Cepaea N. & Helix A. Baby's!!!!

[jolovessnailies]

Congrats on your babies love, sorry only just seen this. They are so cute aren't they?

Hugs
Jo xx

[eibhlin]

Yeah they are They are pretty fast as well!

[eibhlin]

Oh no I just found a dead baby snail. He got squinched between cucumber I really hope i didn't do that. I'm always so careful when i replace the food but they are everywhere! I just took out a slice of cucumber that was going bad and i saw the poor little baby. I have probably a 100 more but i still feel sad about that one. But things like that probably happen a lot also in the wild. I'm going to be super extra extra careful next time.
It's also so hard to take food out. There are always baby's on it. I push them of gently and make them land in the mos or on a plant. Otherwise i have no clue how to get them all off.

[eibhlin]

All those baby's!
Baby snail tank one


baby snail tank 2

[jolovessnailies]

I am sorry to hear that hunni, I am sure it is nothing you have done, they probably get themselves into trouble sometimes. Please keep us posted.

Hugs
Jo xx

[etana]

Tiiiiiny tiny snailies!

You're lucky (and very careful indeed!) if only one's been crushed so far. They lead very dangerous lives at that size. Not to say it isn't sad when it happens, of course it is.

Keep the pics coming

[eibhlin]

Yeah i'm looking at every spot and corner when i stick my hand in Somehow the tanks don't really get very dirty so i haven't been in the position that i have to clean the sides of the tanks. They all seem to poo on their food
It seems like the baby Helix a. are getting some shell patterns. Some are getting spots while others have stripes.

[eibhlin]

I placed some more moss in my tank since one snail fell right next to a clay plant foot. I wonder if moss is a popular place to lay eggs as well? The moss are moss mats so i don't know if they would be able to dig trough it. Maybe they can crawl under it and lay eggs. The moss is on the shallow dirt side.

[etana]

I would check for eggs under the mat. Though I've seen moss being used more as a toilet.

[eibhlin]

Jul 26, 2016 5:12:32 GMT etana said:

I would check for eggs under the mat. Though I've seen moss being used more as a toilet.

Haha yeah same In my previous tank the moss was always filled with the giant turds. I'll pick them up now and then

[eibhlin]

I found something great in my closet to take the food out of my tank a bit more safe. This way my big hands don't have to enter the tank.
It's the thing on the right. Looks like a huge pincet. I look at the food to see if there are little ones on it, if not i pick it up with this on the 100% safe sides. then i look for baby's on other places and tada!

[etana]

Ooh that's a great idea.

[eibhlin]

Is it possible that a baby snail just dies? I was checking all of them as i often do. I saw one baby that seemed to be upside down and the shell seems empty/deep retracted. The others are doing really great and shell patterns are already forming in some. I also notice a huge size difference. Especially with the cepaea snails actually. Some are like twice the size of the others. I have no idea how that can be. I often check the movement of them all and even the super tiny ones move around so they are alive.

[eibhlin]

I wish there were more people that kept track of their baby snails. Been searching a lot but haven't found any blog or what so ever. Most people seem to post a pic or start a topic and then abandon it.

[etana]

Yes, Cepaea hatchling mortality rate is high, they sometimes just go to sleep and die.

Agreed, baby snails and really any snails in general should be observed more closely and made notes of. We know way too little about them. Usually people don't talk about what's going well.