in the mud of shallow muddy ponds and you'll see little trails.

Some places off the top of my head where I have seen a lot of aquatic snails:

Surprise Lake in the Watchung Reservation has tons of snails. The water is lowered for dam repairs, but if you have a strong pair of muck boots, you can find a lot them in the shallow muddy pools.
The rock dam at Round Valley has a lot of snails. They are easiest to see when they are attached to the big underwater rocks that make up the dam. Especially the one that separates the reservoir from the swimming lake.

You can keep aquatic snails just like fish. Just make sure the water has a basic pH, or you will dissolve their shell. It' best when you use the specific water that they came from in their aquarium.

Good luck with your project, and let us know how it goes.

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