Limestone Flour

[raven]

Hello i have just joined this forum. I own 3 adult GALS and some of their babies

I used to give my snails Cuttlefish bones but they ate them within hours. I bought some Limestone Flour and sprinkled it on their food but it made a right mess and ended up getting all over, including on the snails which i had to bath to make them look nice again haha.

I have now put it into a pot and they have literally dived head first into it lol. I was wondering if it is ok for them to eat the powder or would they find it difficult with it being so fine?

I have read that you can make Limestone Flour cakes and it seems easy to do so i just waated to know if they would prefer this?

And how much should they have? an unlimited source?

Thankyou for reading xx

[lee2211]

They should have a calcium source provided at all times.
You needn't of bothered washing them, they absorb calicum through their skin to.

Sure, you can make cakes/blocks whatever you want to call them.
You mix a load of limestone flour with some water, just enough to make a paste and it all sticks together, then get a sort of mold, or shape it yourself, in to whatever shape takes your fancy, leave it to dry. Then plop it in the tank and viola.

There's loads of different calcium sources, liquid calcium for their spray bottle and water dish, limestone chips for them to munch on, oyster shell grit (serves the same purpose as limestone flour) so whatever is easiest for you.
I buy all my stuff from here - www.duskdreamersnails.co.uk/epages/es133206.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es133206/Categories/%22Calcium%20Sources%22

[rosanna123]

snails should always have access to calcium for gals what i would do is add a small amount of warm water to it and make it into a paste, but change this every 1-2 days

[raven]

thankyou for the swift replies

I've had my snails for just over a year now. It is amazing that they know the limestone flour is important to them

One is still munching away at the powder. I will make some blocks i think just so its a bit more natural for them to rasp at it. Plus i think the paste would also get everywhere. I'm not too bothered, i just like to see into the tank without having to look through limestone flour slime trails lol.

I only quickly rinsed them under a tap because i had cleaned them out and put fresh soil in and they had flour and soil caked onto their shells. They seemed to enjoy it..providing snails can enjoy things hehe.

[coyote]

Hi raven, welcome to the forum. I use powdered limestone, and I too found that just sprinkling it loose in the tank made for a bit of a mess. I'm going to try making the blocks and see how that goes.

[raven]

Cool I'm going to try that. They seemed to enjoy the cuttlefish bone. I dont like to use it because it's a dead animal and it kinda puts me off buying it. I've sprinkled it on the babies food because i want to make sure they all get the chance of calcium.

I know this isn't to do with this part of the forum. but i have quite a few baby snails and i just wanted to know where to post so i could rehome some of them? They were accidental, i didnt have the heart to kill the eggs and let them hatch which i know i shouldn't have. Reading on this forum about putting eggs in the freezer to kill them was helpful so i will do that in future although still feel guilty

[rosanna123]

ther is a classified section on here, that is where you can advitise any snails that you are selling

[lee2211]

They know exactly how much calcium they need, they know what it smells like and they can regulate the amounts they intake. They're extremely clever animals.

Yes, they do enjoy baths. I give mine a bath every couple of weeks once I've cleaned them out.

If you post in the classified section, then that's when they'll get rehomed. I know it's hard, but it's better than hatching them and them having no home to go to. Because Fulis (I assume it's Fulis you have?) are hard to rehome. I've thought many a time of "accidentaly missing" a clutch, but it wouldn't be fair. But now you know better

[lee2211]

Oh and if you want to make it more natural, mix some of the limestone flour into their soil. Snails generally tend to live in very calacorous (sp?) environments to asertain they will get some calcium.

[aerliss]

Welcome Raven XD

I sprinkle limestone flour onto the substrate now and then, as Lee suggests. I've found that just letting my small snails have a bowl of it means that's all they'll eat. I get a whole lot of white poop o.O Although my GALS hate the stuff. Can't please everyone.

[raven]

Snails are so interesting! Thankyou everybody for helping me out
Yeh atm they don't seem interested in the lettuce which is unusual. May leave it in tonight for them and then i might sprinkle it into their substrate. Once they realise its there all the time then maybe they'll learn not to gorge themselves on it. Most of their poop of late has been white haha.

TBH i have no idea what species they are...looking at the species pics you had up i figured they were maybe the Fulica. I presume thats Fulis? I dont really want to sell my baby ones, i just want a good home for them where i know they will be looked after. I will post in the classifieds about them.
I will post some pics of them in there as well as im sure you lot will be able to identify them

xxx

[lee2211]

They only eat as much as they need, so there's no need to take it out.
Some days they wont give it a second glance, others you just can't remove them from it.
But they know what they're doing so I leave them to it.

Yes, it would be helpful if you could post pictures so we can ID it for you.

[raven]

ok ill leave it where it is

I will post in the classifieds and then post pics of the babies and of the adults for people to look at.

thankyou for all your help
xx

[lee2211]

You're very welcome, have you made the calcium block yet?
I want to know how it turns out so I can make one.

[raven]

no i haven't actually. i might do that now actually. Been distracted with my bunnies. They've been very naughty haha. might try the calcium block and then take piccies and put a post up in the classifieds. i'll tell you how it goes

[lee2211]

Good, I've heard of people who've done it singing it's praises, saying how great they are. I've never been able to find a big enough amount of limstone flour to make a decent sized one though.

Although when my snails reach a year old I'm going to make them a snail cake XD

[raven]

hahaha! thats a great idea!

I have made them but they haven't set yet. I bought a 1kg bag of it and its lasting me alot longer than the cuttlefish bones

For the limestone blocks i've actually used an icecube tray haha! Figured it might be nicer to have lots of little ones than one huuuge one. That way i can put a couple in at a time and they can explore to find them

I have posted my pics of the snails in the classifieds if you fancy a nosy to ID the species

[lee2211]

Ahh that's a good idea, at the moment my ice cube tray is full of baby food for my old'ns

[raven]

Do you think placing the blocks in the fridge would make them set any quicker?

[raven]

They have set! they have come out brilliantly Put them in the tanks and now just waiting for the snails to wake up and explore will give you the verdict

[raven]

Right the snails love them. demolished 2 in one night so i think its a thumbs up on this experiment! (Y) thankyou to everyone who gave me advice etc

[lee2211]

Oh that's great, I've made some to and put them in
I can't notice anything yet, but it's nice to know they worked out for you

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