|
Post by kaidashade on May 19, 2023 7:08:48 GMT
So, this is probably a harebrained scheme but hear me out.
In the USA, achatina snails are invasive, however in the EU and UK they are a popular pet. There seem to be issues with genetic diversity and poor quality among the pet population at the moment, but as far as I can tell the invasive snails in Florida are very robust and large. So, has anyone ever tried collecting snails from the wild in Florida and bringing them back to the EU/UK to enhance the pet population.
As far as I can tell, there are no restrictions on exporting snails from the US, only on import and taking them across state lines. A permit would be required to import them into the UK/EU, but this could be arranged via a well-established process. So my question is, has anyone ever tried this?
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Oct 13, 2018 21:52:59 GMT
So my partner found this weird little guy in the tank where he keeps his sun beetles, and we're trying to figure out what it is.
It's about 6mm across the shell and we live in the UK, if this is helpful.
(tweet: )
Our only guess is it might be a Discus rotundatus, but they have more whorls to their shells. It could be a non-native species I guess- we kept it just in case- but we can't think where it would have come from in that case.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Oct 13, 2018 21:44:39 GMT
As far as I know none of the eggs he laid by himself hatched, but I got another retic (regular) a while back and now i have 32 lovely baby snails -.- Weirdly though, they all look to be albinos like the original offender in this tale and when I cleaned out the tank I also found 5 unhatched eggs. I will monitor their progress.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Aug 7, 2018 21:16:38 GMT
So I bought a couple of Limicolaria flammea snails a few weeks ago, and I'm really struggling to find things they'll eat. I had two, but one of them I didn't see come out of its shell for the whole time I had it, and I'm pretty sure it has passed on. The other one, I've seen moving around but haven't seen it eat until today. I've tried everything that my fulicas and retics adore; courgette, lettuce, dried daphnia, fruit... nothin'. Not a nibble. Out of desperation I tried putting a piece of soaked dog kibble in there.
Little sod's gone straight for it. Is this normal behaviour for this species, does anyone have any experience of keeping them? I was told they were basically the same as Achatina reticulata care-wise, but I've never had trouble getting them to eat.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jun 12, 2018 5:51:33 GMT
Update: Breakdown the retic has laid another egg. Didn't catch him in the act this time but it was a similar size and shape to the others so I'm gonna assume he's the culprit. Found him sat half on top of Megatron the fulica, who didn't seem to mind. Nothing has hatched yet, but I think it's early days.
Will check for more eggs after work
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jun 5, 2018 17:10:37 GMT
Y'see that's why i got him originally, thought it'd break up the fulica party i had going on at the time. But apparently he has other ideas.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jun 4, 2018 12:55:34 GMT
They like having moss to burrow in and mine seem to like climbing the plastic plants I have in their tank too
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jun 4, 2018 12:40:23 GMT
GALS tend to like higher temperatures than garden snails, and if the garden snails are wild caught they might be harbouring parasites or diseases which are harmless to them but could wreak havoc on a non-native snail's system. Probably not a super great idea
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jun 4, 2018 12:38:36 GMT
My new GALS, Overlord, did this a lot when I first had him and he was in a small tank on his own. Put him in with the other two and suddenly he was a lot more active.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jun 4, 2018 12:36:03 GMT
Okay, a bit of a story to this. My tank contained 1 achatina reticulata and one achatina fulica snail at the time of this incident (have now got two retics in there but the second one was only introduced after this and is a baby). I came home one day to find my reticulata laying eggs, about five in total. A couple of weeks later, he laid two more. Has anyone ever heard of achatina reticulata self-fertilising or is it possible that these are some kind of weird hybrid? I've kept the last two to see if they're viable and what hatches out if they are, as it might shed some light on the matter.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Feb 11, 2018 22:23:29 GMT
Snails4you are also a pretty good UK-based site are the snails safe when being posted All the ones I've had from there have arrived alive and happy, they wrap them very well, though I'd probably wait until it gets a bit warmer before ordering because they might not ship in the cold weather for the snails' safety
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Feb 2, 2018 22:45:18 GMT
She got so big! And your setup is gorgeous too, very aesthetically pleasing
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jan 17, 2018 11:32:01 GMT
I'm afraid they are very likely to be dead. How tiny are we talking here? Usually dead snails smell fairly awful unless they're very small.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jan 17, 2018 11:27:30 GMT
You won't get them breeding but they have different temperature requirements so finding a middle ground where they're both comfortable could be tricky
|
|
|
Eggs?
Jan 17, 2018 11:25:34 GMT
via mobile
Post by kaidashade on Jan 17, 2018 11:25:34 GMT
I kept Louise for almost a month now and last night when I was getting my earphones from my drawer where I left Louise my pet African land snail on top of if it and I saw ... eggs?! I was shocked . I haven’t been at home much since I have to work all the time and not being at home so it surprises me . Now I don’t know what to do with those eggs. I even planned to change the soil since it’s been too long but I don’t even want to move them. I plan to take care of them till they’re born. But what should I do ? Right now as I type this , it’s still making more eggs?! If you want to keep them you can leave them in the tank until they hatch or put them in a separate tub. If you don't want to take care of hundreds of babies you can freeze the eggs and throw them out.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jan 17, 2018 11:23:40 GMT
I don't think the population is out of control here. We have had 24 hours of rain so he became active and has moved from his favourite location. While they may not behave problematic in some places, the problem is that they are not native to majority of the tropical places they have been introduced to. In some places they are reported to have devastated crops, spread parasites, much on valuables, and so forth. I personally think that this slightly exaggerated, just so they can ban them in North America and other places around the globe. 😒 Most of Europe, is a notable example of a region that does not have them banned or shunned as horrific demons. My guess has always been that they can't survive the winters here in Europe so they can't get a foothold in the wild, hence the lack of ban.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Jan 17, 2018 11:16:06 GMT
Snails4you are also a pretty good UK-based site
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Dec 25, 2017 22:26:48 GMT
Pictures might be useful. Does she live alone or are there other snails in the tank, because I know sometimes they rasp on each other and that might be the cause.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Dec 25, 2017 22:20:33 GMT
I mostly go for the same method, just a damp cloth or sponge. It's about the only thing you can do short of taking everything out of it and washing it down with soap- after which you have to wash it out VERY thoroughly. Which isn't really feasible if you've got a big one that's hard to move like mine.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Dec 25, 2017 22:18:54 GMT
Ended up with 90-odd baby Fulicas back in April, that was fun! Managed to give away or sell most of them, though the fatality rate was a little depressing, but for a good few months I had about three extra tanks in my bedroom!
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Dec 25, 2017 22:16:36 GMT
I love this, it's so pure
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Dec 25, 2017 22:11:05 GMT
As long as you wash their food well before you give it to them you shouldn't have any problems, mine seem to do great on it.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Oct 18, 2017 14:54:33 GMT
That's so neat!
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Sept 28, 2017 14:11:14 GMT
Keeping different morphs of fulicas together really isn't an issue unless you're looking to breed and don't want hybrids. Theoretically, crossing strains should lead to stronger offspring by reducing inbreeding but it does depend very heavily on what individual genes each parent possesses.
I've seen different things from different people about keeping different species together, but from personal experience my reticulata seems to be thriving alongside my fulicas.
|
|
|
Post by kaidashade on Sept 21, 2017 14:05:50 GMT
My GALS really love basil leaves and sweet potato. They also like dried daphnia for protein.
|
|