A question re Cuttle fish.

[Zorst]

I find a lot of Cuttle fish which is clean washed up on the coast around here. Now there is very little pollution in the waters around here as basically there is nothing but the Atlantic between here and the USA. And the beach's I go to arn't exactly overly used by people, or boats etc.

I've collected some of this Cuttle fish and washed it well in boiling water then let it soak for 24 hrs to remove salt changing the water several times, before finally rinsing it and air drying it.

What I'm wondering is if I should chance this with our snails? The wild ones outside seem to eat the fallen bits just fine and seem none the worse for it, but I can't guarantee I keep seeing the same ones.

Does anyone else use Cuttle fish they find at the beach for there snails?

Thanks in advance
Zorst

[coyote]

That's a good question. I recall others asking about it in the past but I can't recall what the consensus was, if any, about it. I don't think there's a lot of information about it, so it may be hard to find an answer.

[SnailsPace]

There is a girl who does it, can't remember her name though or how long she soaks it for! Will have a think

[Robert Nordsieck]

In my opinion (if you are certain about pollution) you can use natural cuttlefish shells (why shouldn't you). But I would recommend to immerse them in water for a day or so to dilute the salt.

[SnailsPace]

I think the girl who does it soaks it for a day or so then leaves it under a running tap before drying it

[Zorst]

Thanks very much for your thoughts. I've now got a couple of extra garden snails via my daughters both of which were caught when the girls found them eating some broken bits of the Cuttle fish that I had washed and dried.

They have survied eating it 2 days ago when they were caught and still seem perfectly happy and healthy. So I'm giving it a few more days and then I'll introduce it to Zorst and Gary when they need there next new bit of cuttle fish.

Zorst

[foghog]

snails in the wild survive fine without all the babysitting......really. and they grow and survive fine inland without the cuttlebone to...why? because calcium is all over the place. cuttlebone is made out of arganite a type of calcium carbonate. ie limestone/etc is or should be all over the place (course I am in the US and michigan and we have the worlds larget limestone mine on the planet,) it is natural chalk, you know the stones you used to pick up as a kid (or I did.) all over and write on sidewalks with? snails if they live in your area have no problem getting calcium naturally surely...they aren;t usually getting it from cuttlefish bones or cuttlebones bought at the store, surely. thats my thinking anyways.

[ness]

Aug 8, 2011 0:03:37 GMT foghog said:

snails in the wild survive fine without all the babysitting......really. and they grow and survive fine inland without the cuttlebone to...why? because calcium is all over the place. cuttlebone is made out of arganite a type of calcium carbonate. ie limestone/etc is or should be all over the place (course I am in the US and michigan and we have the worlds larget limestone mine on the planet,) it is natural chalk, you know the stones you used to pick up as a kid (or I did.) all over and write on sidewalks with? snails if they live in your area have no problem getting calcium naturally surely...they aren;t usually getting it from cuttlefish bones or cuttlebones bought at the store, surely. thats my thinking anyways.

I totally agree with you that wild snails do just fine for the reasons you have stated.
However in captivity snails are usually not eating wild food grown in calcium-rich soil but shop-bought massed farmed vegetation. The soil the plants grow in is often not of great quality and fertilser etc is added to the young plants. The fertilser is designed to make the plants grow big and not to replace natural minerals that would have been there in proper natural 'wild' soil.
Oganically grown plants do generally grow in better soil and so they end up with a more natural vitamin and minteral content. If you have ever grown edible plants in your garden you can definitely taste the difference. It appears to be that captive snails don't generally get the calcium they require from shop-bought food, neither are they living in calcium-rich substrate or crawling over natural chalk, and they have no access to any other calcium except those additional calcium sources we provide.
Limestone flour bought from equestrian stores appears to be a good match to calcium found in the wild due to the fact that it is simply limestone that's been powderd and perhaps refined, and is therefore my top choice personally, though cuttlefish usually does the job well, and wet goldfish flakes are great for those fussy snails that do not take to limestone flour blocks or cuttle.
Here is a lsit of calcium in various food-stuff including vegetation, but it really does depend greatly on the quality of the soil the plants are grown in and you can't tell whether or not there is much calcium in any of the food you buy. www.ucsfhealth.org/education/calcium_content_of_selected_foods/
Keepers have collectively come across plenty of snails that have developed shell problems and these have been made better by adding calcium or by changing the calcium source to one that the snail will eat. there are other snails that develop shell problems anyway, and this appears to be genetic, but usually shell issues in captive snails are caused by the lack of calcium in their diet. Experience of many many keepers show that captive snails need extra calcium.

[desertfather]

I have a question regarding cuttle fish and what I want to know is how often should I replace them?

[bugz2go]

Hi, cuttlefish can be cleaned under a tap to get any surface `dirt` off but for a thorough clean they can be boiled and then allowed to cool before use. Some people prefer to dry the cuttlefish before putting back with the snails but a damp cuttlefish will be fine for them. It is better to have a damp cuttlefish then no cuttlefish. Always make sure your snails have a constant supply of calcium, either cuttle, limestone, calcium carbonate or a good quality chalk powder (not sticks of chalk as these contain additives for binding purposes).
Regards Paul
www.bugz2go.com

[desertfather]

Cheers off to do that now

[crossless]

Usually I change it when there's not much to eat and almost that hard coating form otherside is almost shown.

I'm, getting wild picked snails so I could try first drugstores calsium powder on top of soil if needed wild picked snail shells boiled and some suppliment you can spray to tank with water.

[iloncia]

I am getting mine cuttlefish from the beach in Brighton, where i live. I wash it with a toothbrush under the running water. Toothbrush scrapes a bit of outer layer off and its perfectly fine. My snails loved it. I kept fulica for years before and they lived a long and healthy lives.