Interesting discoveries in behavior

[101100101111]

Ok, well i thought it might be nice for people to share their observations of snails doing things which seem unusual, and probably aren't scientifically accurate, but still look like something specific. I know this sounds confusing but hopefully you'll get the idea! right, I'll start.
I Swear My Snail Can...

wipe its eye stalk on its shell.
Ok this came about last night when i had my GALS out, my bigger retic, April, had a bit of soil or something on her eyestalk, she was on my hand, and then she turned her body round so her head was resting on her shell, and then it seemed as if she was rubbing that eyestalk on the shell to get rid of the dirt!

i know this probably wasn't what was actually happening, but it still seemed rather mysterious that she would do it just when she had dirt on there...

hopefully you get what i mean and if you have any unusual behaviour observations that you'd like to share, here's the Place!

Replaced and renamed. - CroSSLeSS

[crossless]

I serve my snails with only one food at the time because. Always with new example new food experiment I have notice snails if they don't like to eat something more than nibble they will fill their tummies with old safe tasty food and maybe eat more of new food if old safe food runs out of plate.

If I don't see much munching before I go to sleep I'll change to old food so none of then need to starve till better food comes around.

I have so big group of snails that offer just one dish so everyone stay healthy not so that faster snails eat the most nutritional value food and other ones eat the not so healthy foods.

I have noticed too if some food isn't good at first time. Wait week or some to give again. I noticed really big change in trying something again too soon. It seemed like they remember "oh this again this bad food, I'll skip it and stick with sweet potato". When there was longer break from trying again I noticed that they actually might like new food on second try if you don't try it again like after few days. I try again about after week or so anyways so I noticed they might be more keen to try new things..

One keeper told that if you have big group of snails use two different food dishes and place them on different places that's how all snails don't pile up to one plate and smaller snails have easier access to food and every one gets full tummy.

[101100101111]

i tried the two plates thing before because i thought my Fuli wans't getting enough food, but my two snails always seemed to push the two plates together anyway!

what you said about the snails remembering different foods makes me wonder how good their memory is, as i have seen this before myself: if i introduce a new food along with lettuce or cucumber they will eat loads of the familiar food, and just nibble the new thing, it would be interesting to hear anyone else's experiences with snails and memory...

[lee2211]

There was an article somewhere saying they can remember the smell of a food for about I *think* 150 days.

[coyote]

I swear my snails can fall asleep with their eyes "open," i.e., their eyestalks out as if they are fully awake. I had one aspersa that used to sleep sitting on her cuttle with her foot and head and all tentacles out. And other aspersas have fallen asleep on the side of the tank with their eyestalks curling backwards down over their shells. It's amusing to see.

[ness]

What a cool thread! I swear that one of my megalobulimus oblongus knows when I'm preparing our evening meal, and slimes up to one particular corner of the tank awaiting a scrap of carrot. It seems to be a favourite for this one particular snail. OK, he may not know I'm preparing a meal as such, but he appears to have learnt that if he slimes up to the top corner at around 4:15 - 4:30 he'll often get a strip of raw carrot shoved through the lid for him. We have carrots most evenings (youngest son is a very fussy eater but loves raw carrots)!

I know snails have been shown to have food memory, with type and location, and i guess they have a timing instinct as many creatures do, so really this makes sense, but he's the only snail that does this in my house with such precision.

[101100101111]

Coyote, i see the same thing sometimes, as well as sometimes when they will leave one eyestalk partly out of their shell while resting, just looking out for predators or something!?

[aerliss]

I swear one of my snails can get out of the tank, go sliming around the living room and come back.

Now and then I won't be able to find Julian (C. nemoralis) in the tank. He often hides in the stuff I've got in there for them to, yah know, hide in so when I can't spot him after a quick poke I assume he doesn't want to be disturbed and leave it at that... he always turns up the day after.

BUT, I found a snail trail on the wall next to the tank, and poop! As I say; he always turns up again. Sneaky pest.

[101100101111]

perhaps he's sleep-sliming!?

[crossless]

I noticed today weird behavior because my one snail has lost some whorls.. He is now hanging in sealing of tube 24/7. He has water bubble in his behind. Hmmh.. Could this be snails way to lose excess moisture from vital organs while shell is healing? Some of his shell is starting to repair but some of his organs don't have shell on it but water bubble is there.

Moved snail to bigger tube so he would not climb where there's space to move, but he is just hangging around. He is on sealing and won't move.

[coyote]

Here's a pic of Remington sleeping on the side of the tank with his eyestalks drooping down.

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[coyote]

I nearly laughed out loud tonight when I saw Remington on the side of his tank. He kept on waking up slightly and straightening his eyestalks, then within 30 seconds they'd go drooping down again. ;D

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[SnailsPace]

My big old Fulicas alsfall asleep with their faces/eyes out, looks like they just collapse!

[101100101111]

my 8cm fuli pretty much refuses to sleep or poop anywhere but on the lid of the tank, but my big, heavy 13cm retic is too heavy to get on the lid, and it's always quite sad to watch her try and pull her shell up the wall

[crossless]

I noticed once that snails don't like bright slashing lights like cameras photoflashes. Snail will start to hide their stalks from light. Maybe with simple eye vision that snails have it may feel uncomfortable for snails to watch those rapid photoflashes while their are objects of owners photoshoot. :S

[101100101111]

I have found that too Crossless, also I find that one of my snails is much happier in the dark, and much more likely to eat when in the dark, while the other one, if anything, prefers the light...

[coyote]

My aspersa Buster once seemed to fall into a trance induced by a camera flash. Mr Coyote and I were photographing him, and after about 3 pics taken only a few seconds apart using the flash he stopped moving about at all -- not even an eyestalk wiggle. He just sat there on the table utterly motionless, with his head up, his eyes out, looking normal except for being still as a statue. He remained utterly stock still for about 5 more minutes, until I poked him gently to see what would happen. He stirred a little, then began acting normally.

I began to wonder if maybe he hadn't been hypnotized by the camera flash. Maybe the flashes of bright light overwhelmed his neurons momentarily.

[gnomie]

Nov 21, 2010 7:00:47 GMT coyote said:

I nearly laughed out loud tonight when I saw Remington on the side of his tank. He kept on waking up slightly and straightening his eyestalks, then within 30 seconds they'd go drooping down again. ;D

Sorry about posting, but I just caught one of mine doing exactly this and got really worried he was ill. He's a really active little darling and has a genuinely ballsy attitude and eats like a trooper so I was scared something was up when I found him this morning. I'm so happy this is normal and it saves me from asking else where.
He also buries himself and I see just one stalk sticking out the soil, watching me, seeing if there's anything nice coming his way.

[coyote]

It can be disconcerting to see the first time, because the snail looks limp. But it's a normal thing that happens sometimes.

[crossless]

I have noticed that snails have routine they move specfic path to eat, sleep, drink etc.

When I had a. fulicas they did divided in two groups. They ate different time and did everything in different times. They layied eggs in different times than other group etc.

I'm getting today or tommorow new tiger snail. I wonder if he starts to do same routines that my current snail does or does he have routines of it's own and my current snails start to change it ways.

[coyote]

That will be very interesting to see which one adapts to the other. I wonder if the new one will adapt to the current snail, since it will be in a totally new and unfamiliar place.

[crossless]

I'll keep you posted how new arrival settles and what kind of routines it has before they settle down both and get "use to eachothers" ways.

[crossless]

They seem to wake at same time every night. Smaller one eats everything on it's way like Spathiphyllum kochii. I guess I need to put food many places in tank. So hopefully some plants live till next month too.

Edit//
I placed food in middle of the terrarium and now smaller one has settled down almost next it. Snail is having small area which he uses only. Rarely seems to go to other end of tank.

They don't seem to notice each other maybe it has something to do with that fact they have hunger or somekind of needs at different times of day and snails are not mature yet.

[crossless]

Hmm.. Can snails really dislike substrate if they don't like it? I added some peat/bark/woodchip mixed compost mix in normal peat and now my huge 10cm shell lenght snail sleeps in sealing?! o.O Tigers don't usually sleep in sealing. I guess I need to add so much peat on top of that peat/bark/woodchip mix that it don't bother snails anymore. I'm litte confuced here.

[coyote]

Try adding something else to make a cushion over the bark and woodchips parts. I have a little bit of bark chips in my tank but only in one or 2 places that the snails can easily avoid if they wish.