Helix aspersa can be used as an indicator of environmental contamination, as its shell acts as a site for deposition of toxic heavy metals, such as lead.

    Helix snails prefer cool, damp environments, as they easily suffer moisture loss. Snails are most active at night and after rainfall. During unfavorable conditions, a snail will remain inside its shell, usually under rocks or other hiding places, to avoid being discovered by predators. In dry climates snails will naturally congregate near water sources, including artificial sources such as waste-water outlets of air conditioners.

    The common garden snail (Helix aspersa) is herbivorous. It feeds on numerous types of fruit trees, vegetable crops, garden flowers, and cereals. These snails are able to digest most vegetation including carrots and lettuce. They also have a specialized crop of symbiotic bacteria that aid in their digestion, especially with the breakdown of the polysaccharide cellulose into simple sugars.

    Many predators, both specialist and generalist, feed on snails. It is a food source for many other animals, including small mammals, many bird species, lizards, frogs, centipedes, predatory insects, and predatory terrestrial snails.

    Some animals, such as the song thrush, break the shell of the snail by hammering it against a hard object, such as stone, in order to expose its edible insides. Other predators, such as some species of frogs, circumvent the need to break snail shells by simply swallowing the snail whole, shell and all.

Humans also pose great dangers to snails in the wild. Pollution and habitat destruction have caused the extinction of a number of snail species in recent years.