A young mum who became a giant snail breeder when her husband left her has become a massive social media star in a bizarre twist.

Kris Buckley was devastated when her partner walked out on her and their desperately ill newborn baby after blowing all their money on gambling.

Now seven years later Kris really has something to shellebrate after becoming obsessed with huge, hand-sized tropical snails.

Kris – from the city of Munich, Bavaria State, Germany – has become an expert on slimy molluscs with a collection of more than 5,000.

Her devotion to her brood – especially favourites Guenter, Chantal and Achmed – has drawn nearly 180,000 followers on TikTok.

Kris tells how she and her then newborn son Milan were abandoned while they spent nine months in hospital for a series of ops to correct a birth defect.

Milan had been born with gastroschisis, a hole in his abdominal wall.

She explained how her husband simply left them saying: “He was addicted to gambling, cleaned out my apartment.”

And she only developed her interest in giant snails to fill her time while she was waiting for her son to get better.

She said: “I thought I need something I’m not responsible for, came up with snails as pets. They’re happy if you just leave them alone.”

Kris then began breeding giant West African snails – Archachatina marginata ovum Nigeria XXL.

The huge molluscs can grow up to 20 centimetres (eight inches) in length and can live for more than ten years.

Kris said: “In 2020 more and more people were buying snails, I was already on social media, I was texted by girls whose snails were sick.

“I wanted to help them and show them how to take care of it.”

She recalled how she thought at the time: “Other snail sellers drive a lot of crap on the net, send the animals with DHL, then they arrive injured or even dead.

“If I really want this, I have to do it myself.”

Soon the influencer cleared out her own bedroom to use as a snail breeding space.

She told how she slept on a yoga mat in her sitting room for a month, until her business boomed and she was able to get an office with a specially designed terrarium.

Kris said: “I reinvest everything I earn.”

She continued: “Some snails can fertilise themselves, they are hermaphrodites.

“Sometimes they lay hundreds of eggs. If you don’t dispose of them, you’ll have a snail invasion.”

Recommending a different species – Archachatina rhodostoma Benin – to beginners, she said: “They hardly have any growth problems.

“What they don’t like, however, is when the soil is too wet. You just have to make sure the humidity is right.”

She then emphasised the positive aspects of keeping snails and pets by saying: “They’re pets for lazy people.

“They don’t like a lot of maintenance and change. The more you leave them alone, the better it usually goes.”

Now Kris is hoping to take her love for snails even higher with the release of a special song dedicated to them.

She said: “My snail song will be out soon. I’m curious to see how it goes down with people.”