Video : my margie eating soup :D

[Lady Escargoth]

A video on my blog, of one of my giant snails, eating seeds soup

ladyescargoth.blogspot.fr/2012/04/video-my-archachatina-marginata-ovum.html

She's an albino archachatina marginata ovum, her name is Haarackmorah and she is 1 year and 9 months old in the video. Her shell is 11 cm long.
You can see her feeding on finely ground seeds (peas, quinoa, oat, wheat...) with milk and cuttlefish bone powder (for calcium). She absolutely loves it and so do my other snails !!
This lady was so dirty after eating that she was allowed a good shower O.o

Thanks for watching <3

[pinkunicorn]

Ooh that is a very nice view into her mouth, to see how it works. It's a bit different depending on the species. I also find it funny you are feeding her like a baby!

How have they tolerated the milk btw? It's not a natural food to them, yet appears very palatable which usually in the case of snails and slugs equals something they find very nutritious. They should develop an aversion to unfit foods.

[Lady Escargoth]

Thank you Pinkunicorn

I just love to feed them that way sometimes, and they seem to apreciate it because they don't "lose track" of the food as they often do when just crawling their way into it... O.o

As for the milk, I've done it a couple of times because it's full of calcium and nutrients, and also because it seems they find the soup more attractive with milk in it, more creamy and tasty probably, than with just water. But if you think it might be harmful to them, I'll avoid milk from now on. Anyway, they seem all right after having some so... ?

Thank you for watching !

[pinkunicorn]

It doesn't seem like it is harmful to them, despite what one might think considering it isn't natural. But of course, there's something called the natural fallacy, a logical fallacy a lot of people make assuming what is natural is automatically good, and also that only natural things can be good. That's of course bunkum, considering many poisons are very natural and dangerous and many medicines are very "unnatural" and save lives, for example. The research has shown snails and especially slugs to be very good at picking out what's good and what's not good for them, and they tend to refuse foods at least lacking in the nutrients they need. So as odd as milk sounds as snail food and it's not something I'd think about giving to them if I had to pick out obvious snail foods, it doesn't appear to be harmful given just how much your snails enjoy eating it, especially if this wasn't the first time. I need to experiment with this myself. After all, all foods are just nutrients in the end and the only possibly problematic nutrient in milk I can think of is lactose, and maybe casein. I actually read somewhere about snail digestive enzymes and they had a few more than humans have, which means they are able to gain nourishment from everything humans are and more.

[Lady Escargoth]

Well, my snails never appeared to suffer from milk when I put some in their soup, somehow it seemed to be even more appealing to them.

But in doubt, I just stopped adding milk into their dishes.
I don't believe it's necessary, so why should I take the risk?


They love soaked seeds so much as they are... I just though milk would be another source of proteins ans calcium.

But of course that dish, even with water only, remains a treat, and I give them just the right amount of soup for them to enjoy it and benefit from the nutrients of the various seeds, without them suffering from indigestion
If I let them go, they wouldn't stop eating at all

[starcrazy19]

Ohhh that is wonderful! I never saw their mouths like that before. I watch mine munching away and wonder whats going on under there - it's always surprising when I slide my finger under their head to prise them off the glass and feel the rigid 'teeth' in their head, they are so soft and squidgy everywhere else! I diddn't realise they had a lower jaw type bit aswell though :) Thanks for the share!

[pinkunicorn]

If they didn't appear to get any negative reactions from the milk, no reason not to give them some if they like it! They might not get it in the wild but if they eat it with good appetite... why not? Or yoghurt, which has had the lactose broken down.

I forgot about this but now that I'm reminded I have to try some yoghurt on a few test subjects. I have some plain Greek yoghurt in the fridge...

[Lady Escargoth]

Thank you very much Starcrazy
I discovered when I was a kid that snails seemed to like being fed this way sometimes! It has always been a lot of fun, and moreover, they don't lose track of the food as sometimes, when they eat their food, they carry on crawling a little on it and they end up losing it

So Pinkunicorn, I have no special opinion on milk for snails, that didn't seem to hurt them but we never know what happens inside...
Anyway, a little milk in a dish, sometimes, just for the taste Why not !
I have never tried yogurt so far, I thought it might taste a little sour for them, but I might try one day. Tell us if you try it with your snails !

[malacophile]

That video is the best demonstration of a snail's mouth that I've ever seen! It sort of reminds me of an octopus' mouth. It looks kinda beak-ish. And I love the way he just keeps chowing the food like nobody's business. He's getting fed and that's all that matters to him!

[Lady Escargoth]

ooh Thanks a lot Malacophile ! How kind of you
I love your description of my snail ^^' So realistic !
Yes their mouths look beak-ish, I suppose it's because of their "radula", and it seems to work like a... conveyor belt? (dunno if that's the correct word ^^')
Thank you for watching !

[Lady Escargoth]

I 'm going back a little on this old message of mine, if you don't mind.

Just to say that I'm a little puzzled, finaly, about giving cereals to our snails.
They seeem to love it, and as far as it is not pasta, they don't die from eating them.

But I've read here : www.archachatina-en.wbs.cz/Feed.html
that snail could not digest cereal flours in fact.

Would it be possible that what I thought was a little nap after being full were in fact internal suffering??
I dunno, but, even though I love to cook for my snails, I might avoid using cereals from now on...

Any suggestion or thought about that?
Thank you !