Cepaea hortensis, Cepaea nemoralis or something el

[sparrow]

Hello,

Found this little snail as a gift on a branch cutting I intended to root last September. Snaggle was no bigger than half my pinkie nail and has at least tripled in size in the last seven months.

I imagine Snaggle is nothing more than a common garden snail, but since finding and caring for this little hermaphrodite, I've learned more about snails than I could have ever imagined.

Before I completely forget and just as important as a proper identification, how much Rep-Cal (phos and D free) should I feed a day? Snaggle absolutely loves the stuff and I know he/she needs it, but my gut thinks it shouldn't be given daily, as I read too much is no good either.

He prefers Romaine, broccoli, red cabbage, cucumbers and bananas. Not sure what else to try. Ate apples in the very beginning, but now, won't touch them. Doesn't care for spinach or other greens or red leafed veggies. Bought small romaine and cabbage plants today, that I will eventually add to the tank.

I have him in a five gallon glass tank, layered with organic soil and organic moss. There are two pieces of bark and a few twigs I picked up from the same area I found Snaggle, also in the tank.
Rather than upload the photos here, you can view good sized photos on my website:
www.eagles-sparrow.net/Pages/Snagglepuss.aspx

Tried following the guidelines as best I could and hope the photos are sufficient.

Thank you,
Leah

[tsrebel]

Welcome Beautiful snail! Most likely a Cepaea nemoralis (with the caution that I'm not familiar with many native American snails).
My cepaeas eat sweet potatoe, sunflower seeds and fruits (melon, papaya etc.). The fruits (and cucumber occationally) are most appreciated when sliced very thin and attached to the walls of the terrarium (they may also stay there and dry before eaten without going moldy). There are more ideas in the join Cepaea thread.

[sparrow]

Thank you. Never would have believed I could enjoy a little creature so very much! I was going to try the melon family, but wasn't quite sure. Never would have thought of sunflower seeds and will certainly try the sweet potatoe. Thank you for your suggestions and will try the Cepaea thread in the morning.

You certainly have a lovely collection on your site and will be visiting again for my information.

Ironically, my nick-name for my little one, "Snaggle" is almost equal to the Norwegian translation for snail. My friends couldn't imagine why I chose such a name, but it just came out one day. Maybe I'll just change it to Snegler. None would be the wiser here in the states!

[inky]

I would agree with tsrebel with that it's a cepaea nemoralis. Very beautiful species, I've only kept vineyard and garden snails here due to not many species in Australia.

I think you're feeding him the right stuff. Maybe try sprinkling a bit of calcium over his food or putting a cuttle bone in with him if you haven't already, snails need calcium for their shells and if they're lacking calcium they may start eating their shells.

[sparrow]

When I first started researching, cepaea nemoralis was my first guess as well.

About a month after I found Snaggle, we were absolutely inundated by Superstorm Sandy, with over four feet of "ocean meets bay" water in the entire city. 90% of all the fauna was destroyed by the salt water and Spring here, looks a bit like Armageddon with only the bulbs growing and grass coming back in small patches. Everything else is dead, brown or dying. I honestly wonder how many of these little creatures were wiped out by the storm. I fear the water came up too fast for them to escape and with all the vegetation absorbing all the salt water, not a very happy ending for snails and other small creatures.

I guess I wasn't clear enough in my first post about the calcium. Rep-Cal is 100% powdered oyster shells and I asked:

Apr 8, 2013 20:10:07 GMT sparrow said:

Before I completely forget and just as important as a proper identification, how much Rep-Cal (phosphorus and Vit. D free) should I feed a day? Snaggle absolutely loves the stuff and I know he/she needs it, but my gut thinks it shouldn't be given daily, as I read too much is no good either

I sprinkle the Rep-Cal on Snaggle's food daily and sometimes he/she eats ONLY the Rep-Cal, leaving the veggies behind. When I noticed pure white dry poop, no indication of eating the veggies, I became a bit concerned. So, the question remains, how much is enough and how much calcium is too much?

Thank you for the responses.

Leah

[tsrebel]

I doubt there is a definitive answer to that. If a active week passes where only calcium is eaten, I'd stop giving it for a week or two.

[sparrow]

Thank you, again. Will give the calcium every other day for a while and a little less. White poop will be the signal to cut it for a week.

Snaggle is always active at night after emerging from his bed under the moss; makes the rounds of the tank from side to side, sits at the top for a while, then moves down for feeding. He always climbs to the top of a Romaine leaf or upright twig first, surveys the site to see what mum has given for the night's supper and then eats for what seems hours.

He's such a cutie!