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Post by eibhlin on Aug 19, 2016 6:24:17 GMT
I noticed that my snails have these active times and then for a while they just hang there. So i was wondering on a couple of things. They have been sliding around last week. When i got up in the morning they were all somewhere. They ate and then went back to their shelter. Now for a few days they have been at the same spot. Sometimes they move a bit like to reposition, but they stay where they are. They also barely ate since the last 5 days. I've seen some small nibbling on the food but it was very little. I also suspect it was just my helix who ate. He seems in general always more active than the cepaea. There was one cepaea who was active yesterday but i can't remember if i saw her at the food. I think she just came out of the shelter to slide to the top of the tank to join her friend. They are not deeply retracted, they just sleep inside their shell. So my questions are: - When they sleep for so long, should i wake them up sometimes or just let them be?
- How long asleep is 'normal'?
- Is it normal for them not t eat much? I even gave them leucite and they didn't touch it while in the baby tanks it's completely disappeared!
- One of the snails laid eggs so i don't think they are not feeling well in the environment? It's 80% moist en 20°c in there all the time
- The baby tanks seem so much more active. There are small babies sliding all over all day long. There isn't a single moment that they are all sleeping. So i was wondering, maybe it's because they are older? My little one in there has been going all over for a while as well.
- Maybe they are with to little in the tank? Maybe it gets more active when they have more friends/are closer to each other?
If i pick them up and hold them under some running water, they always wake up right away peeking around. |
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Post by eibhlin on Aug 21, 2016 11:34:38 GMT
Ok, so my snails became more active again. I don't really know why exactly. Could be because the change in their environment. Because of the mold issue i decided to spray less. Yep, i don't spray the whole tank every day anymore. I only spray on the ferm and some moss. The soil and the wood area's are left as it is. The soil is moist on it's own anyways and probably doesn't need even more water. I think the air circulation + the new moist schedule maybe fits them better. I was even thinking about following the weather outside and spray when it rains. I mean... In the wild they don't get a shower every day as well. There are some more dry days. Maybe cepaea don't need to be sprayed on every day. They are all active at this moment.
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Post by etana on Aug 22, 2016 8:54:29 GMT
I was about to reply that adult Cepaea sometimes are quite inactive when they're just sparing energy. Adults also don't need to eat quite every day, unlike babies with their growth spurts.
The changes in environment probably did contribute to their increase in activity.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Aug 22, 2016 9:17:33 GMT
Mine are going through a stage of not eating very much but then they are all huge now and I put it down to them not needing so much. The corn on the cob has still taken a hammering though lol!
Hugs
Jo xx
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Post by etana on Aug 22, 2016 9:47:55 GMT
Ah yeah, it applies to giant snails as well that when the growth spurts are over, they are able to survive with less food. It's completely normal.  |
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Post by eibhlin on Aug 22, 2016 15:19:06 GMT
I was about to reply that adult Cepaea sometimes are quite inactive when they're just sparing energy. Adults also don't need to eat quite every day, unlike babies with their growth spurts. The changes in environment probably did contribute to their increase in activity. Let's hope they aren't saving energy for a huge new load of eggs.  Normally i do see them eating almost every day. They skip a day sometimes but never more than one. The baby is eating every day yes.  He finally started going to the food on it's own. Strangely i had to kinda teach him. |
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Post by eibhlin on Aug 22, 2016 15:22:36 GMT
Mine are going through a stage of not eating very much but then they are all huge now and I put it down to them not needing so much. The corn on the cob has still taken a hammering though lol! Hugs Jo xx Mine don't really eat a lot of corn. They don't eat such an amount that i can give them a cob lol. They are just 4 tiny snails. I tried to give them some of a tiny cob i bought and sliced the corn off to distribute it trough all the tanks. They did eat it but it started going bad before they finished it all. Well at least i have 1 super active snail haha. He is so tiny i often have to really look close to find him but he's there. The last 2 days he stayed close to the food bowl. I wonder if my snails will sleep when it starts to become winter. I doubt it. They are in the warmest room in the house. |
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Post by jolovessnailies on Aug 23, 2016 13:34:33 GMT
If the corn on the cob isn't eaten within a day or two, I remove it love because otherwise it does go off very quickly. By the looks of it however, everyone has had a munch and only the husk remains. Your baby snail sounds adorable, there is always one greedy one and he is usually the prime survivor as he is also wise enough to stay near the food. My Sidney is like that. My snailies are in the warmest room in the house too love, my bedroom, where the heating is on all year round so I nw they are always nice and snug.
Hugs
Jo xx
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Post by etana on Aug 23, 2016 15:12:44 GMT
My wild-caught Cepaea and Arianta do hibernate even though they're kept warm. Boring, but the ones that are allowed to do that live much longer, so I try to let them sleep.
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Post by Borini. on Aug 23, 2016 15:45:49 GMT
A lot will be to do with the digestive process of the snails. Small baby snails will have a high metabolism and require significant nourishment to sustain their growth demands. Larger, more established, adult snails will, in my experience, go through states of completely ravaging everything in sight, to complete reluctance while they go through a state of digesting and pooping. The exception with my adults if after egg laying where they'll eat a great deal to avoid exhaustion. This is largely based on my experience with retics so I'm not sure if it applies to smaller, non African snails. Interesting nonetheless. Has anyone else similar observations? Or any to the contrary?
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Post by eibhlin on Aug 23, 2016 16:05:17 GMT
My wild-caught Cepaea and Arianta do hibernate even though they're kept warm. Boring, but the ones that are allowed to do that live much longer, so I try to let them sleep. Yep i did read that as well. So thats why i was wondering if they would do that while it's a nice temp. |
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Post by eibhlin on Aug 23, 2016 16:06:46 GMT
A lot will be to do with the digestive process of the snails. Small baby snails will have a high metabolism and require significant nourishment to sustain their growth demands. Larger, more established, adult snails will, in my experience, go through states of completely ravaging everything in sight, to complete reluctance while they go through a state of digesting and pooping. The exception with my adults if after egg laying where they'll eat a great deal to avoid exhaustion. This is largely based on my experience with retics so I'm not sure if it applies to smaller, non African snails. Interesting nonetheless. Has anyone else similar observations? Or any to the contrary? Well i noticed that my snails tend to eat move BEFORE they lay eggs. Like they take a nice long lunch, then get somewhere comfy, lay theirs eggs, poop a lot and then they go to sleep for a day or 2 |
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Post by jolovessnailies on Aug 24, 2016 8:41:42 GMT
Mine are little sleepy heads at the moment but it is lovely at night seeing all the little eye stalks appear. Put that way Eibhlin love, it sounds quite a good life doesn't it lol?
Hugs
JO xx
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Post by eibhlin on Aug 24, 2016 11:53:53 GMT
Over here the little ones is going all directions all day haha. It's funny to see. Such a super tiny snail all active in a huge tank. I think he doesn't even know that he is in a tank haha. The bigger ones are asleep in their cave. We are having e heath wave over here and the temp in there is also running up. But at least they are still cooler than the snails outside. They will probably hide a lot this week with these temps.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Aug 28, 2016 16:29:37 GMT
They are like human toddlers love, can't keep still for a second because everything is new and has to be explored and lots of adults to pester lol! We are supposed to be having summer here but it is more like November.
Hugs
Jo xx
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Normally i do see them eating almost every day. They skip a day sometimes but never more than one. The baby is eating every day yes. 
He finally started going to the food on it's own. Strangely i had to kinda teach him.
