Albino fulica (not good)

[pumpkineater]

Ok so I bought some baby white jades a few months ago and they haven't grown hardly at all. They were really quiet until I moved them into my hot, humid nursery tank, then they livened up but were still tiny.
Here's an example, I bought this rodatzi and this jade at the same time:
picasaweb.google.com/HannahPicklette/TanksAndPets/photo#5119329341048980722

I have to say I'm quite upset as the other day one of my albinos just died, I tried to nurse him back to health but it just seemed as though he'd given up.
Has anyone else had similar problems with these? I'd like to know if this stunting is a trait generally found in the albino fulica, or have I just been unlucky with them so far?
Could it be down to inbreeding?

[AlienSnail]

:'(That's very sad that one has died. Aw - you tried to save him x

Did you get them from Amy-Nakita? As some of us got them in pairs from her, she seemed to give us one big and one small with each sending.

This may just be a dodgy batch, I think it is possibly down to inbreeding but I cannot say for sure.

If it is from Emma (amy-N) then this is the first time I've encountered a problem, and even then when she sent mine there was not a large difference between them.

Here are mine, as you can see one has grown, the other hasn't, and likewise my own Rodatzi have over-taken the largest one. The difference is greater now as this photo was taken a while back, the tiny snail at the top is an Iredalei which is several, perhaps 6 months old and still isn't much bigger than as you see him there.


Good luck with the other one, you have tried your best but it's very sad that one died.

xxxxxxx

[Kevin]

When I made available the first lot of albino fulica, two shipments of approx 40 or so Snails, each one was only around 3-5cm. Some of the larger ones maybe around 6cm or so, so I assumed they only get to this size. Also because of the way they are farmed in China they would also be almost certainly related.

So maybe it is down to inbreeding, or very poor maintenance of them over a long period that many are unhealthy and badly stunted? The two I have now though, that I bought from copigeon, are captive bred and seem to be doing ok, they are around 5cm and seem to still be growing, quite slowly though.

[AlienSnail]

Oh that's interesting to know Kevin, thanks. I didn't realise they came from one original batch.

I wonder how many wild albino Fulica there are?

[Charisma Love]

you'd have thought there would be more albino fulica about, since a lot of people find them too strange to eat, compared to the normal fleshed ones.

[Kevin]

The albino's are actually bred as food in China, many thousands each year. Im not sure if the people there eat normal fulica, I dont think the normal ones are bred as food there though? I dont know any other countries that breed the albino's as food, not even Hong Kong apparantly, which is very close to China, so it isnt suprising that there arent many around Europe compared to the normal fulica.

Im pretty sure all the albino fulica in Europe at the moment come from a couple of shipments I received from someone not so long ago, as they werent ever available as captive farmed before that, or since. So its down to the people who have them to breed them and make them available here as captive bred, I thought more would be available by now, but they seem to be doing ok.

admin said:

I wonder how many wild albino Fulica there are?

Im not sure how many there are in the wild? Ive never seen anyone post that they have any wild caught ones though, so it wouldnt suprise me if they are very uncommon, or perhaps not found in the wild at all anymore?

The first lot would of all been Captive Farmed, Im not sure of the conditions they are kept in China, It would make sense that all the albino fulica there, and in captivity here, are related though.