How Old Is Gary the Snail From Spongebob Squarepants?

We’re always pleased as punch to bring you information on the Bikini Bottom population.

We’ve talked about Sandy Cheeks, Pearl, Mr. Krabs, Patrick, and the absorbent, yellow, porous guy himself, SpongeBob.

Stephen Hillenburg created one of the best, most enduring canons of our era. There is not an ounce of sarcasm in that.

Are you ready, kids? Get your Krabby patty snack ready as we give you the details on the iconic Krusty Krab fry cook’s beloved pet snail: Gary the Snail.

Gary’s Age, Snail Facts, and More

He may not have a high school diploma like Pearl, own a boating school like Mrs. Puff, or run a failing restaurant like Plankton does the Chum Bucket, but Gary the Snail made his way into our hearts through three little words, “Meow, meow, meow.” As Sandy says, he has such a way with words.

Did you know?: Gary’s voice actor is Tom Kenny, the same person who does SpongeBob’s voice.

What we really want to know is if he records new meows for each episode. Maybe there’s a meow bank situation.

How Old Is Gary?

There are no firm confirmations on the life and status of Gary from Spongebob. If we look at real-world snail biology, we can hazard some guesses.

Firstly, some well-cared-for snails can live up to fifteen years. As we’ve mentioned in other articles, time is not elapsing quickly, or at all, in the SpongeBob SquarePants universe; otherwise, Gary would have died at least five years ago or so.

Thankfully, he yet lives! Secondly, snails take a year to fully mature. We’ve never seen Gary (in non-flashbacks) as anything but an adult snail.

Keep these snail facts in mind. (Plus, the fact that Sponge on the Run is NOT canon; too many details are nonsensical.)

We can’t consider his birthday to be in 1999, the year SpongeBob premiered, since Gary was not a baby in the pilot.

Likewise, we cannot consider all 23 years between the premier and today; else, the whole cast would be middle-aged, elderly, or dead.

Gary from SpongeBob is between 1 and 10 years old. He debuted as a mature snail, is still alive, and does not look like the actual elderly snails that appear on the show.

So, Gary, the snail from SpongeBob, has to be in the age range of healthy adult snails.

Is Gary a Boy or a Girl?

This is a simple question with a simple answer. Gary is a boy. He is an adult male sea snail. There are no details or happenings that suggest otherwise.

Official Nickelodeon sources have used “he” when talking about Gary.

One such source also states that “Gary is a natural musician with an amazing sense of rhythm – he keeps a swarm of wild dancing jelly fish bouncing to the beat.”