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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 4, 2017 14:54:03 GMT
That is a great setup love, I am sure the snailies just love it. I am waiting for some coir to arrive as their semi clean out is due. Great time to make your substrate bioactive (if you havent already) with some exotic woodlice,works a treat in my setup leaving the cleaning to them or some springtails. I still only have one snail however I emailed the person I bought this snail from to get hold of an Achatina achatina for Ashoka to have some company. Although its said Achatina reticulata can be housed with Achatina achatina im still not 100% on it as Retics are only found in Zanzibar so they wouldnt come across A.achatina in the wild.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Oct 5, 2017 9:13:03 GMT
If I bought some exotic woodlice sweetie when I did my next clean wouldn't they be thrown away or at least some of them? Where do you buy them from or is it easier just to Google. Thanks for the kind help my friend.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 5, 2017 15:30:37 GMT
If I bought some exotic woodlice sweetie when I did my next clean wouldn't they be thrown away or at least some of them? Where do you buy them from or is it easier just to Google. Thanks for the kind help my friend. Hugs JO xx Here is a link to where I get mine: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182751924968Once your culture has established you will find your cleaning to be very minimum compared to what you are doing now. So regarding soil cleaning because mine is bioactive and established once a week I just turn the soil using a fork including the poo as it breaks down quicker into soil itself and of course the woodlice eat poo. With these guys you wont get any mold either or very little. If I had a large group of snails I would probably also add exotic springtails to work the soil even more. I have not had to do any soil changing to be honest either which is a good sign as it tells me my culture is large enough and working on keeping the soil naturally fresh and clean without impacting the bacteria that is required for both the continuous nitrogen cycle and beneficial bacteria that the snail requires to stay healthy. I do remove poo 💩 from clear lid though but more so to look aesthetically pleasing for me. I also clean the lid itself only with dechlorinated water.
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Post by Zorst on Oct 5, 2017 22:32:17 GMT
Looks a great snail set up and a beautiful snail, I love the moss balls idea, if i still had Marrow and his gang I would certainly be interested in them. Jo and Etana Marrow's doing well and were all waiting to see if the few eggs kept back are viable. I'm also back home from hospital n very , very sore so taking time out to heal.
MOA please keep posting this thread as its great to read.
Zorst
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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 6, 2017 7:56:17 GMT
Looks a great snail set up and a beautiful snail, I love the moss balls idea, if i still had Marrow and his gang I would certainly be interested in them. Jo and Etana Marrow's doing well and were all waiting to see if the few eggs kept back are viable. I'm also back home from hospital n very , very sore so taking time out to heal. MOA please keep posting this thread as its great to read. Zorst Hi Zorst, Thanks for your comment. I will happily keep updating the thread as the snail develops. I am also going to take microscope pictures of soil samples and any critters I come across in the future that I find interesting. I am surprised my springtails from the frog setup haven't travelled into the snail enclosure yet as they did with my dubia cockroaches, but never say never I suppose. I hate hearing people in hospitals so I hope you recover quickly. All the best, MOA.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Oct 6, 2017 9:29:21 GMT
Thanks for your really helpful post MasterOfArts love and I think I will get some of these. I will wait until we have had one more particle substrate change though. This is a silly question but do you just tip all of them into the tank at once? I am sorry to be so stupid. I remove poo every other day and clean the sides of the tank, change food and water and make sure everyone is happy.
I hope you are feeling better Zorst hunni, I really hope you have someone to look after you. I am sure Marrow would help if he could bless him LOL. I am glad he is doing well.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 6, 2017 12:03:30 GMT
Thanks for your really helpful post MasterOfArts love and I think I will get some of these. I will wait until we have had one more particle substrate change though. This is a silly question but do you just tip all of them into the tank at once? I am sorry to be so stupid. I remove poo every other day and clean the sides of the tank, change food and water and make sure everyone is happy. I hope you are feeling better Zorst hunni, I really hope you have someone to look after you. I am sure Marrow would help if he could bless him LOL. I am glad he is doing well. Hugs Jo xx To me Jo no such thing as a stupid question even if its been covered 100 times. Way I see it procedures and best practices change as us humanoids learn more about any topic in question. Sadly a lot of humans are stuck in their ways and dont like change (couple Freud lectures will explain pmsl). But the few that do except change are the ones where their pets "thrive" rather than just "survive". To be honest I just tip everything in because they are that small, tiny wee criters and dont expect to see them often as most will be within the soil. What I would do though to help them establish is place some custodian food in for them, this is what I use: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/381693538662I tend to just put a couple of bits in every month, springtails also love them and probably so will your snails once they go all mushy in your soil. This food stuff will last ages. I see where I bought Ashoka from is a forum sponsor (snails4u.com), thats good news to me.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Oct 7, 2017 14:29:50 GMT
Thanks for that hunni, I really appreciate it. I am always glad to receive advice because as you say, it is the welfare of your pet which is important and there is always someone who knows better (in my case anyway lol). I have booked marked the page and will order them very soon. I will look forward to not having to do so many soil changes as I think the snailies think of it as a bit of an upheaval. Thanks again love.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 8, 2017 10:20:44 GMT
Little update folks.
I have purchased an Achatina achatina to become Ashokas tank mate.
I am still not 100% keen on the idea on housing an Achatina achatina with a Achatina reticulata.
The rectics like it warm like the A.achatina which is good.
If it doesn't work I will seperate them.
Will get some pictures of the new snail up mid week.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Oct 8, 2017 13:45:37 GMT
Good luck love and thank you for keeping us posted.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 11, 2017 18:33:32 GMT
Hello Folks, Meet Anakin, Ashokas new friend. As you can see and for those that don't know, Anakin is an Achatina achatina snail. As you can see Anakin is just starting to come out his shell He arrived yesterday and these pictures are during a maintenance routine. Enjoy, MOA
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Post by jolovessnailies on Oct 12, 2017 8:55:23 GMT
Thank you for sharing such wonderful and beautiful photos love, the snailies are super cute. I notice one eating the middle out of a slice of cucumber, mine do that and leave the rest, little tinkers. You have a super set up too. Is Anakin fully confident now and has he had a wander around? They usually come out when there is delicious food about LOL!
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 14, 2017 10:42:27 GMT
Thank you for sharing such wonderful and beautiful photos love, the snailies are super cute. I notice one eating the middle out of a slice of cucumber, mine do that and leave the rest, little tinkers. You have a super set up too. Is Anakin fully confident now and has he had a wander around? They usually come out when there is delicious food about LOL! Hugs Jo xx He is still quite shy but it took Ashoka a couple of weeks at the least to really show of the personality. I dont give them much cucumber and generally stick with courgette as I eat a lot of it myself but I dont like cucumber. I doo feed it occasionally though if I buy it for the wife or guests. Today is snail grub day which I feed once a week so I am hoping Anakin is a fan as much as Ashoka is with the mix.
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Post by jolovessnailies on Oct 14, 2017 14:15:49 GMT
He will come around lovey, he is getting used to his lovely new home. I love cucumber and have it with tuna sandwiches but hubby isn't keen, he likes beetroot which I do not. Anyway, I digress. I don't give mine much cucumber because apparently, it can upset their tummies but when Paul next goes shopping I will ask him to get a courgette and see how that goes down. I hope they both enjoy their mix, please let me know.
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Post by MasterOfArts on Oct 19, 2017 18:01:06 GMT
Hello All, I get the impression it has been a terrible week for some including myself. So here is a wee video I done tonight, hopefully it will cheer us all up. VIDEO: youtu.be/TmSVd72YQm0(FAO: ADMIN video wont inbed to the forum, possible update(s) required?) This is at around 6pm when things are cooling down. You will see in the video that the snail enclosure is on top of the frog setup. From morning up to about 3pm the hood of the frog tank has four lights on, this takes the setup up to about 27c in temperature. After 3pm I have a timer that switches 2 out of the 4 lights off between 3pm and 8:30pm temps go to about 25c. Then comes night, after 8:30pm, another timer switches of the remaining lights in the hood and the snail setup goes to about 23-24c from 20:30 till around 09:30am and then the daily cycle starts again. Enjoy, MOA.
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