@zosonils It’s refusing to let me edit the post with the actual ask so I just have to start over but TYSM OK SO
This is Mario and Luigi enjoying their favorite snack!! (Luigi’s on the bottom, he’s got the lighter center) They’re the original two from back in August, and not long after Gary joined the party :D
timelapse of an eastern whitelip snail (Neohelixalbolabris) vigorously consuming shroom
many of the large land snails with the ‘classic’ snail appearance that people see in north america are introduced garden dwelling species, but N. albolabris is a native species that’s most at home deep in moist forests where it feeds mainly on fungi.
(no snails are ever harmed, all shells are discards)
Magickal properties;
Chakra activation, especially of the Yin Meridian
grounding energies and earthing frequencies
protection during travel
Sanctuary and warding of homes and dwellings
The spiral symbolizes the Inward journey, personal growth, and focus upon the self
Whole snail shells are the perfect component for protection spells dedicated to your house or for traveling.
Large snails shells can be used as oracle or divination tools; by painting runes, symbols or sigils upon them, shake and scatter gently to do a shell reading.
Crushed snail shells can also be used in place of salt, clay, or eggshells in many other spells.
The powdered shells can be mixed with anointing oil and used to activate the chakras and stimulate Kundalini energy as well as the Yin Meridian
Littoraria grazing on Spartina marsh grass. (source)
Us humans really like to talk up our skills at farming. And while it’s true that we have domesticated animals and plants to a degree not seen in other life forms, the act of nurturing and harvesting food is actually not really that special, and is broadly observed throughout the animal kingdom. Perhaps the most iconic invertebrate farmers are…
I’m not sure if anyone wants snail breeding updates but I’m going to burden them with you anyway.
I’ve had a few clutches that have managed to hatch. I need to get a better technique down because if the eggs get too wet they drown, some might be infertile anyway and some take weeks and weeks to hatch, which feels like forever.
For reference my population of starting snails included one brown (A_Y_S), a few purples (A_yyS_) and some Ivory (aayyss). I had not initially sexed the snails because it’s difficult to do depending on how the snail is feeling. Essentially a healthy male can be identified, but you can’t tell the difference between a female or a male who feels a bit poorly, unless you catch them laying eggs.
I have confirmed one of the ivory snails is female.
And there must be one ivory male in there as well, because one clutch seems to be 100% ivory. This is excellent for messing around with genetics to have a pair of triple homozygous recessives.
All the white dots among the black gravel seem to be true ivory mystery snails. They’re all born pretty pale but develop colour as they grow.
There are also a few purples around, and one clutch that appeared to be 100% brown.
I have not seen any Blues (A_yyss) or Magenta (aayySs)
Which means so far I have to assume all these snails were homozygous as I haven’t seen any mixed clutches.
But! It means those brown snails have a 50% chance of having one ivory parent, which would make them the coveted AaYySs genotype. And that’s what I’m trying to get, because crossing that back to ivory produces clutches which have every colour mystery snail in even ratios
Full video here of this gastropod-specialized snake actually eating the snail, I just think these first few seconds are the new funniest thing in the world somehow
The rotund mysterysnail. It’s rotund. It’s unequivocally a snail. But what could possibly be so mysterious to warrant the name ‘mysterysnail’? What are you hiding, Viviparus intertextus? Most species of the family Viviparidae lack common names, unlike the rotund mysterysnail and (lest we forget) globose mysterysnail. The origin of ‘mysterysnail’ (and seemingly most viviparid vernaculars) appears to trace back to when these snails found their way into aquaria. As indicated by the taxonomic titles, viviparid snails are ovoviviparous and allow internal gestation of hatched young. Though unusual among gastropods, this reproductive strategy provides offspring with the additional time to develop shells before birth. The first aquarists to introduce these species to their aquariums apparently had no clue, as according to Minnesota DNR, the name was coined after miniature but strangely mature snails kept ‘mysteriously’ appearing.
Interestingly, viviparids share their ‘mystery’ with some ampullariid snails like Pomacea bridgesii. Several of these species are popular among aquarists and are commonly known as mystery snails, among other names. But the name doesn’t appear to have any relation to reproduction. Anecdotally, these ampullariids were a mystery simply because nobody knew what they actually were.
Gf: it looks like what was on my hands yesterday before they swelled up
Me as I bolt excitedly to the other room: I’LL GET THE SLIDES AND THE MICROSCOPE!
SNAILS! Not sure exactly what kind as gf got a free snail from work that no one could identify, but I’m 90% certain it’s some kind of nerite snail. Unfortunately he’s laying eggs on the duncans. Definitely not ideal!
Pico ja-tank? I still love the jar, but it’s so hard to scape! The 1 gallon has better dimensions, but is such a small volume of water that I really didn’t want to try it, but the 2.5 gallon was ridiculously tall and it’s hard to place corals on a completely vertical rock structure. Remember that my gf works at a saltwater store? She was able to snag this discontinued 4 gallon waterbox. Literally has almost the same dimensions as the jar, but because it’s a box, a lot easier to scape and get hands in and out of. We made a lid out of acrylic we had and my gf added silicone to create a lip for the lid to stay in place.
It’s still going to be a zoanthid/rock nem tank and it’s only other inhabits are a scarlet hermit, 2 bumblebee snails, 6 pom pom crabs and a porcelain anemone crab (who seems to hate anemones because he won’t stay near any of the 3 that are in there). The rock is a mixture of live rock from the invert QT and some dry rock.
I didn’t know that it was okay to have garden snails as pets!! Like for real pets!!
As a kid, I always put them in a little tub for a few hours at most before I released them back to their mossy home.
But I have recently discovered!!!! That you can make them a little tank and stuff!!! And keep them!!!
I, an adult person, am going to the pet store and I’m gonna get all the best stuff for my snails and then!!! I’m gonna walk outside!!! And pick the sweetest little darlings!!! And have snail friends!!!!
Full video here of this gastropod-specialized snake actually eating the snail, I just think these first few seconds are the new funniest thing in the world somehow
Littoraria grazing on Spartina marsh grass. (source)
