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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 6, 2013 19:27:03 GMT
I ordered some thai food tonight and along came a whole fresh coconut peeled and cut ready to drink. I popped the "lid" into my achatina tank as it had plenty of white fresh cocoflesh on it. The tigers that tasted it so far love it (sweet & fatty appeals to snail tastes too..). Gonna offer some to every slimer to see if the others like it as well.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 6, 2013 2:48:37 GMT
I wash cuttles and dry them in the sun or on top of heaters in the winter. That way I get them to eat it all the way, except for the hard side.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 5, 2013 22:58:35 GMT
There's no cuttlefish in their tanks, which would explain! Ima gonna stop feeding fish food to a few tanks for a while to see what happens... my leopards are separated to 4 tanks already to avoid self-harming by tail-eating that seems to be a stress reaction following personality clashes.
The white poo is never formed in droppings like normal poo is, but is kind of soft paste like toothpaste emerging slowly from under the mantle when the sluggy rests. It does dry into similar consistency as snail cuttle poo though. So bizarre!
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 5, 2013 22:50:54 GMT
They look a lot like some Hypoaspis species. They're brownish, about 1,5mm with legs included... I've heard that the mites should die out once food runs out, which tells me these are NOT Hypoaspis miles mites, but since there is so many of them another variant could live longer, I think.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 5, 2013 22:36:21 GMT
They're tropical so they like it humid and warm, but considering mine have been laying eggs like nuts since January without heatmat, room temp of about 21-22C is enough. The original slugs I had are now up to 15cm long when extended so I assume that to be the max size they get to. At least these guys prefer all green foods, like cucumber peel and all green leafy things, but also take sweet potato, fish food and various fruits. Since these are Veronicellids they poo from under the tip of the tail, have contractile upper tentacles and split lower tentacles, very thin foot and a huge mantle and the genital pore is in the middle of the body under the mantle instead of the head. They have no pneumostome. They lay jellylike eggs in a string and wrap it into a ball (it's quite fascinating to see) so separating eggs to raise only a few babies is tricky but possible with tweezers and careful handling, in case you consider breeding at some point.
They REALLY love burrowing and will dig a tunnel system into the substrate if it's packed tight enough to allow support for the tunnels. I've used both potting soil and sphagnum moss as substrate but find they prefer at least 10cm thick layer of soil in the bottom and perhaps moss on the top for optimal tunnelling fun. Of course they can be difficult to find in the substrate as they're the same colour... so better be extra careful when cleaning especially if there's smaller slugs in the tank! My tank is quite low and I've filled it high with substrate as digging seems to be more important for these guys than climbing on sticks etc is. I also have constructed caves from plastic boxes cut it halves buried under the soil and these get heavy use judging by the amount of poop left behind. If the tank gets too dry the slugs stay buried much more than they come to the surface to feed and explore.
Since these are very flat slugs they can squeeze through the slits in many tanks. I have had lots of smaller slugs come out (and thankfully find their way into other tanks instead of getting lost) once they figured how to exploit the airholes... So I've taped my tank's slits to stop these escapades, only leaving small holes for air exchange. A breathable cloth or netting put under the tank lid is a better solution if your tank's lid presses down tight enough to seal the slugs in (which mine doesn't as I found out recently).
Personality wise they're really nice slugs. Very curious and acrobatic explorers. They're also not aggressive like leopard slugs, for example, can be, so it's very unlikely a slug will harass or bite another one (I've never seen this happen).
Their slime can be really sticky btw. Normally they are less slimy than some slugs, even dry-feeling, but will release a thinner super sticky slime when irritated (for example if you need to remove a slug that wants to stay put). It is more difficult to remove even with the dry-wipe-first method as it will roll up into blobs, but with enough rubbing it comes off.
I think that covers it. Most based on my experience with the species as there's only so much info available online.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 5, 2013 20:51:12 GMT
Do you still have any of your little sluggies left? Got sluggies! Assume you mean the leatherleaves.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 5, 2013 13:30:17 GMT
I am not sure where these guys came from though I suspect it's the organic potting soil I've been using as substrate combined with warm weather. But I've a HUGE number of some Hypoaspis species in every tank, especially my achatina tank (when I open the tank I get mites crawling on my hands!) On the positive side there's no fungus gnats or snail mites, and they've even eaten all springtails and I suspect they also eat snail poo considering how well the populations are doing. But they do crawl on top of snails as well when there is a lot of them. Baking the soil and thorough washing of tanks doesn't seem to get rid of them or they simply come back.
So I wonder if they pose any danger to the main occupants of my tanks? People buy and add H.miles species into their tanks, but I'm not sure which Hypoaspis I have (there's hundreds of species, all quite similar). Anyone else get these mites out of nowhere?
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Post by pinkunicorn on Aug 5, 2013 13:02:35 GMT
Apologies for disappearing for a bit. I had to spend some more time in the hospital and had no good internet for the time being. Thanks for the info on what can be shipped and where! I was looking into it before my hospital trip and also saw that USA and Canada have some restrictions in place even on non-tropical species. That's a shame! So, unfortunately EU shipping only (including UK of course) for the restricted species. Sorry my American continent friends. While away for a bit I see now that what I thought was all fulicas are not in fact all fulicas, but some of the babes have developed the very distinct stripes of Achatina achatina aka tiger snails. These babes are available for 2 euros just because I would feel awful about flooding the marketplace with freebie tigers when other folks are breeding them. And I really haven't a clue of the parents; like I said these are all accidental achatinas, both fulis and tigers. They could be albinos or hybrids of albino and darker shelled+body snail. They're also from related parents, so not the best kind of tigers you get from folks breeding them purposefully. I want to be clear about the accidental nature of these babes so you know exactly what you are getting. Otherwise they are seemingly healthy (seemingly as you can't tell 100% sure with snails ever) and have good appetites for food and cuttle, and seem to be in their growth spurt now. Posting a pic soon. Payment works via PayPal or IBAN (international bank) transfer (I've used this many times myself when buying snails without problems with people I trust when I had problems with PayPal). I thought I put this here earlier, but I didn't. Very sorry about that! I'm a bit absent-minded with health going haywire and causing me these snaily problems as a side-effect, when my backup care fails to look for eggs and then... babies happen. Lol.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 12, 2013 10:30:33 GMT
I can ship anywhere as long as it's legal. Need to check the US customs on this. Postage cost will of course differ accordingly to destination.
I estimate the postage and package to be about 15-20 euros maximum ($20-30 or something I think?), probably less for Europe at least. Since these are small snails the weight probably doesn't add much and the amount of snails doesn't add any extra of course.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 12, 2013 10:18:21 GMT
Nail varnish, especially formaldehyde free, might be the best way to mark them as it is difficult for them to rasp it off.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 12, 2013 10:12:25 GMT
I think they get drunk yes. Most if not all animals that can process ethanol (and don't die immediately) get drunk from it. And a lot of animals take the opportunity to feast on rotting fruit when they find it so I would imagine they find the effects just as enjoyable as humans do. Some mammals especially with developed enough memory to remember how they got drunk even seek out rotting alcoholic fruit! Snails and slugs have pretty good memories as far as food is considered so it's possible they could remember this, too. I was feeding some (eventually rotting) mango to wild slugs past two weeks and I noticed some of them had preference for the old and stinky mango bits instead of the fresher ones I offered. Those older bits almost certainly had alcohol in them by that time, since fruit gets boozy quite quickly.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 19:27:34 GMT
Actually my slugs are Tandonia sowerbyi! I just checked the soles of the foot on them and it's pale. T.budapestensis is supposed to have a dark stripe there. Otherwise the species look identical.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 18:04:22 GMT
I think that's what it is indeed! The burrowing behaviour Wikipedia mentions I've already noticed. I've quite a few of these guys now, maybe 10. They're really cute! Thanks!
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 17:47:37 GMT
Pompoms grow to be about 3-5cm shell diameter, grove snails about 1-2cm diameter. Aspersas come just between them in size. The leatherleaf slugs grow quite a bit bigger than the bigger baby in the pic, maybe 3 times the lenght? My adults (which were hiding now) are easily 12-14cm extended fully.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 17:42:09 GMT
And some sluglets... these are a special kind of a slug btw. Veronicellidae slugs, such as pancake slugs and these tropical leatherleaves, have very different anatomy compared to slugs more commonly seen in the wild. These poop from the tip of the tail and I can't find a breathing hole anywhere! I have found the genital pore when observing mating, though. These guys are almost the same age, possibly from different batches of eggs. I had two batches hatch of these guys a week apart or so. Individuals grow at different rates though.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 17:28:45 GMT
Now that I'm on better connection here's pics of the pompom babes! One C.nemoralis baby tagged along. Attempt at macro photography with my new cellphone gadget... pompom and cepaea.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 5:18:23 GMT
Let's use this topic instead of a new poo topic.
Noticed this now with my new leopards. They don't even appear to need the fish food to poop white poops... Lol, I'm really not poo-obsessed, but every time I see this appear in my tanks it makes me wonder what is going on inside those slugs. My leatherleaves/poffertjes don't appear to have white poops at all.
Malacophile, have you noticed white poop from your slugs? Do you have any ideas on what is causing it? Might my guano theory be getting somewhere?
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 4:49:43 GMT
You are best off asking about snail farming from a snail farm. I happen to know one as I once asked them if they would sell very small quantities of snails (a couple of dozen per species) but unfortunately for me, they trade in kilograms even live snails. There are other farms, I just happened to know the name of this one so this is the link I'm offering. I'm not sure if they have pomatias as they specialise in smaller Italian snails like Theba pisana. But it's more like what you are looking for as we indeed discuss and trade snails as pets, and people here have varying opinions about snails as food (few would eat dog/cat/parrot if they had a dog/cat/parrot as a loved family pet). www.lalumacamadonita.it/
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 2:58:12 GMT
That's interesting how the shell changed colour after the damage. You see often patterns changing as well. The new shell can look completely different to the older parts. Makes you wonder how the patterns are determined... there is obviously a genetic component but something else does change for good with massive shell damage. Can shell damage turn genes on/off to change their expression?
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 11, 2013 2:33:40 GMT
Not reacting at all? Do you see his skin kind of ripple?
Smell sounds bad. Is it coming from the slug? That would mean he is dead. But they don't stay attached to a wall if dead. It seems very odd that he would just... die within a day!
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 10, 2013 18:47:08 GMT
If you have a microscope available, that works really well. Another option is to simply use a strong light and try to see through the egg, maybe with a camera magnification as an aid.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 10, 2013 18:41:44 GMT
As for the question... there's a few species that die after laying but most don't. 1/3 is not an accurate ratio, don't worry! Even those that do die soon after laying most often die because they reach the age of maturity and maximum life span soon after each another. Like the leopard slug for example. So you can keep them together!
Pomatias lay somewhere between 25-35 (large) eggs in my experience. They go on laying for a few years if they manage to live that long in the wild.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 10, 2013 18:31:23 GMT
You can post all snail/slug questions in the General sections. The reference sections are sort of archives where topics get moved later to make it easier to search for them.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 10, 2013 18:25:19 GMT
He's likely sleeping. I see that often in slugs (snails, too) after adopting then from the wild. They go a bit nuts first, exploring and enjoying the offered foods and then relax when the novelty wears off. You can gently prod his tail or stroke along his back lightly like you would pet any animal, and see how he reacts. At first they are a bit afraid of being touched but even slugs will get used to being handled and even enjoy it!
Don't wash your hands with water after touching a slug, btw. First wipe the slime off on a paper towel etc dry material, THEN wash hands normally! Slug slime, especially that of Arionids, the often brown/maroon/black coloured guys with a cute, smallish black head (yours might be one of these as they are common - I love them sluggies!), is thicker than that of snails to keep them extra protected from drying out and it absorbs water for the same anti-drying reason... so any slug slime on your hands will just get slimier and thicker when it comes into contact with water!
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Post by pinkunicorn on Jul 9, 2013 14:52:39 GMT
I've some babies of different species looking for caring and loving homes. I had several accidental batches of eggs hatch while my slimers were being cared for while I was away from home due to health reasons. There's too many of them now and that's why I'm looking to rehome some. The species are Helix aspersa, Helix pomatia, Cepaea nemoralis, Achatina fulica (likely a cross between a standard fuli and a rodatzi - might turn out an interesting combo!), and Laevicaulis alte sluglets. There's a good number of each, some a bit more than others. All are aged about 3-6 months (some were planned babies and others accidents, and they have grown at different paces so exact ages of individuals are hard to tell). They've been fed a variable diet of sweet potato, lettuces, baby spinach, cucumber, apple, banana, mango, watermelon, carrot, mushrooms etc, plus cuttle for the snails. Each species has their preferences on foods, of course, and details on that will be included in the package with the babies. For general pics you can have a look at my picture topic linked in the signature, and if you'd like to see more pics of a species you are interested in let me know. (Right now on slow internet connection so posting pics is a pain; can do that later though) The requested price is postage plus safe packaging only, and of course promise of a good, caring home. I'm not looking to rehome any snails or slugs for reselling, but this is negotiable under certain conditions. If you're interested in a new loveable adopted baby to your slimy family, or perhaps a (future) mate of a different genetic background for your current snaily (always a good idea to have snails from different families breed, for strongest babies), ask here or PM me for more!
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