Pet Snails? <3

[QueenOdi]

I was just wondering... does anyone have pet snails? :3

Before you say, "eww, slimey gross things", you should actually google them and you'd see they're just as good as any pet. I mean, yeah their slimey, but they're not gross .

I have always been attracted to animals people consider 'boring' or 'slow' or even 'dumb', but these animals are really fun. I had 20 semi-aquatic turtles in my old backyard pond(which I moved from, so I kept the momma and sold the rest ), which people said were boring, but I <3 them so much, their my fav animal :3 .

In that same pond, I had started out w/ 2 aquatic snails, but they multiplied and over ran the pond until I got snail eating fish, so they ate most of the babies. I kept the oldest one when I moved, but I think it died of a lonely heart </3 .

I literally have a tank full of common and spiral shelled land snails that are just so cute :3 . I actually have 6 big ones in a tall rectangular "tank" that I keep oppoasite my bed, next to my big momma turtle, Sora :3 .

Their names are:
Crunchy & Munchy(Their twins I think)
Beau (my funny one :3)
Jazz(The sleepy one)
Klutz(self-explanitory)
And Vi (The Alpha male-technically)

They all have personalities.


I had a seventh one, but he aestivated and passed away .

I was wondering if anyone has had/ has pet snails, whether they be aquatic or land? If not, they're actually quite nice pets to have and I heard that some scientist want to protect snails(from pesticides/etc).

Don't be afraid to get one, common misconceptions people learn as children are that, they suck blood and they stick stuff in you or w/e, but it's not true. They do have tongues with teeth, but they're no where sharp or hard enough to do us harm, and they only eat plants/decaying leaves/fruits.

~Fun Fact~
Did you know snails are noisey eaters? They scrape their food with their tongues, making a 'tearing' or 'purring' sound. :3 (I know, cause Crunchy and Munchy are -always- eating lol)

[Bowyn Aerrow]

We have the Northern California garden snails:



They are actually not native to the area, they were imported for snail farms for food - escargot. Some how they managed to escape their pens and they pretty much are every where. I imagine the Snail Riots of the 1890's, hordes of imprisoned snails slowly over coming the human guards and warden, slowly killing them one slimy inch at a time, then running as fast as they could from the towers and bright lights to find hiding places here and there, slowly taking over the whole state as the breed and ran at 0.00758 miles (40 feet [12.2 meters]) per hour.

They are considered a pest.

[Only registered members can see links. ]

These little critters climb up the wall of the house and onto the roof, they have even climbed through the open windows at night - if it weren't for the screens we would have snails inside.

To walk through the garden paths at night I take a large flashlight, slowly tip-toeing around dozens of these speedy creatures.

Now I do not keep them as pets, but I do 'fight' them to keep the out of the garden. Unlike most gardeners I do not pick them and kill them, I collect them in a bucket and take them to the back of the property to set them out on the edge. It takes a few days for them to roam back to the garden.

Thankfully I have friends in high places, the crows. They tend to love escargot, so I let the crows have their place here. They do less damage in the garden than the snails.

[Nick9]

Originally Posted by QueenOdi

Don't be afraid to get one, common misconceptions people learn as children are that, they suck blood and they stick stuff in you or w/e, but it's not true.

You can't be serious! Some people really think that???

We used to love to play with garden snails as kids. Their "tongues" are so funny when they try to explore your skin Even now I bring them to my garden sometimes, because I just love them LOL I don't grow vegetable so they can't do any damage. I don't like slugs though, we have plenty of them.

I used to have water snails too (ampularia). But then we started to keep ancistrus in our aquariums and they don't quite like each other...

[Rawr]

Snails arnt too bad.

Hi,
Firstly rwar... Your a piss taker with that picture lmao.... My mum had african land snails but i personally wont have any because i have dogs and snails which become slugs outside their shell have toxins and i value my dogs more than i do any snail/slug... I wouldnt destroy one for fun i just dont like them too much but i wont go all crappy on people who do

Kindest regards

zeon x

[72jay]

I've kept snails along with the fish in aquariums before.

Originally Posted by QueenOdi

common misconceptions people learn as children are that, they suck blood and they stick stuff in you or w/e, but it's not true. They do have tongues with teeth, but they're no where sharp or hard enough to do us harm,

]
Actually, while its true they don't suck blood, larger snails do have mouths strong enough where they can break skin causing a cut what would bleed...

One other known fact about some snails:
They are both male and female...so it only takes one & you can end up with tons more.

[QueenOdi]

Originally Posted by 72jay

I've kept snails along with the fish in aquariums before.


Actually, while its true they don't suck blood, larger snails do have mouths strong enough where they can break skin causing a cut what would bleed...

One other known fact about some snails:
They are both male and female...so it only takes one & you can end up with tons more.

I wouldn't know about the really large snails, as our's only get as big as a newborns fist (couldn't think of anything else ), but I've heard that the very large african land snails don't usually break skin, as it's not edible to them. It could happen perhaps, but I don't think the odds are very high.

Yeah, I found out about the hermophroditic aspect to snails when I went from having one to 4 . But they for some reason don't like to inbreed, so I haven't got anymore... yet I got rid of my little garden snails.

These are my Cepeas :3 (2/4)

IMG_0555.jpg

IMG_0557.jpg

@Rawr, to cute >.> my snails are jealous. If only they weren't profoundly blind.

[Nick9]

LOL

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/...8ae7d9859e.jpg

[Only registered members can see links. ]

I like the small garden snails better LOL

[mrk2010]

Originally Posted by zeon

Hi,
Firstly rwar... Your a piss taker with that picture lmao.... My mum had african land snails but i personally wont have any because i have dogs and snails which become slugs outside their shell have toxins and i value my dogs more than i do any snail/slug... I wouldnt destroy one for fun i just dont like them too much but i wont go all crappy on people who do

Kindest regards

zeon x

This made me giggle, snails can't become slugs as they are different species although they are both gastropods, a snails shell is bonded to its body and it has most of its major organs inside it so if you remove it it will die. In terms of toxins, wild slugs and snails can have things called lungworms inside them and can have them in their trails. That's why if a dog eats one or comes into contact with them they have a risk of lungworms which kills the dog. If you buy a snail as a pet it has probably been reared in clean conditions and doesn't have the lungworm what wild snails do,CEO it should be perfectly safe to have the two as pets.

[Kiid]

New Zealand carnivorous snail: The kauri snail n.n

[ToddYoung]

Patricia Highsmith (famous suspense writer) used to keep pet snails. In one of her books - Deep Water - the main character keeps them in tanks in his garage.

[72jay]

Originally Posted by QueenOdi

I wouldn't know about the really large snails, as our's only get as big as a newborns fist (couldn't think of anything else ), but I've heard that the very large african land snails don't usually break skin, as it's not edible to them. It could happen perhaps, but I don't think the odds are very high.

Actually even the common sold here aquarium snails can break human skin (if they're one of the types that get bigger than one inch (2.54cm) or so)...but its not like a snail is gonna go attack you or something LOL

Do have to be somewhat careful - aquarium snails will sometimes go after sleeping fish though (I never had it happen, but it does sometimes) ... and ofcourse even the small ones will eat a fish that has died (that I've seen plenty of times)

--
any of the naturally occurring snails (both land & water types) I've seen here have been small - less than a half inch.

[QueenOdi]

~Update~

Lookie, Lookie .

Vi has a lip now- which means he can haz bay bez


His Shell (Otala Lactea(Milk Snail)


The baby Lin(A rescue)



Vi(the large one), Jazz(second largest) and Lin(The baby :3)- Late night feeding!



Vi and Lin are best pals. Lin always rides on Vi :3


These are my snail pals.
I have 5 Otala Lactea; Biggest to smallest;
Vi
Jazz
Tobias
Pi
Lin

I thought they were Cepaeas, cause they look similar, except we don't get them here.

Also, I found a nearly 5inch Detritivorous Slug and a Wolf Snail(Carnivorous Snail )

Rosy Wolf Snail.


I also found a Snail species that orginated here and can only be found here (except now, they've been sent to a london research center for repopulation, because the Wolf Snails keep eating them ) Three of them are extinct(hopefully not), and the smallest one is barely surviving. They're protected and extremely rare, so I couldn't even touch it and I didn't have my iPod with me to take a pic . They are an ancient island species and for some reason have been around for hundreds of years and grew very large, close to the Giant African Land Snails, but weren't pointed. Wolf Snails were introduced in 1920 and ate all the snails . They were brought in to kill off the Otala Lactea, but they're very resourceful.

But I googled a pic of what one looks like anyway:3

Poecilozonites circumfirmatus


[Only registered members can see links. ]

There you go

[Rainbowmum]

Go Vi , lots of babies.

[pellaz]

boy friends come and go but pet(s).... tend to stick around.