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Post by Firoz Taverbi on Jan 30, 2017 22:09:07 GMT
Hi, I'm a student at York university and I've recently acquired three juvenile GALS: Katrina, Amaryllis and Philomena. I'm constantly worried that I'm doing a bad job of looking after them, but they've grown a lot in the month I've had them and they're already getting more used to being handled. Their favourite things are courgette and bathtime. I've checked this forum countless times for help and advice, so I thought it was time I made an account! My phone camera isn't great, but here are a couple of pictures of Amaryllis and Philomena, and Katrina.
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Post by flowersnail on Jan 31, 2017 13:30:30 GMT
Welcome to the forum Firoz Taverbi! Your snails are beautiful! I think you should'nt worry that much about taking care of them badly. I'm sure you're doing your best. I hope you will have lots of great moments with Katrina, Amaryllis and Philomena!
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Post by diegothesnailkeeper on Jan 31, 2017 13:42:29 GMT
Welcome to the forum as well. By the looks of it you're actually doing a good job because their shells look beautiful and they seem healthy. my giant african snail (achatina fulica) has a bit of bad shell growth on the middle of his shell because I didn't know that snails needed protein to make strong shells so i have to live with a bit of rough shell on my snail hahahaha.
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Post by Firoz Taverbi on Feb 1, 2017 22:29:23 GMT
Thanks guys! Diego - I didn't know that either, I've made sure they have cuttlebone in their tank at all times but do you need to supplement their diet with any protein rich foods? Mostly they've just been living off my vegetable scraps (salad, pepper, courgette, carrot etc)!
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Post by diegothesnailkeeper on Feb 2, 2017 13:50:16 GMT
Basically snails in the wild would eat dead animals they find in their "adventures" even dead snails, that would give them protein and of course some vitamin d which they need to make strong shells. You can feed them unseasoned meat or do what I do is i feed them the yolk of a hard boiled egg as long as it does not have salt on it. Leave the yolk or piece of meat in the tank over night and in the morning take it out before it starts to smell. Since i started giving my GAL protein his shell would just grow so well and so quickly. Hope this helps you Firoz Taverbi btw nice avatar
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Post by diegothesnailkeeper on Feb 2, 2017 13:59:36 GMT
heres a little picture of Goliath my achatina fulica:
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Post by witchpig on Feb 2, 2017 15:09:07 GMT
I think you are confusing protein with calcium. Beautiful snails!
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Post by Firoz Taverbi on Feb 2, 2017 18:24:38 GMT
I don't usually eat meat, but I always have eggs to hand so I'll try feeding them yolk from time to time just to give them a bit of a boost, thank you! And thanks Witchpig!
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Post by etana on Feb 2, 2017 19:45:10 GMT
I think you are confusing protein with calcium. Beautiful snails! Vitamin D is needed for calcium to be absorbed properly, and things like egg yolk, while protein rich, are also an easy source of vit D. The whole snail will grow stronger when there's some additional protein in the diet though.
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Post by witchpig on Feb 3, 2017 1:28:35 GMT
I see.
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Post by Firoz Taverbi on Feb 3, 2017 15:42:08 GMT
Thanks Etana! That's really great advice : )
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