Providing Snails?

[jamest0o0]

Wow, didn't realize they were that expensive! Are there any tarantulas that are very active? Always seems like people have them in TINY enclosures with barely anything in them. I don't see the fun in that :/. I would love to have a T or scorpion one day, but probably won't happen with the bugphobic GF. Although she deals with my roaches and bugs being in a separate room. As long as she doesn't have to look at them it doesn't bother her.

Back to snails though... Do they need a water dish? I saw people mentioning you should have one, but mine seem fine without and thatd be annoying to clean 50x a day.

 

[Andee]

There are plenty of active T's I plan to keep my G. Pulchra in an enclosure that is frowned upon in the community because it's a waste of space. And I say.... I don't care if it wastes space, they have it of they want it. I mean generally the super active T species are fast and relatively defensive, definitely not ones to hold and all care must be done with tongs. My t babies right now I can usually get right up in their space with my fingers of I am trying to clean. But I am well aware of stress signs and body language and switch to tongs when needed. Currently I only us tongs because they are so close to molting. Poor sweeties.

For snails they shouldn't need a water dish I think. May be give a light misting once a day? And then they should get everything they need otherwise from the greens they eat.

 

[jamest0o0]

That's what I was thinkijng for the snails. Their bin stays pretty well because I only have holes drilled for air. Keeps humidity nice and high. Their shells have grown like crazy already, but no eggs yet. I actually enjoy them lol. Their bin is like a compost heap, I throw stuff in and they eat it all, any scraps go to the booming springtail/Iso population.

Have you ever kept the large centipedes?

 

[Andee]

No... centipedes honestly is likely one species I will never keep unless I get a rescue which usually invert rescues are hard to come by.

But I have some larger species of millipedes right now <3

 

[jamest0o0]

Centipedes are terrifying, but fascinating. Amazing intelligence. I'd be so afraid of opening the enclosure though, they're too fast and can climb up the tongs. If I lost it in my house I'd be move out, that day.

 

[Andee]

Generally most centipede keepers socialize them. But it's kind of like how people think a lot of other inverts, even T's are basket knowledge. If they were they would attack us all the time. If we stress them sure they will bite. There are likely things they perceive as threats that we know aren't. It's like reptiles, just because the don't understand everything in the world doesn't mean they aren't incredibly intelligent. I have so many True spiders as well who are intelligent beyond belief. And my roaches do the same. Sometimes I think the average invert keeper underestimates that of which they keep and I find that depressing

 

[jamest0o0]

I agree, intelligence is pretty relevant. Our arrogant human minds relate it to social behavior, but that's not necessary for most creatures. Roaches and chameleons both do something that amaze me, and it's their ability to immediately recognize the right place to go in order to get something/somewhere. My chameleon would instantly figure out how to climb off his free range and get to spots in the room that I couldn't figure out. Roaches seem to know the exact spot to get out of feeder cups if it exists and they know which way to run for cover.

Overall though, I think most predators have impressive levels of intelligence because they have to figure out their prey, there's no one way of doing something. Cats are great with this, they are amazing problem solvers when it comes to getting what they want.

 

[hopps31]

Just curious do you guys use UVB on the snails? I just got them in and was reading up on their care and UVB was mentioned. I have them in a 10 gallon tank with a screen cover which is covered to keep in humidity, a hide, small water dish, cuttlebone, and eco-earth and terrairum moss substrate. I think I am going to add some Isopods from my GBR bin over too. They are Helix Aspersa. They are cool little buggers, I am going to feel bad feeding them off. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Andee]

I do not use uvb... I have not read anything about that. Can you link me? That would be awesome and then I will respond and say whether it's just an extreme measure or not. All my guys are happy and healthy and trying to make regular escapes if I am not careful when I open the lid for too long

 

[JacksJill]

Back to snails though... Do they need a water dish? I saw people mentioning you should have one, but mine seem fine without and thatd be annoying to clean 50x a day.

I use a water dish filled with gravel. If you give them too much water they can drown in it. I just use the gravel dish as insurance incase I miss a day or two of misting.

 

[Andee]

I don't use a water dish currently, but would if I was leaving for a while. Right now I go out and do nightly mists for most of the various inverts and crested geckos in that room, so it's pretty normal for me to give them a heavy mist. They generally aren't hard to keep. @JacksJill what species do you keep? I have hard a time finding the answer I want... when did your snails (What size) start producing eggs? I don't want to worry about it if I don't have to, and looking in their ovulation tubes distresses the poor things so I don't want to do it if I don't have to.

 

[JacksJill]

I have the same variety you have, brown garden snail (Cornu asperum). They laid eggs two weeks after I found them hooked up. They were full size at ~3/4-1 inch across. One of my CB's laid eggs recently. You will see them digging down into the dirt. They stay in the hole most of a day. It's easy to spot no need to upset them. They seem to like to lay eggs in the dirt next to the water dish.

 

[Andee]

They are large enough then... I haven't seen them hooked up at all... but they have been digging down and spending a lot of time under sometimes I think they just enjoy the moisture sometimes. But not everyone does it... it's very obvious which of the six prefer it. XD

 

[hopps31]

I do not use uvb... I have not read anything about that. Can you link me? That would be awesome and then I will respond and say whether it's just an extreme measure or not. All my guys are happy and healthy and trying to make regular escapes if I am not careful when I open the lid for too long

I just want to start off saying that it is not probably the most reliable source of information and it does look outdated haha Here is the link http://www.oocities.org/sushithegoldfish/basiccare.html
so that is when I am in doubt I turn to you great people to see what is working for you

The water dish I am using is a small repti rock one I had upstairs in my supply section with just a little bit of water, they seem to like it, though it has only been less than 24 hours! I did plan on misting as well.

I did just drop over some isopods too, we will see what happens

 

[Andee]

yeah I dont use any lighting or heating.... as long as they dont drop below 65 they wont hibernate

 

[jamest0o0]

Honestly I rarely ever mist them. Their cage is a sealed (with small holes) bin. It stays wet and humid at almost all times and there are probably a billion springtails, isopods, and mites in there lol. It has turned into somewhat of a compost heap.the snails are getting huge and seem to be healthy so far.

 

[Andee]

Ah see I have a completely mesh top. Lots of airflow, no smell, but needs a daily mist.

 

[hopps31]

yeah I dont use any lighting or heating.... as long as they dont drop below 65 they wont hibernate

Thanks so much!!

I knew the site was a little odd but curiosity got me

Do you keep yours in a tank with open mesh top? I have all my feeders in 10 gallon tanks with screen tops but I have super glued tulle on the inside. It helps keeps down odor(super sensitive) also I have asthma pretty bad and it helps keep particles out of the air. I have that on the snail tank as well but they slimed it all up last night so it may need to come off..or rinse and clean often, not sure what I am going to do. Sorry just rambling here..

 

[jamest0o0]

I suggest for snails using a air tight container with drilled holes in the top. Keeps moisture in and just enough air. Clean up crew will thrive and keep the cage relatively clean. Bioactive at its finest IMO

 

[jamest0o0]

Btw if you have bad asthma be careful of roaches(on a side note)