Post by astana on Sept 4, 2017 2:26:55 GMT
Basic information on where I acquired Lance (the snail in question:)
I was hiking the Rattlesnake Ledge trail in coastal Washington, a four-mile-up, four-mile-down trip that goes to an elevation of about 1200 feet. It is surrounded by a beautiful, moisture-rich forest, typical of the Pacific Northwest.
How I found it:
On the way down, I decided to take a shortcut by going straight down from the top path. As the paths zigzag up the mountain, in theory, I should have come across the path again just a little ways down.
Instead, I got lost. I didn’t see any people or the main path on my entire way down. The woods were very thick in some places, and the ground was very steep and covered in humus soil that gave way underneath the feet very easily. I was beginning to panic, as I had no idea where on the mountain I was, when I came across the snail.
It was around the size of a quarter, pale yellow, flat, and had a wide umbilicus hole. It was resting on the ground, retracted into its shell. When I picked it up it came out, and I was surprised to see the snail was a very pure white.
Unfortunately I had no pockets or jars or anything at all to hold it with, and I needed both hands to scale down the mountain- I needed to grab/lean on trees because the ground was so steep, and sometimes scoot forward on my butt ^^;. So I put the snail back down and continued on my way.
I finally found the main path about four fifths of my way down the mountain. Now armed with the knowledge that cool snails live here, I began to search for snails on the side of the trail. I eventually came across this little guy near the ground, on the side of a boulder.
*flails* WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MEEEEEEEE (Umbilicus view:)
Dorsal view:
Shell detail
I immediately recognized it as a lancetooth, but wasn’t entirely sure. I also assumed that it was a juvenile form of the larger Lancetooth I had found earlier, but this may not be the case. I took him home, two hours away, and prepared a habitat.
When I put him on top of the moss, he slimed over to the dirt, retracted, and just sat there, similar to how I found the first lancetooth snail. I moved him onto a leaf, he crawled off, and the process repeated.
The following morning, the humidity of the container lid showed that Lance had traveled all around his enclosure, confirming my suspicions that he is more active at night. I found him in a different spot in the terrarium, once again ‘asleep’.
Thus began my attempt to feed him. Lancetooths are carnivorous, but in case I was incorrect, I tried to feed him lettuce. Like I suspected, he wouldn’t eat it.
Next, I found two small slugs outside, one smaller than Lance and the other about the same size, and him them, as is standard for a lancetooth’s diet. And this is where I found things strange.
I placed him directly on top of one of the slugs, and he stopped moving and began to rasp. The slug began the slowest escape attempt ever seen, and Lance just… let it ‘run’ off. I let them (Lance and the two slugs) wander around for a while, and Lance did not ‘hunt’ or otherwise chase the slugs.
*sniffs*
...Eh, not interested.
I placed Lance and the two slugs onto the dirt, wondering if perhaps the environment is what is bothering Lance, but instead of chasing the slowly escaping slug, he immediately retracted and dozed off again.
So here is a list of what I am thinking of trying next-
-Placing him with the two slugs at night. It is possible that he simply does not hunt during the day?
-Giving him an earthworm. This… will be difficult, as they are hard to find currently due to the dry spell around my area.
-Checking my terrarium to see if I accidentally picked up snails or slugs with its moss. If I did, then Lance might’ve already fed last night and is therefore not hungry. All the plants and soil currently in the terrarium were completely dry when I dug them up, however, so this is unlikely.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
-What species of lancetooth is he? I was thinking Oregon lancetooth, robust lancetooth, or beaded lancetooth, but I’ve never kept lancetooths before so have no idea. Or am I grievously incorrect and he is some kind of woodland snail that looks similar to a lancetooth?
-Feeding alternatives? What can I do to encourage him to feed?
-Any advice regarding keeping lancetooths or carnivorous snails in general, as I’m new to carnivorous snails in general.
Sorry for the crappy super-zoomed-in shaky-one-hand phone photos, but I hope they helped!
I was hiking the Rattlesnake Ledge trail in coastal Washington, a four-mile-up, four-mile-down trip that goes to an elevation of about 1200 feet. It is surrounded by a beautiful, moisture-rich forest, typical of the Pacific Northwest.
How I found it:
On the way down, I decided to take a shortcut by going straight down from the top path. As the paths zigzag up the mountain, in theory, I should have come across the path again just a little ways down.
Instead, I got lost. I didn’t see any people or the main path on my entire way down. The woods were very thick in some places, and the ground was very steep and covered in humus soil that gave way underneath the feet very easily. I was beginning to panic, as I had no idea where on the mountain I was, when I came across the snail.
It was around the size of a quarter, pale yellow, flat, and had a wide umbilicus hole. It was resting on the ground, retracted into its shell. When I picked it up it came out, and I was surprised to see the snail was a very pure white.
Unfortunately I had no pockets or jars or anything at all to hold it with, and I needed both hands to scale down the mountain- I needed to grab/lean on trees because the ground was so steep, and sometimes scoot forward on my butt ^^;. So I put the snail back down and continued on my way.
I finally found the main path about four fifths of my way down the mountain. Now armed with the knowledge that cool snails live here, I began to search for snails on the side of the trail. I eventually came across this little guy near the ground, on the side of a boulder.
*flails* WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MEEEEEEEE (Umbilicus view:)
Dorsal view:
Shell detail
I immediately recognized it as a lancetooth, but wasn’t entirely sure. I also assumed that it was a juvenile form of the larger Lancetooth I had found earlier, but this may not be the case. I took him home, two hours away, and prepared a habitat.
When I put him on top of the moss, he slimed over to the dirt, retracted, and just sat there, similar to how I found the first lancetooth snail. I moved him onto a leaf, he crawled off, and the process repeated.
The following morning, the humidity of the container lid showed that Lance had traveled all around his enclosure, confirming my suspicions that he is more active at night. I found him in a different spot in the terrarium, once again ‘asleep’.
Thus began my attempt to feed him. Lancetooths are carnivorous, but in case I was incorrect, I tried to feed him lettuce. Like I suspected, he wouldn’t eat it.
Next, I found two small slugs outside, one smaller than Lance and the other about the same size, and him them, as is standard for a lancetooth’s diet. And this is where I found things strange.
I placed him directly on top of one of the slugs, and he stopped moving and began to rasp. The slug began the slowest escape attempt ever seen, and Lance just… let it ‘run’ off. I let them (Lance and the two slugs) wander around for a while, and Lance did not ‘hunt’ or otherwise chase the slugs.
*sniffs*
...Eh, not interested.
I placed Lance and the two slugs onto the dirt, wondering if perhaps the environment is what is bothering Lance, but instead of chasing the slowly escaping slug, he immediately retracted and dozed off again.
So here is a list of what I am thinking of trying next-
-Placing him with the two slugs at night. It is possible that he simply does not hunt during the day?
-Giving him an earthworm. This… will be difficult, as they are hard to find currently due to the dry spell around my area.
-Checking my terrarium to see if I accidentally picked up snails or slugs with its moss. If I did, then Lance might’ve already fed last night and is therefore not hungry. All the plants and soil currently in the terrarium were completely dry when I dug them up, however, so this is unlikely.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
-What species of lancetooth is he? I was thinking Oregon lancetooth, robust lancetooth, or beaded lancetooth, but I’ve never kept lancetooths before so have no idea. Or am I grievously incorrect and he is some kind of woodland snail that looks similar to a lancetooth?
-Feeding alternatives? What can I do to encourage him to feed?
-Any advice regarding keeping lancetooths or carnivorous snails in general, as I’m new to carnivorous snails in general.
Sorry for the crappy super-zoomed-in shaky-one-hand phone photos, but I hope they helped!