copycat?

[erica]

I've had baby for five days now, and after the initial day of worry that she didn't like Isaac I now often see her crawling on him (see 'kissing snails' thread)

but for the past three days I've also noticed her mimicing him. two or three times he'd be asleep hanging from the top of the tank and she'd come and hang next to him - always an inch away. and yesterday she followed him up the side of the tank, turning when he turned each time, then following him over to the cabbage leaf which they'd both been ignoring.

is this part of the getting to know each other thing or just her being cheeky to a bigger snail? am i reading too much into everything they do?

[Tigs]

Not as cool a version as yours but iv noticed my Brixtons have group behaviour usually incitiated by the biggest one.

One day they all sleep in the corner under the Spagnum and then a few days later they are all hanging from the roof.

[goose]

hmmm the rescue fulicas I have at the moment do a good line in 'follow my leader' nose to tail to the food bowl!!

[Moracai]

I noticed my margie babies all come down to the bowl to eat at the same time, then all go back up at the same time.

[smileycelerystick]

i just had two of my snails out on my desk and the biggest Pippin, went into his shell to sleep and when i put the little one Swirl, next to him it sort of looked at him and the moved so that their shells were tuching and then went to sleep to... so cute.

[LisaLQ]

...and I have three fulicas currently all fast asleep....with the cuttlefish across their backs. Yep, they all decided under the cuttlefish was the place to be

[ness]

Snail prefer to group, even snails of different species I find group together. When one snail wakes I find this helps the others to stir. Could it be that a waking snail gives off a chemical signal that the others respond to? After all snails in the wild wake when it's a good time to be looking for food - the temperature is good, the humidity is good, there's a smell of food nearby. It pays for the snails to keep up and get going while conditions and food are good.

As for copying another snail to sleep - could it be that both snails have decided there's no point in being a wake at that moment in time, no food near-by/not hungry for example? And so little one settled next to big one becuase that's just the grouping instinct that snails have?

However - snails have memory and are capable of learning on a very basic level. By following a larger snail this would make sense through evolution as a large snail will have lived longer and therefore will know of the right places to go - if it's lived all this time this snail must be doing the right things therefore it makes sense to follow it around. This would not be the snail's logic - but evolution creates beneficial behaviour through many generations.

But isn't it interesting how snails seem to have their own personalities? Do they really (I hope so) or is it down to their ability to learn, and some have learned slightly different things to others?

[spook]

Hi All,
Well my 2 Fulicas are completely different!They more than always sleep at separate places in their tank(except for once the other day i caught them sleeping together!Woo,very rare) Bob is always the first to eat,but Vic is never too bothered and will just stay asleep till ha can be arsed to sniff out the grub! My 2 certainly have very different personalities and just because one wakes up doesn't mean the other will follow!Weird