Identification Help Please!

[franklando]

Hi everybody! Last year I was bought a Bonsai Serissa for my birthday (I live in the UK, but I would imagine the country of origin was either Japan or China). Not long after settling my bonsai into its new home I started noticing tiny snails coming out at night to 'graze' the pot (they spend their daytimes down the inside of the pot).

I have introduced moss to the pot which is well established now and always kept moist (which they seem to like), and put small pieces of lettuce leaves down for them every couple of days (which they love). The snails grow to about 5mm (across the widest part of the shell) but some of them (younger ones?) are smaller than 1mm across! I think they feel safe in their new environment, as they have now started happily wandering around the pot during the day. Recently I have noticed tiny milky colored deposits underneath the lettuce pieces which I'm guessing are eggs (I'm afraid they're a bit too small to photograph effectively).

I'm enjoying looking after the snails even more than the bonsai itself and would love to know more about them and how to look after them better if any of you can help out with identification. Thanks in advance for your help!

Attachments:

[Johnnywho]

They look abit like Discus Rotundatus however there doesn't appear to be enough whorls...

[franklando]

Yeah, the Discus Rotundatus appear to have more whorls than my snails, there isn't any ribbed sections on my shells either. I think they are of Asian origin, rather than European. Thanks!

[muddydragon]

this is going to sound fairly crazy but if you disturb one of the snails and sniff it does it have a garlicy scent?
they look a lot like garlic snails (Oxychilus alliarius)

[shaydeesnail]

These are not Discus rotundatus, but they do look like an Oxychilus species, some make a garlic scent and some don't. If the snails did come over from China then they could be something I've never heard of though

[malacophile]

Aww, tiny living bonsai pruners! Hopefully they are from China. That would be pretty cool! Man, I need to start paying attention to the plants I see in the stores. Although I don't think it would go over too well with management if they saw some strange woman pawing through their plants for an hour.

*pokes Shaydee* I sent you a PM.

[tsrebel]

Why do you think they are Asian? They look very much like European Oxychilus sp. Most bonsai trees are not grown in Asia, even though the tradition is japanese.

[shaydeesnail]

I agree that they are most likely European
I've sent you a reply Malacophile

[franklando]

Hello again everybody! Thank you so much to everyone who was kind enough to leave comments. Thanks to Muddydragon's suggestion I disturbed one of the larger snails and sure enough the scent revealed they are garlic Glass Snails (Oxychilus Alliarius).

I know it's probably not very impressive as they are so common, but I really enjoy having them and looking after them... I have over 60 houseplants, but my bonsai serissa has become my favourite, largely down to the addition of my little snail colony. I spend ages just gazing into the pot watching them wandering through and over the moss = as I'm sure you can all appreciate snail watching is a very gratifying way to pass the time!