how long have you been keeping snails?

[Deleted]

i got my first fulica 5 and a half years ago wow

how about you?

[ginageorge]

about 2 years ago i snail sat for a friend who was going on holiday got hooked lol now i got loads achatina achatina tigers,achatina fulcia,achatina fulcia jade whites and hopefully next week 2 achatina albopicta

[goose]

Ooo now - 2 garden snails were actually my first pets when I was about 5 years old TimTom and Brian. I kept various garden snails after that and when I was about 11 my sister brought me 2 fulicas back from West Midlands Safari Park. I had those until I went to university and then about 3 years ago I started the hobby again with a vengeance. I'm 32 now : so thats a long time keeping snails. Still think they are amazing though. Def my favourite animal.

[Deleted]

Jul 18, 2008 13:30:30 GMT goose said:

Ooo now - 2 garden snails were actually my first pets when I was about 5 years old TimTom and Brian. I kept various garden snails after that and when I was about 11 my sister brought me 2 fulicas back from West Midlands Safari Park. I had those until I went to university and then about 3 years ago I started the hobby again with a vengeance. I'm 32 now : so thats a long time keeping snails. Still think they are amazing though. Def my favourite animal.

wow so you got your first fulica in 1987? i didn't know they had them in captivity back then

[goose]

Yes - they were the only species available and quite rare in captivity then I think. There weren't any forums like this one around and little information on how to keep them. Zoos and such like were the only people that really kept them. They certainly weren't the common pets they are now, hard to believe now there are so many fulica about. When mine laid eggs I hatched them out and loads of people wanted them. I had to write a care sheet for them and as mum was a teacher a lot of the children she taught had some. Two of my current fulica are descendants of those original 2 I had - the 2 in my avatar in fact Um Shlopagus and Zebedee! I sound really old reminiscing like this ;D So you see its great there are forums like this and so many species available nowadays. We are really spoilt for choice with so many people putting effort into breeding the rarer species available to us.

[samurai]

Well, I bought my first couple of fulicas 2005 and these are still living. These has produced a lot of offsprings that I´ve been selling and giving, and keeping too. Now I have 7 normal fulicas, 2 rodatzis, 2 jades and 4 retis...I´ve given my heart to this hobby

What comes to the other species than normal fulica, there were almost none in Finland until last year people started to buy snails from other countries....there were just couple of tigers and iredaleis that had been bought earlier, I think. Now we have those species and species that I´m having ;D(and few others too). This hobby is wildly spreading here, and I´m very pleased to say that it´s not just "a little girls hobby" anymore cos adults are becoming more interested about snails...

[Deleted]

Jul 18, 2008 15:20:34 GMT goose said:

Two of my current fulica are descendants of those original 2 I had

wow that's amazing. how many generations is that? you should've written a family tree ;D

[boone]

My first contact with gals was when I got to know my boyfriend, around 5 years ago...

I was really afraid of them as I'm snailphobic... it was Achatina fulica, really huge ones with greenish shells.

They died then and one year later my boyfriend was allowed to get some new ones, he decided to get some Achatina iredalei and Achatina fulica. He got them... and kept them, I did nothing

Some time later I want to give him some snails as birthday present and friends of mine managed to get some Achatina immaculata panthera and he got them. And with this snails my phobia was cured... first I touched their shells... then I touched baby snails... and finally - and much more species later - I touch them all over their body and shell without getting panic. Now I'm responsible for all snails... very funny in some way.

... but I'm still afraid of slugs... waah!

So, altogether I'm keeping snails since two years, but we had them since three years...

Best regards,
boone

[coyote]

I've been keeping garden snails for about 2 years now. I never gave snails a second thought until one late spring evening after a rainshower. I was amazed at all the snails that had come out and were cruising around on the grass and sidewalks everywhere. One of them was even crawling along the side of Mr Coyote's truck! That's what opened the door for me to learning about these amazing creatures.

[brgwnth]

african snails: since may garden snails: since i was 5

i found one of my old snails the other day... you can always tell it as it is brght green (my sister accidentally painted its shell )

[truffs]

Hi all,

I've now been keeping snails for the grand total of ........ 42 hours or thereabouts!!

Got my first one on wednesday afternoon :-) I popped into an aquatic/reptile shop for a bit of a nosey round while i was killing time and found myself leaving said shop complete with tank, snail, cuttlefish etc!

He's so cute and i've already spent far more time than i should just sitting watching him eat his way through the middle of a slice of cucumber but leaving a perfect circle of skin!

I have a feeling this will be the first of many snails, i never knew they were so fascinating!

[Rachel]

glad to see theres another recruit for the many ATCS (addicted to cute snails). I know how you feel, from the age of four i've been hooked, and i'm glad to say my neice is the same .

I got my first snails aged four, i found an egg in a plantpot and stuck it in a pot of dirt, stuck the lid on and left it for a few days (at first it was cos my dad was trying to destroy it so i hid it from him), opened the pot about 6 days later and it had hatched (god knows how). That tiny baby was Alice the first, soon i had an old fish tank from my neighbors skip (they told me i could have it and for some reason never told my parents) which i put her in with some dirt and various foodstuff that i managed to get out the garden and scraps box in the kitchen (it was carrot peel mostly). I had her about two years then got her a mate i called Bob. They had lots of babies that i realiesed, then mum and dad finally relented and got me my first GALS, penny the fuli, unfortunately she came from a dodgy petshop and only lived about a year (she had mites that just would not go), aparently it happened to most of her siblings. Mum and dad refused to get me another but i still had my natives and a few years later i rescued two fulis from a cardboard box somebody dumped and my folks let me keep them. by that time i'd started feeding up sick or injured natives as well then releasing them. I guess thats what made me eventually start doing what I do today. The first snail i ever got was, hmm, oh no way i'm putting that on here lol. lets just go with more than ten years ago and leave it there shall we lol.

[kanin]

I've been Interested in wild Helix Pomatia for many years, since I was a small child actually. I've done some simple research on them just out of interest, keeping track of different individuals and their size and weight as it varies with age and drought and weigthloss during hibernation etc.

My first pet snail I keept as an adult,I used to keep snails as pets as a child, was an lime coloured cepaea nemoralis named Snigel(means "snail" in swedish).
He came into our lifes on a plant bought in flower shop in the middle of the winter and as we did'nt want to release him as he would freeze to death we finally put him in a very large jar wich later turned into a fish bowl.
Our plans was to release him in the spring but we grew to attached to him and desided to keep him. during that winter there was a heatsnap and some snails awoke from the hibernation to early and as we accidently found two on walls in the middle of the city we desided to rescue thoose aswell as we already had snigel waiting for warmer times.
theese where a cepaea nemoralis named Ruffy and a cepaea hortensis named doctor snuggles..

Now it's more than two years later and the cepaea's live in a large tank with a bunch Helix pomatias, except for Snigel,who we'll always miss, as he died of old age about a week ago.

There are three other tanks wich contains my two Iredalei, who is about to give birth now and our Margie Bellman and in the smallest tank Snigel and ruffys babys are keept as we are going to keep one named "snigel junior" and release the other babys.

And that is how I more than 2 years ago became a snailkeeper.

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2008 14:34:59 GMT kanin said:

My first pet snail I keept as an adult,I used to keep snails as pets as a child, was an lime coloured cepaea nemoralis named Snigel(means "snail" in swedish).
He came into our lifes on a plant bought in flower shop in the middle of the winter and as we did'nt want to release him as he would freeze to death we finally put him in a very large jar wich later turned into a fish bowl.
Our plans was to release him in the spring but we grew to attached to him and desided to keep him. during that winter there was a heatsnap and some snails awoke from the hibernation to early and as we accidently found two on walls in the middle of the city we desided to rescue thoose aswell as we already had snigel waiting for warmer times.
theese where a cepaea nemoralis named Ruffy and a cepaea hortensis named doctor snuggles..

Now it's more than two years later and the cepaea's live in a large tank with a bunch Helix pomatias, except for Snigel,who we'll always miss, as he died of old age about a week ago.

There are three other tanks wich contains my two Iredalei, who is about to give birth now and our Margie Bellman and in the smallest tank Snigel and ruffys babys are keept as we are going to keep one named "snigel junior" and release the other babys.

And that is how I more than 2 years ago became a snailkeeper.

do you have a picture of Snigel? I've never seen one with a green shell. What colour is Ruffy and what colour are their babies?

[Katie]

iv had my snails for 11 months now got them from white post farm

[kanin]

Unfortunatly I don't anymore, they disappeared in a computercrash. wich I am very sorry for now as the little fellow passed away.. a friend of mine who lives in amsterdam might have some as she took quite a few some months ago as she was very faschinated as Snigels shell slowly had turned grey as he aged. But half his shell was still greenish by that point so i will email her and see If she has any left.. mostly for my own sake as I would like to have some pictures of him myself.
If i get any from her i could post some.

Also I could bring my camera next time i go to my studio after rain I usually see tons of green cepaeas on my walk there.

Ruffy is black-yellow striped and the babys are too young to see yet their still almost transparent but the bigger one we named snigel junior seems to be getting snigels colouring but it's hard to tell yet he might as well become yellow when he grows.

-emil.

[Deleted]

thanks

I'm interested in the relation of parent's colouring to the babies, do the colours mix together or do some have one parents colouring and some have the others...

[kanin]

I've seen both striped, purely yellow and green babies from snigel and ruffy, so in my experience they mix but snigel and ruffy might have parents that are pure yellow and the babies got it from them.

[snailysnail]

i've had delilah and alfie the fulicas since january 7th...they came all the way from yorkshire(i live on the north west coast of scotland lol). they were joined by pixie the albino fulica and now we have pixie and delilah's babies too! first one was named frodo today.
so im really still a newbie to snails...though ive always taken an interest in them, sliming around. and we had a snailery at primary school for a short while too...that was fun! until they had babies and all the little ones escaped hehe we kept on finding therm for ages afterwards.
anna x

[lizzie97444]

I found mine in august 8th this year!
I found her at this supermarket I FOUND IT. Not bought it
I luved her soo My friend who hate snails gave me 11! ( aquatic snails though..)
My found poor brown garden snail doesn't have a friend ;( I keep searching wen shopping though!!!!!!!!!!;D!!!!!1

[Deleted]

Aug 16, 2008 11:48:01 GMT lizzie97444 said:

My found poor brown garden snail doesn't have a friend ;( I keep searching wen shopping though!!!!!!!!!!;D!!!!!1

try looking in a garden or park when it's been raining or at night.

[lizzie97444]

I'm recently visiting Korea and found this baby garden snail. And I'm staying here for quite long. In korea they put chemicals on every tree. The park near apartments etc cuz there's too much bugs and insects. So I never see snails around. there are pet stores with snails but there are never garden snails.

[Deleted]

Wow I don't know anything about Korean snails, I wonder what yours will grow into. You found it on the supermarket spinach didn't you? Was the spinach from Korea or somewhere else?

That's odd they put chemicals on the trees. Is that just in cities? Aren't there environmentalists who oppose that?

What snails are there in the pet stores? Aquatic or land snails?

[lizzie97444]

I'm not rly sure they are cone shelled and yellowish in colour. They are land snails. (they never say the species:( )
And the snail, I found it in korea on spinach in a market.
THey put chemicals in tree's since there are too many bugs exspecially cuz of CHINA.
And it's done in the cities and sum places in the country.

BTW. Could u please identify the snail under my name cuz that's the snail I found I don't don't quite know the specie.
THanx!

[Deleted]

How big are the snails in the pet store?

What does China do that means there are more bugs in Korea? is this north or south Korea?

I don't know what your snail is, I don't know anything about snails from that region. Maybe when it grows into an adult it will be easier to identify.