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09-23-2019, 12:09 PM
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#1
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Adult Hamster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 369
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Slime babies
I've been keeping giant snails on and off for over a decade. Since moving into my new place a few months ago I was able to move them into this new bigger habitat. I've just done a deep clean and I will replant with fresh edible plants tomorrow.
The one you can see on the branch is Powder, an albino fulica; Marge, a marginata is asleep in some moss out of sight (the site wouldn't let me upload a second picture). They're each about 4inches long in the shell and 6-7inches in the foot/body.
They do have lovely personalities and are very communal and can be very tame to handle. My dream would be to have an Australian panda snail as well, but they're illegal to import and thus never really found captive bred in this country (I don't believe in buying wild caught).
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09-24-2019, 04:39 PM
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#2
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Hamster Overlord
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: London
Posts: 763
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Re: Slime babies
Do giant snails smell at all? I was thinking about getting one, but I read that they smell. My pets are all in my bedroom so I don't want anything too smelly.
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09-25-2019, 12:28 AM
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#3
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Adult Hamster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 369
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Re: Slime babies
The snails themselves do not smell. Any reported smell comes from the habitat, but if your habitat does smell it means there are one or more points of their care are not being managed. This could include, over crowding, failure to remove uneaten food promptly, improper cleaning schedule.
Some species (fulica) are known for being messier than others so may need a little more upkeep and cleaning.
In my tank there is a damp earth smell, as that's their substrate. But I can only smell this when I am physically in the tank, headfirst, cleaning.
A bioactive tank, in which a biome of tiny insects lives in the substrate, would reduce need to clean. I don't use it personally so can't comment on any aroma.
I have a very large tank and do a 50% substrate change every 6-8 weeks. Never do a full change as the soil will contain a biome of bacteria which the snails use to maintain their gut and digestion.
Snails are communal species so I would advise against getting a singular Shelly. Of course if you obtain two of the same species you will have to check for eggs very regularly. This is why I have two different ones. They keep each other company but don't 'get jiggy with it' reducing their time consumption.
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09-25-2019, 01:39 AM
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#4
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PM Fluffy for custom title
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 4,545
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Re: Slime babies
Snails in general seem fairly interesting, especially the giant land snails. Unfortunately they're quite illegal here in the United States, so as much as I would probably love having some of my own I'm just as banned from having them as I am from many other beautiful and fascinating species! Of course, that doesn't stop me from living a bit of the dream through this thread.
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09-25-2019, 09:04 AM
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#5
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Adult Hamster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 369
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Re: Slime babies
Ah yes, they're very illegal due to their pest status in many countries. And of course, you should never release them into the wild. They breed so quickly they make rabbits seem celibate.
I have some friends who originate from Africa where they eat them. When they found out that I keep them as pets they were very confused as to why I didn't raise them to eat, much like people keeping chickens for eggs. Lol.
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09-28-2019, 12:19 PM
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#6
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Adult Hamster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 369
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Re: Slime babies
Finally managed to coax Marge out. She's a sucker for a bit of peach. Lol
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09-29-2019, 12:47 PM
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#7
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Fluffy Hamsters
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 4,231
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Re: Slime babies
Haha making rabbits seem celibate!
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09-30-2019, 07:35 PM
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#8
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 187
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Re: Slime babies
Never thought of keeping snails as pets before, but they do look kinda adorable, come to think of it. You say they have personalities? Do share some of Powder and Marge's quirks, sounds interesting.
Some snails just crawl across footpaths in my country and I do remove them from the footpaths if I see them, because people will step on them otherwise (by accident, mostly, I won't know about sadistic freaks out there).
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10-01-2019, 09:39 AM
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#9
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Adult Hamster
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 369
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Re: Slime babies
Marge likes to hide underneath impractical things like upending the water bath and food bowls, but if I give them a proper hide she isn't interested. She is now too big to have plant pots as her shell gets stuck. She is very adventurous with food. She's just demolished a whole baby corn to herself. I've had Marge since she was only a cm long so I know her quite well.
Powder, named for being albino, like the movie, is relatively new. After Marge's friend Panthera died a few months ago she became withdrawn and I thought I might lose her too. Within 5 minutes of introducing Powder she perked back up, cleared her plate and they were introducing themselves. Powder is quite lively, but fulica generally are. She is loves eating the live plants I put in like basil and lettuce. Shes blind because of being albino so her eye stalks bounce off things as she finds her way about.
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10-01-2019, 10:07 AM
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#10
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Hamster Pup
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 187
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Re: Slime babies
Oh, it is so interesting to hear about their quirks. I have been so ignorant on this. I have always presumed it would probably be really painful for them if they got injured, but I didn't actually sit down and think about whether they would have feelings like pining for friends, etc. Thank you for enlightening me.
If it isn't obvious enough, I do think that Marge and Powder are absolutely gorgeous looking creatures and I would love to hear more stories about them if you are willing to share.
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Tags
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lovely, personalities, upload, long, picture, shell, 4inches, 6-7inches, foot/body, captive, bred, found, country, caught, wild, buying, import, site, australian, dream, handle, tame, panda, snail, illegal |
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