#and cuttlefish/eggshells

[gtzgoblin]

Pic per week.

Obvs I have a lot of snails so can't say these pics are of the same one each time (and they very clearly aren't) but it's much of a muchness with a lot of them size-wise. Some are smaller, some are bigger. Some have stripey shells, some don't. I've got a few white ones and their shells are 50/50 whereas in the grey ones the shells are heavily favouring stripes. In both it seems the snails with plain shells are bigger in general than the ones with stripey shells. It's fascinating how there's so much variation from the same parents, but they have all mostly made it with (fingers crossed) no issues so I guess that's to be expected.

They are all v cute. One of them is rapidly approaching eldritch horror territory with the size of him. He's in a lot of the more recent photos coz he's good for the shock factor when I show people pics. I call him Vigo the Carpathian.

Slimer on the other hand is quite distinctive and since s/he was chosen as my friends favourite I've been taking pretty regular pics over time. You can really see how her shells changed in the last few weeks with the hardening, they all have darkened and changed colour quite a bit recently which is very interesting (and pretty much bang on schedule from what I googled, though tbf the lighting was crap in here yesterday due to it being dark as hell coz-a northern hemisphere inclement weather day darkness, so it is still two tone when you see her in good light).

They are very very cool little critters. And the ones I'm keeping (lol, let's keep pretending I'm not keeping all but the ones that schools are taking off me) are all going to have Ghostbusters ghosts names, I just can't fully ID them when there's so many so I haven't tried (but as I just said, lol, come on, I should really get round to shell pattern identification).

They also have stopped 'biting' quite so much, clearly recognising that my hand is not worth their time or their toothy effort. Their mouths are horrible, it's brilliant.

[crevicedwelling]

I've seen you recommend cuttlefish bone for isopods to keep their calcium up, and was wondering if shells from molluscs would also fill that niche ? i found that some of the shells in my shell collection got broken rather badly, and rather than throw them out im wondering if they can be used to nourish my buggy friends

isopods can’t chew very hard shells: cuttlebone is used because it’s soft and porous and they can eat it easily. eggshells, and other forms of calcium would need to be ground finely but even then I don’t think that seashells would be that useful to them.

[localdryadfaggot]

ROLL CALL!! 🐌

I would like to introduce my snails to the world of tumblr so their legacy will not be lost in the dust of time.

Sock

Sock was the first snail that came into my life! They are the friendliest and most active, constantly climbing over all the other snails and zooming around the tank. I identify them by the darker colour of their shell and the thick section that has no stripes/growth lines! Top artist on Spotify is Poppy.

Henrietta

This is Henrietta! Saved first from the side of a bucket and then our trash can shortly after, Henrietta has had a hard tumultuous life indicated by the large amount of growth lines and tendency to retreat quickly into her shell. They are the largest of my snails and also the hungriest! They love carrots and celery the most Their top artist on Spotify is Grandson.

Duo

Duo, my fastest snail, got their name from the distinct double stripes on their shell. They love exploring their surroundings and are almost actively climbing around their terrarium. (The stripes make them go faster) When they are asleep, it’s typically on the lid of the terrarium or on the walls. Their top artist on Spotify is Yung Gravy!

Marigold

With their distinctive yellow marking, Marigold is the most chill of my snails, often hanging out outside of her shell without moving around much. They’re often found hanging out around the food bowl despite not typically eating much compared to the other snails. Their top artist is Girl in Red!

Catherine the Great

The shyest and least active of my snails. Likely the oldest as well. Typically hangs out inside their shell, only coming out every couple days for a snack before heading back into their shell. Holds rage in their heart and hides to avoid facing the realities of our quickly dying planet and exploitation of the working class. Their favourite artist is Sofia Isella.

Pandora

The chosen one. Hatched before I had the chance to perform snail-bortion, escaping death by a hair. Though the great embrace of death will eventually take us all without mercy, Pandora seeks to make the most of their time here and spends each day training to be the best snail they can possibly be. The child of Marigold, Duo, or Cathrine the Great. Pandora’s favourite artist is Naethan Apollo!

The Home 💖

This is the home of my snails! Typically it also has a humidifier but I’m currently house sitting so we’re doing it manually through my trusty spray bottle!

Snail info 💖🐌

These snails have all come into my possession from work! They hide away on the shipments of our florals and I take them home from there. They cannot be released into the wild as they are not native to my area and would not survive in my climate. Additionally, if they were to survive, they would be considered invasive and have an extremely detrimental impact to the local ecosystem. The best option for them at the moment is captivity.

I make sure they have the best life possible by feeding them fresh produce such as lettuce, carrots, celery, avocado, apples, peppers, etc. They also get calcium supplements through crushed eggshells and cuttlefish bone!

The information on ground snails as pets is fairly minimal so much of what I do is on instinct and based on information known about water snails.

I love my snails so much 💖 send me an ask if you have questions/comments about them and I’d be happy to answer!

[milkywayan]

my snail is such a fucking toddler

he needs calcium for his shell, the best source is cuttlefish bone. Before I got the cuttlefish bone i gave him eggshell powder that I made by crushing eggshell in a mortar, and which he loves. This is not as good as a calcium source as the cuttlefish bone.

So now I got cuttlefish bone. He does not eat it, so I also crushed it in my mortar. He still does not eat it.

I got worried because calcium is so important, so I gave some egg again and he ate it. So now I mixed up the egg and the cuttlefish bone and NOW HE EATS IT

HE IS LIKE A TODDLER THAT YOU HAVE TO TRICK INTO EATING HEALTHY FOOD OMG SNABY

[chodelver]

Why Using Magic Potion Isopods Is Important?

Magic Potion Isopods are among some of the most beautiful isopods that exist on Earth They have a bright yellow carapaces with a bright striking black and electric yellow markings around their carapaces. This makes it one of the most captivating isopod species around. These terrestrial crustaceans aren't only attractive decorations. They serve an important role in ecosystems for terrariums. They are also simple to take care of The guide below provides all the details you need to care for one on your own and also bringing some biological magic to your house!

What Are Magic Potion Isopods? Magic Potion Isopods are members of the Armadillidium genus. They are a beautiful alternative to the common pill bug (Armadillidium vulgare). The color change is prominent yellow markings that are over a body that is predominantly white with black spots that resemble drops of dye that are scattered in milky water; hence their namesake!

Though they're a common woodlouse species, magic potion isopods are hardy and adaptable, making them an ideal isopod to start with. While other armadillidium species tend to prefer slightly dry environments with ample ventilation, magic potion isopods thrive in various conditions with limited ventilation requirements - perfect for enclosed lid enclosures and people looking to have their isopods to spend less time wandering around! Go to this website postpods.co.uk to discover more magic potion isopods on the internet.

Like most terrestial isopods, magic potion isopods are considered natural detritivores. They consume organic matter in decay in their environment. Refilling their environment with leaf litter or natural organic materials regularly can help control moisture levels while providing them with food sources to maintain moisture levels within an acceptable range. It is also possible to feed them various vegetables, But calcium and protein-rich supplements like fish meal flakes, cuttlefish bones or eggshells need to be added periodically for maximum results.

A good substrate selection is important when storing magic potion isopods, as it assists in regulating their humidity levels as well as provide places for them to hide. We advise starting with a standard tropical terrarium mix that includes coco coir and sphagnum-moss prior to adding layers like orchid bark as well as earthworm castings and cork bark, as finishing elements - creating the ideal home for your new isopod friends! This isopods are excellent pets to hobbyists or novices alike, because of their low care requirements - just some leaves and decaying wood, along with fresh drinking water and a humid, moist atmosphere are required for sustaining life.

Alongside their clean benefits, isopods also serve as an organic source of fertilizer for terrarium plants. They break down organic matter that they consume, and then releasing nutrients-rich compost into the soil isopods offer additional nutrition that may be especially helpful for massively planted terrariums which require more nutrients for their inhabitants. magic potion isopods make a striking addition to terrariums of all kinds, offering stunning visual appeal with bright colors and an attractive body shape. They also help in promoting isopods can help to promote natural cleansing techniques, nutrient cycle Pest control, and minimal need for maintenance in the pet's terrarium, as well as provide an organic method of cleaning and pest control and minimal maintenance requirements in their own terrarium - plus there's something suitable for every sort of terrarium. get yours today and put in some magic potion magical potion!

[rock-hoarder]

also i don't think im relevant enough for people to come for me but in case anyone does:

im planning on buying climbing sticks soon. i fairly recently became aware of a reptile store near me so this is like infinitely easier now compared to before

they have both cuttlefish bone and eggshell available bc they've liked both in the past

they used to have a snail friend! the friend died last year of old age. Myra here is about 14 years old at this point

i give them protein once a week and vary the vegetables they get. right now they have fish flakes inside the eggshell plus carrot peelings

im thinking of buying a bigger enclosure. this one is the one i got with the snails when i took over them from the previous owners

they regularly get to come out with me on walks around the apartment (and sometimes outside when its warm)

they don't have any heating right now, but they haven't needed any so far. still going to buy a heating pad for them when I have the money to be safe lol

peace and love everyone 💖

and snails

[cynicjovial]

I forgot to tell you guys. the other day Otis shat an egg

^otis

[snail-and-yarn]

I caught Ari this morning before they went to burrow for their sleep

[inkantation-arch]

Like, can we talk about how Splatoon 1’s story mode starts?

The very first thing that happens when the player emerges in Octo Valley is Captain Cuttlefish screaming that the Octarians are coming. And to the player, this is funny. He’s a very silly looking character; he’s an old man with a conspiracy board, and combine that with the preceding news report talking about a UFO with a tentacle on it, it’s very silly! It sounds like he’s talking about aliens! It’s comical. 

But it wouldn’t be for Tsunaomi. For her, he’s screaming about like, people who are like her and her mother. It’s upsetting.

Tsu basically starts out pretending to not be half Octarian. She’s doing everything within her power to pass as an Inkling in front of the Squidbeak Splatoon, so that first moment is absolutely terrifying. Five seconds in, and she’s already caught? Like, her entire goal of helping her mother escape to the surface, just immediately dashed? 

And that’s like, the microcosm of how Tsu experiences the first Hero Mode. It’s like walking on eggshells for her, and it’s so vastly different from the way that Hero Mode is experienced in canon. And she spends a lot of it very like, ready to jump ship the second she needs to, and then finds out that she really can’t, because it turns out that genuinely the only person doing something about like, the actual invasions in Inkopolis is her.  

Tsu’s canon diverges from actual canon pretty quickly, to be fair. Like, by area 2, she’s not bothering stealing zapfish, but rather doing more like, actual secret agent shit. But that sort of shaky, frightened opening where Tsu is basically lying the entire time, it’s a very like, fragile time that I cannot stop thinking about. 

[brilliancetheory]

Can any snail owners advise me please- what’s the best way of making sure your African land snail is getting enough calcium?

I have cuttlefish bone for my boi, which I’ve tried giving to him whole and also crushed up/powdered, and he doesn’t seem particularly interested in either. I sprinkle the powdered cuttlefish bone on his food and also on some of the greenery in the tank just to make sure he comes across it. I’ve also heard cleaned eggshell is meant to be good, but I thought eggshell was a snail repellent? Is that just for garden snails?

I’m asking all the more urgently right now because I recently noticed a small crack in his shell- nothing dangerous or life threatening as it’s just a split, rather than a piece missing, and I know snails can repair their shells, but it’s enough that I’m reluctant to try picking him up until it’s better. So, any and all advice is appreciated!

[wrathfulwitch]

Hi! I’ve been wanting to get land snails and make a terrarium for them! Do you happen to have tips for successfully keeping snails and how to get started?

snails are super easy pets! here’s a little care guide covering most everything, don’t be afraid to reach out if you have more questions!

1: the terrarium

most land snails don’t get very big, and you can easily keep them in a tupperwear container or a small glass terrarium. if you’re going with a tub, make sure you make enough ventilation, either by drilling small holes in it or by cutting part of the lid out and replacing it with a screen. snails do well on any kind of soil so long as it is clean. don’t be afraid to give them a lot, they like to dig. they also benefit from moss and places to hide. my terrarium has several large rocks, some smaller ones, and some fake plants as well.

2: the basic care requirements

the soil in the terrarium needs to be damp, but not wet. it should never be dry and crumbly, but not soggy, either. i mist my snails once daily, at night. while they do drink from a small water dish, they mostly get their water by drinking off the rocks and leaves of the fake plants. most land snails do well in room temperature, so long as it isn’t cold and isn’t in direct sunlight. my snails’ tub is right next to my snake’s heat lamp, so that boosts their humidity and heat, which is beneficial for them.

3: the food

snails eat pretty much every kind of fruit and vegetable. mine particularly like lettuce, tomatoes, and cantaloupe. other good foods include carrots, strawberries, cucumber, celery, and snail mix. (ex.) snails also enjoy things like fish flakes, dried mealworms, and even raw meat. when it comes to raw meat and things higher in protein, they should be fed sparsely, like once or twice a month. 

snails need a constant source of calcium. it’s how they continue growing and repairing their shells! it’s highly recommended to leave cuttlefish bone in their enclosures for them to have access to 24/7. you can find cuttlefish bone in the bird section at pet stores. you can also create “calcium cakes” by mixing powdered calcium with water to create a paste-like texture, and then left for several days to harden. you can even crush eggshells up to supplement their food.

[runfast-runfar]

Sunday funday 🤗

5/17/2020 - Quarantine Day 61

✨ woke up super early because I couldn’t sleep. So I was up at 4:30am. My brother and I are both in my room bc our aunt is staying with us this weekend bc of an emergency situation for her. I don’t know her well, but she’s nice enough. She leaves tomorrow early so it’s a quick stay. But anyways, bc my brother and I are in my room, I waited to do my morning yoga until a little later. So I did that at 6:45am (little bro was not pleased.. lol)

✨ 30 minutes of yoga then I went on a 40 minute run. It poured raining last night so there were tons of snails out so I decided to make a snail terrarium bc I love them and I researched how to properly care for them. I haven’t totally finished the habitat so I’ll post a picture of it tomorrow! But so far I have 3 snails 🐌 with shells, and then two little guys who are shell-less atm. They have cuttlefish bone and eggshells for plenty of calcium phosphate so they’ll be getting their new shells in no time! 🤗

✨ came home and made a “just egg” and daiya cheese breakfast sandwich for brunch (since it was noon by the time I got around to making the food lol!)

✨ our aunts pup is here and Thea and him have a love/hate relationship haha! He’ll chase her wanting to play, but she won’t, then when he walks away bc she is ignoring him, she’ll follow him around lol! Playing hard to get Thea!? Haha

She’s such a weirdo... ugh I love her so so much!! 🐱

✨ then I went on a two hour bike ride that destroyed me lol! I did almost 30 miles and it was largely uphill and I. am. dead. But in the best way lol

✨ showered, than had a bowl of fresh fruit from the farmers market! And finished up a final project for one of my classes tomorrow!

✨ now I’m sipping on my decaf coffee, watching 21 Jump Street before my brother and I leave to go pick up blue line pizza for dinner!! My favorite! I always get the cheese pizza with vegan cheese, and pineapple 🍍

Soooo good!

✨ tomorrow begins my finals week, so it’ll be busy until Wednesday bc that’s my last final lol! I’m super sad about transferring bc I genuinely LOVE my school, and my teachers and not getting to actually see them and say bye is rough. But I have a zoom call with my favorite teacher on Wednesday this week, and she’s offered me to “sit in” on her summer classes to prolong seeing each other which is cute! And she’s asked me to help build her course for summer and fall, which is awesome! It’s all bittersweet. But I am so proud of the relationships with both teachers and friends I’ve fostered these past 3 years! So much love ❤️

[snog-snailblog]

Snails are herbaceous mollusks, meaning they have a diet including various vegetables and fruits, that have a great deal of climate needs. Their diets have exclusions, such as when different species of snails are housed together, becoming territorial, and eat each other. I will discuss their primary diet, and include side notes of what works for me.

Food:

As I said, snails tend to like veggies and fruit; they enjoy all kinds of foods, and you can feed a great many food-scraps to them with exceptions to things listed in the next segment. I tend to feed my snails homegrown lettuces, radish-leaves, and arugula; I’ve tried broccoli and zucchini with success; and I’ve read about snails eating and enjoying apple and starchy fruits, and some even like tomato.

I urge against attempting to feed snails any form of salt or sugar, as well as any garlic, onion, or citrus (including oranges and definitely not lemon). In small quantities these may not be lethal, but it is better to be careful. Another good to avoid is pasta, bread, and any other “expanding” grain. If snails eat pasta it will expand in their stomachs and result in death.

Personal Accounts: I have heard of handlers feeding radish leaves to their snails, and that they love it; however, my helix snails don’t particularly care for them. My snails tend to like lettuce the most, they’ll also destroy an arugula leaf in less than an hour, and they really love broccoli.

Minerals:

Snails need protein and calcium, like any other creature, but it seems that where their needs end for smaller land species like Helix Pomatia. The best investment for a snail enclosure is cuttlebone (pictured below), which is commonly found in the bird-section of most pet stores. In place of such a material, many handlers will use crushed eggshell (which is easiest to work with when you remove the membrane)

Personal Accounts: Before getting a cuttlefish bone I would crush eggshells (in a mortar and pestle, clean of chemicals and salts) into a fine powder and spread it on their food. I would also get a small dish and pour some eggshell in it and the snails would eat it right out of the container.

Water:

Snails are wet, slimy, cold mollusks. In their environments they prefer to have a moderate humidity - between 30% and 60%. For small tanks with no capability of a digger, or a larger tank with open space, moss can provide great humidity and give ample shelter. Their substrate (which I will delve into in a later post) shouldn’t be wet, due to molding, but it should be damp; you can get away with spritzing their tank twice a day with an average spray bottle. It’s also beneficial to provide them a very shallow dish with water (a good rule of thumb is 1/2-1/4 the height of your smallest guy, otherwise they can drown) - this will give them the resource to hydrate when needed. Change the water in the dish daily to give them fresh, pH balanced water.

Personal Accounts: Without sufficient humidity, your snails will deploy a firm membrane - called estivation, which is process snails undergo to protect themselves against dry climate and extreme temperatures - that attaches them to the wall of your tank. Do not pry them from this membrane, you may damage their shells, damage their bodies, or just generally upset them and make them unable to trust you. Instead, maintain a moderate temperature (around 50-65 degrees in Fahrenheit) and a moderate humidity, as shown above.

[snailappreciation101]

Snails do'es and don'ts

Do'es

Keep fresh food in their tank

Research the best size tank for the specific breed of snail you have

Keep cuttlefish bone, eggshell, chalk or a mixture of all three in the tank at all times for their shell

Wash your hands before and after handling them

Give them love and affection

Keep foliage in hiding places in their tank

Spray tank with water everyday

Wash their tank regularly

Replace the subtrait especially if you have more than one snail

Reorganize the set up every so often

Know your snails habits and adapt their diet / set up accordingly

Very their diet

Replace the food in their tank

Use coconut fiber bark

Don'ts

Handle them too often

Give them salt or salty foods

Wash their tank with glass cleaner or soap

Use fertilized dirt for planting soil

Pick them up by their shell

Put pressure on their shell

Leave molding or old food in their tank

Put unwashed sticks in their tank

Feed them too much sugar

Have too many loud sounds near them

Pull on them

[dollycoffee]

I recently got a mystery snail to go with my betta in a 3.5 gallon tank. The betta could care less about the snail, and I have a heater and filter. I feed him algea wafers, but he also eats pellets that my betta drops (he's a messy eater). I know the snails need Calcium, but how to I give it to them? I don't want to put anything in the tank that could harm my betta.

Hello! What works really good for snails, and that most people have, are eggshells! After cracking the egg, just wash the shell, boil it for ten minutes to kill the bacteria, and, if you want to make sure there’s absolutely no more bacteria, place it on a baking sheet and bake it at 200 F for about thirty minutes. Just placing it in the tank works good, since they can absorb the calcium through their foot, but what also works is pulverizing it with a food processor and turning it into a powder which can be sprinkled in the water. I don’t recommend doing this though, since it may turn your water cloudy and it’ll get washed away with a water change. Another thing you can if you don’t eat eggs is buy cuttlefish bones. They’re pretty cheap at pet stores, so just wash them and put them in the tank! Calcium shouldn’t bother Betta fish at all, just make sure to take the bone or shell out every 4-5 days and wash it in case it starts getting slimy ^^  Hope this helps! 

[murderous-snail]

Chickens need a high calcium diet in order to lay lots of eggs. The best sources of calcium are - you guessed it; eggshells and BONE.

Back when I had chickens we would buy cuttlefish bone in bulk and hang a few up around the coop evertime we noticed eggshells getting a bit weak. But we also saved all the eggshells and just gave them back to the chickens. And whenever we had something with bone (surprisingly infrequent as my mother was an awful cook) it was always a fifty/fifty split between the chickens and the dogs (unless it was a bird carcass, then it all went to the chickens - because unlike dogs, chickens can actually eat bird bone.)

Every time I went into a coop for eggs, the first one or two was a sacrifice as its often easier to take the eggs if they are distracted, also it makes them very happy. You just toss it on the ground, the second it hits open air outside the nesting boxes its like blood in the water - or, well, honestly, a better phrase would be blood in a chicken coop. Yolk, white, shell, even any dirt that may have gotten wet from said yolk or white. Gone. Without a trace. Every time. They love that sh*t.

Also: when a hen is brooding (trying to hatch a clutch of eggs) always, ALWAYS, separate her and her clutch from the flock. Baby chicks are just raw, breathing chicken nuggets with feathers and legs, and the second they sit down, or go to sleep, they are vulnerable. And chickens don't give a crap that they are also chickens - the only chicken that doesn't want to eat them immediately is their mother hen. The one time I tried to raze chicks outside of an incubator I went from having 7 brand new prize show chicks to 0 and minus 1 prize hen overnight (we suspect she tried to protect them and was thusly injured and then there was blood in the coop and they ate her too.)

They don't differentiate. I got attacked by one of my roosters (a gorgeous, exotic show rooster, also the only downright mean bird I'd ever had.) while collecting eggs once and what started as a simple set of puncture wounds from both of his spirs and his beak dripped blood in the coop again and suddenly I was the new main course. Chickens came running from everywhere. It was mortifying. I wouldn't have been that terrified looking a tiger in the face. I barely managed to escape with any flesh left on my leg. There was one city-born nurse in the hospital that night and she was horrified when I, and all the country nurses explained that no, chickens are not friendly cute little birds that eat plants.

Also also: whoever came up with the term "chicken" as a synonym of cowardly, was a moron. Those birds are ballsy, they hold no fear, of anything. Care Rescue Texas - a large cat rescue in texas (they have 2 YouTube channels "Carerescuetexas" and "BigCatDerek") used to have chickens free range between all of their enclosures and the chickens were entirely unfazed by lions snd tigers and whatnot all around them and looking at them with hungry eyes. (I say used to because I'm not sure if they are still there or not. The video I'm referencing is old.)

Also "fox in a hen house" is equally laughable.

When a fox got into one of my coops, that evil rooster and his eleven hens somehow managed to kill it with only two casualties. We suspect that it was not a united front at first, but the fox may have cornered, or perhaps gotten a hold of someone, or perhaps the rooster was defending his territory and harem - either way it was likely the fox received a wound and blood in the coop, the chickens united and the battle was turned in a heartbeat. And whether the fox killed the 2 chickens or the chickens killed the chickens remains a mystery.

Chickens are brutal, blood thirsty monsters.

But they are fun. I miss having them.