My Slugs N' Snails

[malacophile]

Well, my little mollusc family isn't terribly fancy or unusual. They're all common local species, but they're all special to me. Due to the sheer number of slugs and snails I have, I didn't photograph all of them, but I did get some good shots. I even have some weird ones.





This little Lehmannia valentiana hatched not even a week ago. I had to wait for him to grow a bit before I could get a decent picture! There's an American penny and an adult valentiana for size comparison.



Slug huddle! It's said that they do this to conserve moisture, but in the environment they're in, they shouldn't need to. I'm convinced they just like each other.



Two Deroceras reticulatum and a Discus rotundatus.



And again. For some reason, the reticulatum slugs like climbing over the snails. I see them do it regularly, and seemingly on purpose.





An adult D. reticulatum. I'm not sure why, but this guy has a split tail. He's able to move both tips independently.



D. rotundatus young'un (I think).



L. valentiana with almost no markings. Someone said that molluscs couldn't be obese, but I beg to differ. This guy's main body portion spills over his foot like giant fat rolls.

These guys aren't pets. They're wild specimens I photographed back in 2005 when I took a road trip to Eugene, Oregon. Seeing how difficult it is to get hold of anything even remotely exotic in the US, I'm now kicking myself for not bringing any of them back!



Unknown snail, but I suspect it's Cepaea nemoralis. (Edit: Appears to actually be a Monadenia fidelis)



Banana slug, Ariolimax species.

[shaydeesnail]

What lovely pictures Do you know what kind of snail is in the fourth picture?
I don't think that those are D. rotundatus though, they look like they may be some kind of Oxychilus or something similar.

[malacophile]

Thanks! I'm becoming less certain of what type of snail that is (and my others, as well). I had thought it was D. rotundatus, but now I'm thinking he might be Neohelix albolabris. I'd be thrilled if he was an Oxhchilus, but his shell doesn't look quite as smooth as the ones in the images I looked at. Identifying these small brown snails is quite difficult.

[shaydeesnail]

From looking at pictures, he does look a lot like Neohelix albolabris, I've never seen one in person myself though!

[pinkunicorn]

I'd say too big for Oxy. Neohelix could be a hit.

As for the pics: shluuuggiees! <3

That two-tailed one is funny. Deroceras-slugs are fun to breed as their life cycle isn't very long and as a result there's often some mutations present, which might not make it in the wild. I had uni-tentacled slugs in the previous generation and now I have albinos. Planning to separate the albinos to see if I can get an albino line out of them.

And yeah, slug piles. There's always slug piles. They're social slugs.

[malacophile]

I finally got some banana slugs! ;D Their names are Quill (the largest) and Benji (the smaller). Quill got his name because the tip of his tail reminds me of a feather.







I'm hoping they'll have babies eventually, as these guys are a delight to have around. They're quite docile and don't seem to mind being held or stroked. Despite what I've read, I've actually found their slime to be quite manageable and mess-free. Most of it (and any debris) wads up on the tip of their tail as they move. They seem to clean this off periodically by eating it.

I also got some pictures of L. valentiana babies. They've been hatching left and right! Not sure how many I have now, but at this point, I think I may need to start freezing some eggs.



This little guy, who I've affectionately named Mr. Stubbs, perplexes me. He looks like L. valentiana, but lacks the telltale stripes. In fact, as you can see in the photo, he looks spotted. Then there's his weird little "tail". It's just a stub! His foot extends out from under it. I'm wondering if he just may have lost it to an injury, but there's no sign of damage. The area is flawless. Could he possibly be another species?





imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/stubl.jpg/

[pinkunicorn]

Oh that stubby tail is peculiar. It doesn't bother him though? It looks like he was born with a malformation.

I've had a few ill slugs that ate their own tail, one L.maximus managing to get the entire keel part off at nights when I wasn't watching. So he was a stubby slug after I finally got him to stop it. Sadly he later died of a radula flipping out of his mouth and minor gut extrusion (I've seen it a lot in my slugs and also have found wild D.invadens slugs with gut extrusion, so I think slugs are very suspect to it for some reason). He did OK without his tail until the other problems, though.

I loooove the bananananas! It's one of those species I would love to get, along with the blue (and purple/green) Carpathian slugs. They are so pretty!

[pinkunicorn]

Oh do the bananas have a slime gland at the tip of the tails btw? You said the slime and dirt collects there in a blob. It's an interesting difference between many Arionoids and Limacoids. I have one little Arion hortensis that doesn't appear to have the slime gland though. My Spanish slugs all had it, too. Well, one's still live and kicking though he probably should have died naturally by now! He's a super granny slug.

[shaydeesnail]

Awh those banana slugs are sweet! Silly stubby slug If it's not bothering him at all I wouldn't worry, I'd say he was probably born with it

[malacophile]

I didn't know that any slugs had slime glands on their tails! That would explain the slightly odd-looking little nubs on the bananas' tail tips, and that's also right where all the excess slime and debris accumulate at.

Fortunately, Mr. Stubbs' condition doesn't seem to cause him any discomfort. Aside from being a bit short, he acts like any other slug.

So your Deroceras die that way, too, Pinkunicorn? Every slug death I've had, which is so far limited to 4, has been a Deroceras. One chewed himself on his mantle until you could see the vestigial shell plate, suffered an extrusion a day later. Two more were stiff, not moving and was barely breathing. Another chewed off the entire left half of his tail. He was also found stiff and unresponsive the next day with what I believe were the beginnings of an extrusion showing. I put them all in the freezer to put them out of their misery, the poor things.

Is it just me, or do Deroceras not seem very hardy? I'm even noticed some of my other Deroceras are losing weight and becoming slow.

Edit: As if having my Deroceras dropping like flies isn't tragic enough, I looked inside the Banana slug tub only to find Quill dead. He looks like he just died in his sleep. I'm thinking that he may have been too stressed. When I looked at him yesterday morning, he looked like he'd been chewed on his back. I don't get it, because he was very active, and he ate and pooped. Now poor Benji is out a buddy until I can afford more banana slugs.

[malacophile]

Sadly, poor Benji has also passed away. I figure that perhaps going through the mail was too much for them. The person I bought them from is sending me a replacement, but I'm worried this one will die, too. Anyone here experienced with caring for banana slugs?

[pinkunicorn]

So sorry about the loss.

I'm unsure of the bananas, but the Deroceras slugs have a short lifespan I've learned. They live about half a year if lucky, max one year. Best thing with them is to allow them to breed liberally so the population replenished itself. I usually have two generations at any given time, and of course a ton of slugs! I let some hatch from every batch of eggs to keep the gene pool a little variable, and of course adopt the slugs I find outside.

If they are chewing themselves try more protein like fish food or raw, really fresh meat. I've had that problem with some leopard slugs and a few I got back into life by separating them and giving fishfood and meat. Also: mushrooms are often a sluggy favourite. You could try a few types of mushrooms.

[malacophile]

Thanks for the condolences.

I've been giving boiled egg, cooked chicken and mushrooms (oddly, they don't like portabello) and I haven't encountered any more self-chewing. And walnuts! Boy, do they love nuts. They chow those foods like they're all starving! Oh, you should have seen the eyestalk bending and the frenzied rasping! It's so easy to tell when they really like something. ;D

I keep adopting slugs from outside, too. I went out for a walk yesterday and came home with over a dozen new slimy friends. They're like potato chips. Once you start, you can't stop. I'm still hoping to find myself an elusive Limax maximus. They're in my area, but not very common.

[malacophile]

I went to visit my parents in Central Illinois for Christmas and, like anyone addicted to gastropods, I naturally had to go hunting for them. The dead of winter be damned! The area was rich with slug- and snail-friendly hiding spots, and I picked up some great finds. Here are some of the newest additions to my slimy army.

A slate-grey Dusky Arion (Arion subfuscus)



An example of his orange belly



A Flamed Tigersnail (Anguispira alternata)



His orange-ish foot



A Slender Ambersnail (Oxyloma elegans)



The biggest Deroceras reticulatum I've ever seen, measuring at a little over two inches (5cm+)



Light grey Dusky Arion with a pale grey belly



A. alternata and A. subfuscus



This guy is a mystery. I have four or five more of them. Can anyone take a stab at what he is? His shell is indented on the underside like a belly button. I think it's referred to as 'umbellate'.

[vallery]

Wow! malacophile amazing photographs . Great collection.
vallery

[vallery]

malacophile I have arions with white bellies and 2 with orange bellies. Do you know why the difference. Why the orange belly?
vallery

[bronwen]

What a lovely way to spend Christmas... snailing and slugging and seeing your family! lol
Great photos, thanks for sharing

[pinkunicorn]

What's the size of A.subfuscus? I had one lovely little black Arion like that that I ID'd as A.hortensis. He was just a little bigger than a Deroceras slug on average, much smaller when he arrived as an extra with a Limax maximus from a friend. Sadly he recently passed away. My one last A.vulgaris whom I call the granny slug just keeps thriving though he should be dead by now. I hope he keeps thriving of course! He will see the new year, with his diet of fish food (all he eats nowadays, but lots of it).

[malacophile]

Thanks, everyone! ;D

The Arions are pretty small. The small black one is about an inch (2.5cm) when he's sliming along. I haven't seen the other in action yet, but I'd estimate about an inch and a half (3.8cm). They seem very shy, but they're so cute! They remind me of banana slugs with some of their behaviors, including eating the bunched-up slime and debris from their tails.

It appears that what I believed to be A. subfuscus was indeed A. hortensis after all! I didn't even know that they could be found where I got them from. Well, I'm certainly not complaining! As for the orange coloration, I assume he's just a different morph from the lighter grey one. It could also be something in their diet. I know that in northern Wisconsin, there are orange slugs there that leave an orange residue on your hands. I've heard people say it's from the acidic environment. There are a ton of peat bogs up there.

Oh, and here's another little guy I found that I only now managed to get a picture of. I'm thinking that he may be a Gastrocopta armifera, but with these guys, it's so hard to tell. He can't be more than half a centimeter long.

[tsrebel]

Great pictures! I'd love to see some Neohelix albolabris. Are they common where you live?

[malacophile]

Thanks! ;D Yes, the N. albolabris are very common. In fact, they're the only snail I seem to be able to find in my immediate area. Either that or I'm not looking hard enough. Here's a picture of one of them eating sweet potato.



At this point, I'm about to be overrun by them. Both bins are loaded with tiny babies.

I also got a picture of a D. reticulatum trying to hide and failing miserably.

[tsrebel]

How big does the N. albolabris get? Maybe we could exchange some when spring comes?

[malacophile]

Dec 31, 2012 10:34:36 GMT tsrebel said:

How big does the N. albolabris get? Maybe we could exchange some when spring comes?

They're not huge, only about the size of a U.S. nickel, maybe slightly larger. I'd love to exchange some, though. ;D

[malacophile]

Right now, one of my tubs is overrun by countless baby slugs and snails. I provide cuttle for them, but until now, the most I've seen on it at a time is about six. Well, I looked in there a little while ago and the cuttle was practically covered!



I also got this picture of a baby snail with a tinier baby on his back. There's a little slug next to them. In fact, there were a lot of little slugs all around them.

[pinkunicorn]

They look like Dero babes to me. But I've not seen Lehmannia babes. But they are CUUUUUTE!!

I'm away from home for a few days and don't have slimers here so I'm stalking picture topics hehehe.

Oh I see D.invadens in your list. Did you see the "I love you! But I want to maim and hurt you! Let's mate!" ritual and IDd them from that? I made a video of them with Florence + the Machine's Kiss With A Fist as theme song, as it just... fits. These guys would smash plates on the other's tentacles if they could.