KathyM
Achatina tincta
Posts: 709
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Post by KathyM on Jul 26, 2006 13:57:39 GMT
Hi you lot As some of you know, we're keeping one of Boo's babies here as she's not growing. I don't want to home her out for her to die, so she's stopping here, but I could use some advice. Boo's babies are roughly a month older than Sherman's, and yet this little one is smaller than his - she hasn't grown in at least 2 weeks (although she has got the thinnest ever strip of new growth. It's not down on the excellent care she's had off Lisa as the others are fab and have grown massively. This is her with her remaining sister/brother - you can see how much smaller she is. And another pic to show the size difference. This is her (far right) with 3 of Sherman and Vernon's bubs (2 of whom including the large one are over a month younger). She's eating well, is getting calcium drops in her spray water, etc etc. I was wondering what else could be done to stimulate her into growing? Is sunlight/vitamin D a factor in them utilising calcium, as it is for other animals? If so how do I go about making sure she gets more as I think I've read somewhere that sunlight coming through a window/tank is useless? Should I get a tank with a reptile light? Thanks Kathy xx
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Post by anjieburdett on Jul 26, 2006 14:10:34 GMT
Its not unusual Kathy, there always seems to be one that doesn't grow very quickly! If you could see the difference between my two albino reticulata you'd be amazed!! I personally think that if she's eating, sleeping and out and about normally then just give her time, you may find she has a big growth spurt and surprises you ;D
Actually i'll go get pics of my reti's!.
BRB haha
Anjie,x.
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Post by anjieburdett on Jul 26, 2006 14:32:29 GMT
ok, heres pics of my albino reti's BOTH from the same parents, both from the same clutch of eggs! But the little one IS growing, and the liquid calcium has made a huge difference! She's eating and is always out and about so i'm not really worried. Anjie,x.
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KathyM
Achatina tincta
Posts: 709
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Post by KathyM on Jul 26, 2006 14:37:08 GMT
Awwwww ;D
Well I'll try not to worry then, thanks Anjie. It's just hard after what happened with Justin and that. I panic!
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Post by section8angel on Jul 26, 2006 15:06:47 GMT
My retis were exactly the same, one was huge the other was tiny and Bailey the margie I've kept is the slow grower out of the bunch.
As Anjie said, she'll probably have a growth spurt and suprise you lol. My tigers keep doing that, there wont be any major difference for a few weeks then the next time I look there's been loads!
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Post by anjieburdett on Jul 26, 2006 15:08:41 GMT
And thats totally understandable!! As for the reptile light....i honestly haven't got a clue if that would help Kathy ;D Anjie,x.
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Post by Paul on Jul 26, 2006 15:22:58 GMT
I have a degneri and a reticulata who are half the size of their siblings but eat both calcium and food regularly; they just hardly grew. If they were all stunted I would suspect something but I can only conclude that they are simply runts, dwarves or whatever you want to call them. I'm not saying there isn't something we may discover in the future, a requirement we are missing that perhaps some are more sensitive to than others, but I suspect it is purely genetic. They probably occur more in captivity because competition and vulnerability due to size isn't an issue.
As for the sunlight thing, it does seem logical to me that some sunlight is needed. We see snails in the wild with what appear to be sun-faded shells so they must be exposed to the sun for at least small amounts of time. Bequaert notes that fulica, when exposed to the sun, die very quickly so that has made me hesitate to get a UV setup. I will probably get one eventually, just a low power thing to supplement rather than supply. But I will give them canopy to allow them to escape it.
Glass and plastic do let some UV through, plastic more than glass usually. If you want to test it, get a UV light (I had a UV fly killer thing knocking about) and shine it through on to a piece of paper. If you see blue then UV is getting through. The problem is that it is diffused slightly so it's not as virtuous as direct sunlight.
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KathyM
Achatina tincta
Posts: 709
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Post by KathyM on Jul 26, 2006 15:59:40 GMT
Thanks very much! ;D I don't know whether I'm worrying over nowt, but I s'pose it doesn't make much difference - I don't want to home her when she's not "normal" so she'll stay here. I just hope she's not going to die on me I should think of Lisa's Sally as inspiration - she hasn't grown much and look how well she is. I knew I should've called this one Nik-Nak (can you tell I watched The Man With the Golden Gun last night?), but no, she's a girl and she is Gretchen - which means "little pearl".
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Val
Archachatina dimidiata
Posts: 2,498
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Post by Val on Jul 26, 2006 18:24:53 GMT
I have exactly the same scenario here, 2 fulicas from same batch one is large one is small. 3 immaculata two-tone from same batch, 2 are large one is tiny, tigers are the same, important thing is they are all healthy although I must admit I am curious as to why this happens so often.
val
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KathyM
Achatina tincta
Posts: 709
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Post by KathyM on Jul 27, 2006 10:18:57 GMT
Thanks Val It's reassuring to know others have tidgers too. I wonder if anyone on here has had a tidger make it to normal adult size? Or whether I should be expecting a margie version of Lisa's Sally? *lol*
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 11:24:09 GMT
One of my margie babies still look like a baby. He has not grown at all since I bought him back in March time. He is even smaller than Sian's margie babies which I bought less than a month ago, but he is the most active margie babies I have seen. So you are not alone, my Afer is like Lisa's Sally, at least I can say he does not need a lot of room to keep him.
I bought 3 baby tigers from Lottie, and they are growing extremely fast, they are not in their adult hood yet, but I think they will be able to reach the adult size by the end of this year.
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KathyM
Achatina tincta
Posts: 709
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Post by KathyM on Jul 27, 2006 11:33:36 GMT
Thanks Felix Afer sounds lovely. Since yesterday, Sherman's big baby (2nd from right in the lineup above) seems to have doubled in size. Ok, that's an exaggeration but he's closer to Boo's big baby size than the other Sherman/Vernon bubs. He's going to be a whopper *lol*.
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 11:42:52 GMT
Kathy, this is Afer, bought from Anjie (that was the time when she has to rehome 2 adult margies and a baby) Afer shell size is 3.2cm atm, has not grown since I got him. But he looks pretty sweet
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KathyM
Achatina tincta
Posts: 709
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Post by KathyM on Jul 27, 2006 11:44:21 GMT
Oh he's gorgeous! I can see Gretchen and him having an internet romance *lol*.
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 11:53:30 GMT
Oh he's gorgeous! I can see Gretchen and him having an internet romance *lol*. LOL! OT, you sound just like one of us in my chat board (the board is just talk mainly about cats and feline diabetic) I think you would fit in fine chatting with us to. We have kitties romance on the board, like kitty talk. One of my cats just got cyber married to another cat that's from USA. I should really send you an invitation.
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KathyM
Achatina tincta
Posts: 709
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Post by KathyM on Jul 27, 2006 12:06:30 GMT
LOL, yep sounds nuts like me ;D Our old dog Ruby had an internet romance with a rescue greyhound in Manchester. I really need to get a life don't I? Don't answer that *lmao*.
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 12:24:33 GMT
What's life? I have PM'd you instead of keep on hijacking your growing thread. Other probably don't need to know how nut cases we are.
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Post by anjieburdett on Jul 27, 2006 12:32:00 GMT
Ohhhhhh, Felix! Thats the baby that my Nephew Nico had, but wasn't looking after properly Thus..them being taken off him and rehomed ;D That baby was one of arno's suturalis x ovum, the same ones that Sians got too. I wonder if being deprived of proper care on a regular basis has anything to do with it You have to wonder don't you? I hope he starts growing soon but he does look gorgeous ;D You're obviously doing a great job of looking after him Anjie,x.
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LisaLQ
Archachatina papyracea
Old friend (emphasis on the "old")
Posts: 2,995
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Post by LisaLQ on Jul 27, 2006 12:37:55 GMT
Oooh so Afer is Columbia's brother? She sends her love ;D
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 12:40:48 GMT
Ohhhhhh, Felix! Thats the baby that my Nephew Nico had, but wasn't looking after properly Thus..them being taken off him and rehomed ;D That baby was one of arno's suturalis x ovum, the same ones that Sians got too. I wonder if being deprived of proper care on a regular basis has anything to do with it You have to wonder don't you? I hope he starts growing soon but he does look gorgeous ;D You're obviously doing a great job of looking after him Anjie,x. Oh cool, so I know Afer's background now, he is a cross, only not have a red butt!!! ;D. He is little cutey, whether he grows or not, he is lovely. He is always the first one waking up going to the food bowl munching and the last one leaves. (He is always eating even in the morning when I am up). I have tried spraying him with calcium liquid religiously but the little Afer wants to be the smallest. So I don't really know what to do, but then I don't mind. Only time can tell and may be he will decide to grow one day.
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 12:43:50 GMT
Oooh so Afer is Columbia's brother? She sends her love ;D Afer says Hi back to her. Lisa, try not to confuse me, but who is Columbia although I now know she is Afer's sister. *PS You have got too many snails now, so that's why I cannot remember who is who anymore!*
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Post by anjieburdett on Jul 27, 2006 12:53:35 GMT
Columbia was MY margie baby *lol* she was also from Arno
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 13:00:37 GMT
Columbia was MY margie baby *lol* she was also from Arno AHHHHHHHHHH, this is more confusing now, wish I have not asked the question. Right let me think. *Time to use my brain again!* Afer is from Arno's and is suturalis x ovum baby, and Sian has one too. Columbia was Anjie's margie baby which is living with Lisa now, and that is from Arno too. So does this mean Sian's, Columbia and Afer are from Arno? Are they from the same batch? If so Afer is extremely small then.
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LisaLQ
Archachatina papyracea
Old friend (emphasis on the "old")
Posts: 2,995
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Post by LisaLQ on Jul 27, 2006 13:01:45 GMT
I've only got 5 margies, 10 fulicas, several immacs and..erm..an iredalei ;D This is Columbia Oh and the three tigers....*counts* sam cooper layla ebay jasper bruce fidget widget flucky roger clover coco sally gary smithii smithii panthera panthera phil marlene boycie boo guinevere columbia jingles dave jaffa Jeez, I do have too many ;D Did I miss any?
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Post by felix93 on Jul 27, 2006 13:06:54 GMT
LOL, have I told you I just love you guys? Lisa, your snailie families have grown within half a year!!!!! I think I can only remember Cooper, Sally, Sam, Marlene, Boycie, oh and Columbia now. ;D
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