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Post by ian on Nov 18, 2005 12:36:41 GMT
I keep a tortoise and i have not hibernated her as yet because she has only just reached maturity. Apparently not letting her hibernate will cause her to have a shortened life span, lowered fertilityand could result in abnormal or weak growth over winter when they are not meant to be growing. My vet who is a reptile expert is trying to convince me to hibernate her and i think i will once i decide to breed her but not now. I have been told that to avoid some of the risks of full hibernation you can let them hibernate for short periods over winter.
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pixie
Achatina immaculata
Posts: 231
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Post by pixie on Nov 19, 2005 15:50:06 GMT
Hibernation is characterised by a solid, thick epiphragm with a small slit where the pneumostome is. Aestivation on the other hand is a thinner more mucus-like layer. I found over the summer when it was very hot and the sustrate got quite dry my fulica had a seal simular to that you described for hibernation. when the snail woke up it would come off whole, and looked like a crisp. I put my snails over the fish tank on cold nights, but i do have a heat mat for if it's very cold (i'm just a bit nervous about using it)
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apple
Archachatina degneri
Posts: 1,078
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Post by apple on Nov 19, 2005 17:12:12 GMT
it has been told on this thread, that in captivity animals lives less years than in the wild. That´s not all the times happening like that. It will depend on a lot of things. For example some animals are known to live morein captivity , like mammals, other vertebrates and even some invertebrates. In animals like Achatina achatina or dimidiata that lives in the tropical lowlands, where the temperatures rarely go below 22 or 23 degrees celsius and that have a dry season or two, snails are not quite prepared to handle with cold but more with drought. Hibernation on this cases, are only used for extremely unusual conditions, and definitely are not good for these snails. If we can give them good conditions, we should keep doing that. On the case of some reptiles like some tortoises, some Achatina species, animals need a period of resting, because if they don´t have it, they will surely have a shorter lifespan,growth and fertility. I think it´s only a matter of identify on which conditions animals live in the wild.
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Post by section8angel on Nov 19, 2005 17:51:58 GMT
I found over the summer when it was very hot and the sustrate got quite dry my fulica had a seal simular to that you described for hibernation. when the snail woke up it would come off whole, and looked like a crisp. That would be the thinner seal from aestivation as Paul said. They do that when they get too dry. I always confused it for hibernation (don't ask why when it wasn't cold lol) But now I know it's just this. I just break the seal gently and spray extra and the snails are fine again.
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