Potato not lasting =/

[red608]

So I had amazing success feeding my nemoralis/hortensis potato today, its probably the only thing they've really eaten since I got them besides pumpkin seeds and some cuttle/oyster shell ( they've snubbed romaine, kale, cucumber, fish flakes, sweet potato, blueberries, banana, portabella mushrooms and blackberries). However it goes brown very fast (put some in before going to bed, woke up 5hrs later was completely brown). Is there any trick to get it to last longer or is it ok for them to eat it still if its brown? (would they even still eat it?)

[crossless]

It's normal potatoes to go brown when they are peeled my snails eat every vegetable till it's juices fades and vegetables turns to dry and hard. After some vegetables turns to be dry and hard they stop eating it.

Maybe you could spray little water on potato slices maybe it would keep them fresher longer.

[kristensaurr]

I keep my food on a small saucer, and once a day I'll transfer it to a small bowl and like...rinse it off. I found that it kept my veg pretty fresh looking for longer than it would have if I had just left it. Also it gave me a chance to take out some of the food that they clearly weren't going to eat. The only problem I had with this was when I tried to feed them banana. The banana doesn't really rinse off too well because of the texture and it started to go bad pretty fast, plus they didn't really seem to mind it. But the rest of the veg and fruit really seemed to appreciate it. I haven't had my snails for long enough to know their favorites too clearly, and right now I'm still putting in a large mixture of different fruits and veg, but I'm sure they'll eat just about anything once they get hungry, brown or not. Food is food! Good luck! ;D

[red608]

I already was wetting it some, it didnt seem to make a difference as it went all brown pretty fast. Ive been keeping their food on a shallow dish since I got the snails, along with their cuttle. I know potato goes brown normally, is it ok for them to still eat it if it's left in the tank? Or will it make them sick, etc? That's really all I care about at this point =] I know its ok for them to eat older lettuce, someone said something about enzymes in a post, just wasnt sure bout potato.

[kristensaurr]

I think it'll be fine. I wouldn't worry too much about it, especially if the potato turns brown after only 5 hours. I mean if it gets really raunchy looking after a day or more then you might wanna take it out, but just brown after a couple hours is nothing to be worried about.
However I'm no expert, so I would definitely wait around until coyote or someone replies. Hehe. ;D

[cherryblossom]

I cant get my fulica and rectic to eat potato I have tired sweet potato too. Im trying to get them to eat lots of different things but so far turn their nose up at anything but cucumber. Obviously I dont want them becoming fussy and only eating that. They are refusing to eat any kinda lettuce, refuse kale, apples, strawberries, grapes, banana.... etc etc

They will only so far eat cucumber and melon. Thats it. Im gonna keep trying. Im just worried they arent getting enough of a varied diet

[red608]

uh, ok?

[red608]

I'd suggest you check out the feeding section of the forums, there is a thread titled 'Picky snails(formerly nothing but cucumbers)' that may or may not be helpful to you.

[aerliss]

Potatoes do go brown after only a very short while, sometimes it only takes half an hour. They're not mouldy, it's a chemical reaction that happens when oxygen is present. An enzyme starts creating melanin to protect the damaged flesh from predators or the sun (just like when we tan... or in my case go insanely freckley >_> ), depending on the plant. You'll see the same thing happen with apples.

Aside from the snails possibly not liking the ever so slightly altered taste (I always think apples taste sweeter when a bit brown) there's no real reason to stop it happening. But you can by breaking up the enzyme responsible by blanching the potato.

[cherryblossom]

thank you red608. I will check it out xx

[red608]

blanching the potato? what do you mean?

[aerliss]

It's a cooking term. Just briefly dropping something in boiling water for a very short time (anything from 10 seconds to a minute, depending on what you're cooking) and then either serving straight away or dunking it in cold water to stop the cooking process.

[coyote]

I doubt that potato that has gone brown from exposure to air would be bad for your snails. My snails eat brown apple slices all the time. In the wild snails would eat rotting and decomposing vegetation anyway, so a bit of brown potato wouldn't be so different.