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Post by malacophile on Feb 6, 2013 21:12:48 GMT
Great pics! I can't wait to see the ones from under the microscope. When I looked at some slug eggs recently under the right lighting, I was fascinated to notice that it looked like the little embryos were "swimming" around inside of the egg! They were so cute!
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 7, 2013 22:00:45 GMT
Thanks. Yeah, it's really interesting to follow the development of these guys. If you wanna do a swap later in the spring I will have some leatherleaf babies available! Just git my second batch of eggs, too. Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards Attachments:
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 7, 2013 22:28:12 GMT
And here's little Alfie's tasting yet again new mushroom flavours with good appetite. I'm so glad I have access to up to 10 different fresh mushrooms regularly from the smallish supermarket around the corner, instead of just the normal champignons or button shrooms. Actual forest mushrooms! Oyster shrooms! Shiitake! Chantarelles! Black trumpets! Sluggy's paradise. Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards Attachments:
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 7, 2013 22:39:55 GMT
Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards Attachments:
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 7, 2013 22:40:35 GMT
Sent from my GT-I9300 using proboards Attachments:
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 8, 2013 8:52:55 GMT
I just realised what is it about the L.cinereoniger babes that makes them look so funny compared to the almost-same looking dero babes: the tentacles. These guys have HUUUUUUUUGE tentacles, a bit out of proportion to the rest of the body. The eyetips especially, in the very first pics I took, they are so big it's silly. But oh! So cute.
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Post by vallery on Feb 8, 2013 9:18:07 GMT
Thanks pinkunicorn , I am going to try out some of the different mushrooms you mentioned for my sluggies. By the way they are adorable ;D. vallery
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Post by malacophile on Feb 8, 2013 17:11:52 GMT
Thanks. Yeah, it's really interesting to follow the development of these guys. If you wanna do a swap later in the spring I will have some leatherleaf babies available! Just git my second batch of eggs, too. Oh, yes please! I'd love to have some leatherleaves! Alfie's lil'uns are so adorable it almost hurts. Their eyes are so big and googly!
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 8, 2013 19:14:48 GMT
I tried to get some pics under the microscope but I actually get better pics with my cellphone camera! The light coming from underside gives a too washed out image. Attachments:
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 8, 2013 19:15:51 GMT
Another. Attachments:
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 15, 2013 1:22:56 GMT
I wonder if there's yet more eggs coming... this is the fattest leatherleaf I've seen so far. They are supposed to have a wave shaped curve, flatter sides that raise up a teeny bit at the edges of the body and a little bump in the middle. Well, this sluggy is just bloated and shapeless. Very pregnant! Attachments:
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Post by malacophile on Feb 15, 2013 3:42:41 GMT
Those are some fecund slugs! About how many eggs to these guys lay in a clutch?
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 15, 2013 14:35:32 GMT
I counted 50+ in the first batch and 40+ in the second. 40+ have developed in the first, hard to say yet of the second; they seem to be developing a bit slower than the first batch.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 18, 2013 20:39:59 GMT
First ones have hatched. Attachments:
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Post by vallery on Feb 18, 2013 23:07:33 GMT
Congratulations pinkunicorn! vallery
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 19, 2013 1:41:45 GMT
Thanks!
You can actually see the eyes of some unhatched one in the pic, staring through the egg. These guys' eyes are visible all the time, even when tentacles are pulled in. They are really cute. Weird though!
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Post by malacophile on Feb 19, 2013 5:19:33 GMT
Oh, SQUEE! ;D They're quite possibly the cutest little sluglets I've ever seen! They look like ultra-fat little pieces of orzo pasta.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 19, 2013 14:48:39 GMT
They look very confused! Six still in eggs, staring at me with their googly eyes... the rest pile up for comfort. Attachments:
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Post by vallery on Feb 19, 2013 19:17:59 GMT
Aw! Doesn't it just break your heart them staring up at you with their little googly eyes. It's a good thing they don't behave like ducklings when they first hatch and the first person they see they follow around . They are so cute pinkunicorn. vallery Modified: Question: pinkunicorn do all species of slug like to eat mushrooms?
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 19, 2013 23:09:51 GMT
A lot of slugs like mushrooms but not all. But it's safe to try for all of them. I got a third batch of eggs, also some pomatia eggs (the previous didn't hatch). I wonder if I should freeze the leatherleaves this time... the second batch has already developed quite well and all of the first batch are out of eggs. These guys will need loving homes eventually
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Post by malacophile on Feb 20, 2013 0:46:46 GMT
Question: pinkunicorn do all species of slug like to eat mushrooms? Best of all, they appear to be able to eat any and all mushrooms, including the ones that would kill humans or make us sick. This opens up a huge variety of options as far as free food for your slugs and snails. I have some unknown mushroom variety growing in one of my bins that the little guys positively adore. The 'shrooms barely have time to put out spores before they're devoured. On top of that, when spring arrives, I'll be able to pluck any mushrooms I find from around the neighborhood and give them to them. Even better, there's a gourmet mushroom producer not 200 feet from my apartment building. They regularly toss not-so-fresh 'shrooms into the yard waste dumpster in the alley, and this also serves as a food source for my little ones. Combine that with dumpster diving at grocery stores and you've got yourself some happy gastropods!
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Post by vallery on Feb 20, 2013 3:32:33 GMT
Thank You pinkunicorn and malacophile for your answers about mushrooms for my slugs. vallery
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 20, 2013 9:37:16 GMT
Yeah, especially the slugs that eat mushrooms as their main meal like L.cinereoniger. They are very fond of the most poisonous shrooms in Finnish nature, along with the ones people like to pick. It's a good thing people know this slug and are proud that the biggest land slug is native to Finland, so mostly mushroom pickers just remove the dining slugs insteadof killing them. And the biggest individuals end up in the newspapers with photo evidence.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 23, 2013 18:28:15 GMT
Mommy and a baby. Not even the size of momma's eyestalk. Attachments:
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 25, 2013 0:20:41 GMT
Poor Ruby, my granny slug that has outlived the averages of his species by almost half a year, has a big bulge on the left side if his body now. There's been a small bulge for some time but still he's been eating well. I wonder if it's his time soon. Dunno really what to do about the bulge, could I drain it somehow with a sterile needle or would that make him suffer more? He's just a plain Spanish slug but since he was left alone I've gotten really fond of him, hoping that he keeps going and going. So far he has. I hope he's not in pain. He does seem to move around a lot. I see his thicker than usual slime everywhere in the tank. Attachments:
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