Accidentally Added Carnivorous Snail?

[mariearound]

Hi everybody! I am experiencing a minor crises and could use some help! One of my snails has eaten another (I think) and I could use some help identifying and problem solving. Here is a link to pictures:
drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_yA5ejzVtpMV0hyaVdFWVpYZHM


Basically I have been keeping snails for almost a year now, I love it and have had few issues until now. I originally started with four snails that have since bred and now I have over one hundred. I do not know the exact species, but I do know they hail from Michigan (I live in the US). Anyway, yesterday I was making my rounds and found two snails tightly clasped together. I was surprised but assumed mating behavior. I was even more surprised when they separated maybe two hours later and only one snail remained! The other shell was then empty. Up until now the snails have all been eating veggies and fruits as well as calcium in the form of cuttlefish.
Can anyone identify the snails I have or explain carnivorous behavior to me? The pictures I linked show the still living snail as well as the empty shell of the eaten one and a picture of them clasped together.
Thank you for any help or input!

[flowersnail]

Hello mariearound!

I do not know what your specie is, but I may be able to help with the carnivorous behavior, as I already experienced something similar in my babies' tank: one of the bigger ones had eaten a smaller baby. I did some research on this forum and found out that sometimes snails need proteins in their food diet, which are not always present in the fruits and vegetables they eat, so it is possible to give them some by adding either fish flakes, turtle pellets or seeds such as hemp in their alimentation. When I discovered this I personnally began to use turtle pellets (in which I checked the ingredients carefully) once a week, and it helped eliminate the problem.

I hope this can help!

[etana]

If the snail was really purely carnivorous, he'd hunt the other snails regularly.

The other snail was possibly dead, though. It's normal that snails eat dead animals including dead snails. Some weird isolated incidents happen too, I had a snail eat a huge hole into another snail's foot when they were sat in the mail over the weekend. The foot healed, the other snail went to bite someone much bigger in the head next, got bitten back, and didn't do it again.

Some protein *is* important for them though. Flowersnail already suggested some ways, many people also offer cooked egg (especially yolk) or minced beef, even high quality dog food, well soaked. About once a week on average will indeed do.

[mariearound]

Thank you both so much! I went through the population today and I think this has perhaps been going on for longer than I noticed...not a lot of empty shells or evidence, but the population is not as large as it should be based on amount of eggs hatching. The young snails are probably crushed or eaten more often than I think, which works well as natural population control I guess.
I will hop on the protein train! I am actually familiar with hemp seed for human consumption so it sounds great for snails.