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Post by Paul on Aug 30, 2013 6:05:51 GMT
I reckon the majority of the missing ones from old threads are where people hosted their pics on an external site somewhere and then deleted them. Having web space at this forum stops that problem.
It would take about $100/year to get us going to a reasonable level. We are using 300mb now, so adding an extra 200mb won't last long. So, 1200 mb is $9/month.
Even that won't last long given how most digital cameras take pictures many times the size of the screen.
If we did this, it'd have to be ongoing because I'd get charged every month. If the donations stopped it's not a question of not paying any more, I'd have to delete pictures...
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Post by Paul on Jun 7, 2013 16:40:22 GMT
I've looked and the problem is the forum has reached its storage limit. We're actually 55% over the limit which is now being enforced with the recent upgrade. The price of more storage is pretty expensive and bizarrely the economy of scale works in reverse... so it gets progressively more expensive, the more use use. We'd hit that issue again in no time so that options needs to viewed cost-wise with a longer term view. I can empty the image store, but that would result in threads having missing images. So I'm not sure what the best course of action is really.
Do we empty the cache, do we find a way to fund it, or do we ask people to use all the image-serving sites like photobucket etc?
What are everyone's thoughts?
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Post by Paul on Jun 4, 2013 20:19:21 GMT
We've just appointed muddydragon as a new moderator!
Welcome to the team and thanks for agreeing to join and help out!
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Post by Paul on Jun 4, 2013 12:16:51 GMT
So... proboards have upgraded the forum.
I think it looks pretty modern but there were various hacks I'd written to give us more functionality. They've now been clobbered, so over the coming weeks I'm gonna investigate what can be done to clean up any problems and bring back anything back that is now missing.
Paul
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Post by Paul on May 2, 2013 5:22:00 GMT
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Post by Paul on Mar 14, 2013 0:12:36 GMT
The size of your tank sounds fine for now... This may help you decide about tanks. It should only be taken as a rough idea... It's hard to reduce to a calculation. In my opinion, the more space the better. www.petsnails.co.uk/snail-calc.phpFulica are pretty cold-tolerant compared to other species. I would have thought the temps you are talking about would be fine. What I've found is you can encourage activity by having a more distinct night and day. If you keep it hotter and slightly drier in the day with plenty of light (indirect sunlight or fluorescents) and then spray a lot before night-time you can simulate it. Try partially covering your tank with a towel - that makes it darker and ups the humidity.. let it cool down a few degrees. That may help a lot. It certainly did for my West African snails... usually east African ones are much more active at all times. I've found that snails get stuck in their ways when it comes to food. Babies are more likely to try anything. I did find a few ways to encourage variety. One is... not to always provide their favourite foods. Instead of putting 4 things in the tank each day, try 2 per day or even 1 per day and rotate. I used to add the food at night and remove in the morning. Also, try non-vegetables.... crushed hemp, sunflower seed or pumpkin seed ... or porridge. If you get a really fussy snail, try withholding food for a few days and then add in a few foods they're unsure about. That has worked for me. Once they try it out of "necessity" they can come around and will accept it more readily. Animals in the wild don't always have steady food supplies... a few days won't cause any harm and a mono-food diet surely is more harmful. Snails seem to adore crushed oyster shell - perhaps a light sprinkle over new foods may make them try them. Your substrate is fine... make it deep so they can bury and put some stuff in your tank... cork bark, leaf-litter, plant pots. Real plants are good - they keep the tank fresher - but African snails tend to dig them up. Bear in mind, plant decorations make hunting for eggs much, much harder!
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Post by Paul on Mar 13, 2013 23:45:25 GMT
Done!
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Post by Paul on Mar 3, 2013 22:36:58 GMT
The key to IDing tiger snails is... They have a pointed apex unlike Archachatina but they have the raised V on the tail like Archachatina. I think they are the only Achatina who share that characteristic.
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Post by Paul on Mar 1, 2013 17:40:56 GMT
Hi All,
As requested, and given snails2die4 seems to be defunct, we've added an aquatic section to this forum.
Currently there is only a general board and an archive for mods to move existing aquatic threads into. Please start any new threads in the general board.
We'll see how it is used and how popular it is and then expand it as needed.
Regards, Paul
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Post by Paul on Dec 29, 2012 23:39:45 GMT
We've just appointed pinkunicorn as a new moderator!
Welcome to the team and thanks for agreeing to join and help out!
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SPAM
Nov 7, 2012 5:12:22 GMT
Post by Paul on Nov 7, 2012 5:12:22 GMT
I've banned the spammers.... sorry I was away on holiday and I only just found the emails telling me about it.
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Post by Paul on Oct 2, 2012 21:33:02 GMT
Hi,
We've sorted through all the entries and we picked a winner at random. I'm pleased to announce the winner is a member of this forum (we promoted it in other places).
The winner is....
shaydeesnail
Congratulations! Email us at win@lajojo.co.uk with your address and we'll send it to you.
Everyone else who entered - thanks very much for entering and for all the kind comments!
Jo's thinking of doing other free give-aways/competitions in the future similar to this, via facebook and pinterest etc. though they're likely not to be snail related. I'll continue to post them here for anyone who's interested.
Thanks!
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Post by Paul on Sept 14, 2012 4:21:09 GMT
!!! FREE Snail Painting Prize Draw !!!
Do you fancy winning this one-off, original painting (size: 12" by 12" deep edge)?My girlfriend is an artist and we're trying to raise her profile. She's painted this painting to be given away for free in return for your help. All you have to do is "like" her paintings on ArtGallery.co.uk. For each painting you "like" you'll get 1 "ticket" into the draw. There are 20 paintings so you could have 20 "tickets". How to EnterYou need to have a facebook account. 1. Go to www.artgallery.co.uk/artist/jo__aanne_2 2. "Like" as many paintings as you wish to have prize draw "tickets". You do this by clicking each painting thumbnail and then clicking the "Like" button (at the bottom). 3. Lastly, email... win@lajojo.co.uk and state the number of paintings you have 'Liked' in the subject matter. You have until the 30th September 2012 to do this. I will go through all the clicked "Likes" and emails, and announce the winner shortly afterwards. Please note: You don't have to be a member of this forum to enter. GOOD LUCK!Regards, Paul
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Post by Paul on Aug 28, 2012 2:05:35 GMT
I've never heard of a snail regrowing its shell completely. From my experience a break can be mended because a paper film forms and then hardens off but it needs something to bridge across. I've repaired shells a few times where the break is bad but leaves a strong structure to be mended.
The problem with this kind of break is twofold. The first problem is that without a shell holding the shape the mantel collapses and seems to make breathing more difficult although this doesn't seem to be the case here, unless that explains the problems you mentioned when not hanging from the roof; I've seen snails with mantel collapse prefer to hang - I think it helps open the pneumostome (breathing hole).
The main problem I think is infection. You have to keep the environment humid to prevent drying out and that type of environment is a breeding ground for fungus and bacteria and its body is exposed.
The times I've heard of something similar is where the whole shell detaches without a break occurring for reasons unknown, and it never grew back or even started to repair.
I truly hope it survives somehow... I've always found that when snails are ill, they stop eating - often altogether. The fact it is eating shows it mustn't be too distressed. It may not live much longer, but hey - it's the quality of life that matters and you are making its last days comfortable and free from predators.
You can do no more than that...
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Post by Paul on Dec 19, 2011 16:38:25 GMT
If you keep posting, we'll keep deleting... Thank you... Your Majesty. Wow... that you'll actually spend time on a forum that doesn't want you as a member is extraordinary. To have so little dignity - I feel sorry for you...
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Post by Paul on Oct 28, 2011 18:23:47 GMT
done!
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Post by Paul on Sept 3, 2010 8:41:04 GMT
I'm not sure how it applies to Achatinidae, but I've noticed consistently that if you take Helix apsersa with jet black bodies from outside and keep them indoors, their colour changes to very light over a period of a few months.
Could it be that their colouration has something to do with temperature; so they produce more/less of something that helps with the cold?
All wild caught Achatina achatina (obviously excluding albinos) that I have seen have black (or nearly black) bodies but I've noticed brown to cream bodies in some captive-bred ones. I had some captive bred ones that had black bodies so it's not exactly consistent but different conditions may have variable effects.
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Post by Paul on Aug 30, 2010 23:40:11 GMT
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Post by Paul on Aug 28, 2010 22:18:30 GMT
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Post by Paul on Aug 23, 2010 16:06:20 GMT
I agree, you don't want mold growing. The problem with mantle collapse is that whilst they're more prone to suffering dry conditions they are also more susceptible to infection, which dryness helps to combat.
You need humidity and air-flow which is hard to balance.
In your case, I think changing the substrate often is a good idea.
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Post by Paul on Aug 23, 2010 12:55:02 GMT
It's swings and roundabouts...
Posting them isn't ideal but the result is a snail that lives in a dedicated home with a huge variety of food, all the nutrition they could want with good conditions, free from predators. You could aliken it to refugees travelling in cramped conditions to escape to a safer country and hopefully a better life.
Snails are generally nocturnal and can aestivate/hibermate for a very long time. Being buried makes them feel safe from bad conditions and predators so I don't think that's a problem. Being upside down would be terrible for normal livestock but they frequently move upside down and they could correct themselves anyway. Most of the journey will be stationary - on a train, plane or van etc. Only a tiny percent of the journey will be the bit where they may get tumbled around. If you read articles on wild snails they often drop from trees if disturbed by predators so that's not completely without precedence in the wild. They obviously get over mild trauma like that.
Like I said, it's not ideal but done correctly, I don't think it's that bad at all...
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Post by Paul on Aug 19, 2010 21:09:22 GMT
We've re-jigged the forum slightly.
The "Snail (Research & Info)" section is now "Snail (Reference)" and we've now moved "Frequently Asked Questions" into it.
This reference section is a little unique now because you won't be able to create new threads in it.
We're trying to clean up the board and make things useful for people trying to find information. As certain things get asked many times it makes sense for them to be asked in the more general sections and then the information and/or threads will be moved by the mods for permanent inclusion in the reference section.
Importantly, threads can still be replied to here, so you can add more information, observations and suggestions to existing threads.
So, to be clear the above now applies to the following sections:
SNAIL (Reference) - Frequently Asked Questions - Identification - Behaviour - Feeding - Growth - Habitat - Breeding - Pests, Illness & Disease - Species Specific - Misc
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Post by Paul on Aug 10, 2010 22:11:14 GMT
Very well written Robert and very interesting!
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Post by Paul on Aug 10, 2010 21:53:15 GMT
ok, the final mod to be appointed is ness. I was just waiting for final confirmation Welcome aboard!
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Post by Paul on Aug 10, 2010 15:08:32 GMT
We've finally got around to appointing some moderators! We've taken into account all the feedback that was given and we've asked crossless, lee2211 and morningcoffeeto be global moderators. We've also asked rosanna123 to replace Lucy as the moderator of the competition board to help get that back up and running again. So, I'd like to welcome them all to the team and thank from them for agreeing to join and help out. It's likely there are going to be some minor changes and improvements to the forum, so watch this space. Thanks, Paul
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