actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 18, 2012 9:22:48 GMT
I thought we can start a thread on what our snails like to eat, and how much variety they like. We only got Dave (GALS) a week ago, and we were told to feed him cucumber and lettuce, plus a cuttlefish bone. Well, in addition to cuke and lettuce, last week he has also tried apple, asparagus and eggshell (as I couldn't find any cuttlefish anywhere local; I have now ordered a bag from Amazon). Today, I brought him a slice of red pepper, a mushroom, and a couple of cat crunchies (soaked for 10 mins before putting them on top of the pepper). Oh, and some romaine lettuce! He is currently enjoying the pepper, with his body/foot covering it completely, so I can't see whether he has actually eaten the cat food. Even if not, he must be absorbing some nutrients through his foot! So, please join this thread and tell me what have your snails eaten in the last week!  |
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Post by shaydeesnail on Jun 18, 2012 10:37:30 GMT
Mine have all had peppers, lettuce, cucumber, cabbage, carrots and fish food. I have quite a few different species but they have all enjoyed these |
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 19, 2012 15:11:09 GMT
Today I saw that some of the pepper was nibbled on, bits of lettuce and a little cat food. Not quite sure about the mushroom, although I spotted him exploring it yesterday. He loves to crunch the eggshell, though!
I gave Dave a chunk of green courgette today, and tomorrow it'll be cucumber again.
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Post by mechangel on Jun 19, 2012 16:59:06 GMT
Sometimes I go to the salad bar at the grocery and toss one of most everything veggie into a take-away container, it costs about $2 and I get to see which ones get eaten when I plop some snails in among the buffet!
At home mine love Romaine heart lettuce as a staple, its stiff and leafy to climb and hide on. Baby carrots and cucumber slices were dinner last night.
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Post by gunshotglitter on Jun 19, 2012 22:17:42 GMT
Mine love apples, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots and tomatoes the most. I once planted a young dandelion plant in their tank, they didn't touch it except for the small flower buds.
I tried giving them eggplant, sweet potato and mushrooms but I guess they didn't like it. I'll try again some time, maybe they just weren't in the mood.
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 20, 2012 16:09:24 GMT
Well, today the cat food was completely gone! That's high in protein, and I probably won't be giving it to him more often than, lets say, once every 2 weeks.
I also binned the semi-eaten lettuce leaf and the rest of the red pepper; I left the mushroom and courgette, and added some cucumber. Still lots of eggshell left.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jun 20, 2012 20:42:48 GMT
Leopard slug, whom I decided to name after a famous lazy cat ,Garfield, has been eating cucumber centres (only the juicy parts always), fish pellets and watermelon!
Little sluggies have been going nuts for blueberries. They also ate some bokchoy and iceberg lettuce while sleeping in the hanging leaves, though I think it was the babies going for the greens mostly. Also fish pellets. Their favourite, they will eat any amount given.
Aspersas have been picky as usual. Current accepted food is pear. I spice it up with powdered oyster shell. The miniature snail I've not seen in some days. He comes to feed to the surface occasionally. I guess I need to locate him tomorrow...
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 22, 2012 10:18:07 GMT
Ha, Pinkunicorn, it's interesting that Garfield likes cucumber centres, whilst Dave prefers the skin! On the other hand, with the courgette, he ate the centre and left the skin untouched.
Most of the mushroom was gone by today, and I binned the rest, together with the remnants of the lettuce, courgette and eggshells.
I left the cucumber chunk, as there's still some skin left, added a slice of red pepper, and a piece of cuttlefish! Yes, it has finally arrived (had to order from Amazon, there was none locally to be found, not even in pet shops).
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Post by shaydeesnail on Jun 22, 2012 15:25:05 GMT
Oh and the other day I shared my strawberries with the slimy ones! They don't seem to be interested in eating it unless I take a small nibble off of the end first. :S
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jun 22, 2012 19:39:16 GMT
actos, my aspersas had a period when they only ate cucumber Peel, too, gene. Now they've been a bit odd, retracting a bit and very picky with food.  And yeah, I have noticed that berries only get eaten if they are split so the slimeys have good access to the juicy insides. Else it doesn't attract their interest. |
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jun 22, 2012 21:55:00 GMT
Oh and tonight everyone is feasting on watermelon and blueberries.
I picked up three baby slugs to add to my already huge Deroceras family and they got to taste cucumber and fish food for the first time. Judging by the enthusiasm displayed I think I made three little slugs very happy. Now they just have to find the blueberries and watermelon.
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 25, 2012 9:50:08 GMT
Well, after the weekend, I found Dave with only a little bit of cucumber left, no red pepper whatsoever, and even an inch or two of the zebrina (a terrarium-suitable trailer I planted into the soil) eaten!
So today I gave him a lettuce leaf, slice of cucumber, a small mushroom and some radish greens. He was attracted to the mushroom first, but didn't actually make a dent in it. He ate some lettuce, and then he went off to try and burrow under the plant pot! I think I should have glued it to the bottom of the box before I added the soil, because now he's moved it away and is hiding under it. I wonder if he's trying to burrow to lay some more eggs?
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 26, 2012 19:43:48 GMT
It seems that Dave really likes radish greens! That's the first thing he started munching on today:  He also enjoyed the courgette slice, and I left the mushroom and cuke from yesterday as they were still firm (and only half-eaten) |
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jun 26, 2012 22:38:58 GMT
The oxys (or is "oxies" better spelling? hmm...) got a slug egg each tonight, as well as the usual dinner of fish food. One is still sleeping, the other has the egg in front of its mouth. It's not eating it yet, I think. I'm observing. They better appreciate the eggs I sacrificed for them. It's a good thing I've a continuous supply of slug eggs, out of which I can give some to the blue little snailies. I don't allow every batch to develop into sluglets anyway. I wonder if they can be frozen and fed later to the oxys? Does anyone with this species have experience with storing carnivore food this way?
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Post by mechangel on Jun 26, 2012 23:56:30 GMT
I tried rainbow Chard last week, it was not a big hit. Put Romaine lettuce back in, instantly devoured...
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Post by shaydeesnail on Jun 27, 2012 2:38:41 GMT
I've never actually fed defrosted slug eggs, but I don't see why it wouldn't work! It seems like a great idea.
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 27, 2012 14:39:37 GMT
Defrosting slug eggs as food seems like a good idea. They would be dead once fed - but so is any meat we eat (and/or give to pets). Today, I binned the remains of the courgette slice (and the cucumber was completely gone), and gave Dave an apple chunk and some more courgette (I still have some trimmings left in the fridge). Well, for the first time in the last 20 days or so since we got him, Dave spent 3 whole hours sliming around his tank, exploring and nibbling on the variety of foods, before retiring back into his cave (the plastic plant pot). I've put him on my desk in the office (he's a Nursery pet), where it's calmer and warmer, so he must like it! Anyway, today he ate a little of the courgette, apple, mushroom and cuttle, and a LOT of the zebrina plant I put in as decoration. In fact, he has completely finished it! I was a bit surprised that he went for that and not the basil plant (though there are some nibble marks on a couple of basil leaves). Luckily, I still have the "mother" zebrina plant, and I'll propagate a bit more of it for Dave's tank. ETA: Here is what it looked like this morning, now it's completely gone:  |
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jun 29, 2012 14:24:31 GMT
Well, it seems that the winner is - Little Gem lettuce! This morning, Dave went past a carrot, mushroom and asparagus (nibbling a little from each) to a lettuce leaf, and stayed there until he annihilated it completely.  |
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jul 2, 2012 10:26:37 GMT
Over the weekend, the 2 asparagus pieces (2-inch long) and the cat food were completely gone. Also, several basil leaves - Dave seems to like even basil better than the carrot and mushroom, those two were barely nibbled so I binned them today.
Today's new taste for Dave is aubergine (eggplant). He ate maybe a third of the small slice I gave him. Now he's buried in the sphagnum moss I brought him today - not sure if he's just enjoying the texture or the taste of it as well!
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Post by prowljazz on Jul 2, 2012 10:49:43 GMT
Basil...
i Put a big bunch of it in there and now is just Stalks that are Disapearing Fast!
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rosiesnail2
Achatina immaculata
3 Albino Achatina Reticulata on sale with tank ♥️
Posts: 242
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Post by rosiesnail2 on Jul 4, 2012 23:21:58 GMT
I'll try some basil I think, mine LOVE carrots, gone in an hour if you were to put a few pound sized peices in considering my retics are nocturnal toddlers. As a treat I tried mushed cat kibble, they love it! Cucumbers a treat unless thats all we have, they also like swollen grapes but only 1 or 2. They love lettuce, alot of that, tomato's aren't their best. They didn't mind mushroom they hated corgette. I screan shot the list of the best foods from the feeding sectio and printed then i put faces next to them on how much they love it.
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actos
Achatina achatina
Posts: 80
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Post by actos on Jul 5, 2012 21:21:46 GMT
I screan shot the list of the best foods from the feeding sectio and printed then i put faces next to them on how much they love it. That's a brilliant idea! ;D I'm hoping that this thread will serve as a reminder of what Dave tried and liked, or not. Now that his babies have come up, they've only eaten a lettuce leaf. Oh, and some of them have found the cuttlebone. I left a slice of cucumber in their tank, we'll see what's left of it tomorrow... |
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 6, 2012 3:32:52 GMT
Oh babies are so precious when they try things for the first time.
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latebloomer
Achatina immaculata
The Snail Botherer
Posts: 251
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Post by latebloomer on Jul 6, 2012 12:25:42 GMT
Mine are so different in the food they will eat, the Margies like aubergine, the Fulis wont touch it, the normal Fulis like cabbage, none of the others will take it. The Rodatzis like strawberries, the rest ignore them. They will all take Romaine lettuce, mango, sweet potato, and babycorn, and all like fishfood except the Tigers. It is doing wonders for my five a day buying things and ending up having to eat it myself,
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 6, 2012 18:58:13 GMT
Ohh yes, snails are very good for the owners' health! I give them some of my veggies and eat some of the stuff I buy for snails specifically. Looks like the leopards won't be eating all the shrooms I got them so need to make something out of them. Good thing I like mushrooms, bad thing my partner's dad is taking us for dinner tomorrow so no mushroom cooking.
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