I have noticed that certain snails prefer different things.
For instance...
They didn't touch blueberries, bananas were interesting but not a favourite. Grapes, cut in half seem to be a hit all around. Salad leaves are eaten every time ( the darker coloured leaves only ) Red sweet peppers, not at all. Potato, nope. Tiny red tomato, again not interested. Sweet potato, yes. Spinach was accepted by some but its on the " in moderation list " list. Passion fruit. no.
I noticed the past several days they were not as active so I checked heat.. it remains pretty much constant, room temp 21.5 / 21.5 at night and around 22 ish during the day. Humidity I am working on. Those things didn't seem to be the cause it was my feeling. I also noticed they were looking a bit thin and their shells were appearing a bit dryer. I thought FOOD!
Lets get some macro nutrients in them. I bought some baby food & they enjoyed it. Then out came the " snail food mix " I bought from snails4you. OMG! They were starving They each ate for several minutes each! Gulping it down. After eating I gave them time in the bathroom sink with warm water flowing. My goodness then they drank like fish!
It seems I was starving the: Im feeding then snail mix every two days now with a touch of baby food blended in there. Its working. Slowly they are becoming active again , shells looking more smooth and less dry.
Another live and learn moment.
I googled " feeding baby snails. " Results read that in the wild baby/ adolescents usually eat the food that is "turning" & older snail eat the fresh growth more. DUH! of course, turning food it more easily digested. So yes, of course not having been given the option of slightly " turning" fruits and vegetables they were not eating enough. ( their digestive systems must be still developing like any other young animal ) Thats why when offered fruits, veggies & snail mix ( thats a bit processed as we would say, is what they naturally want.
So now every 2 days it soft b-food / snail mix and an offering of fresh but shredded fresh fruits and veggies at night. I will continue to do this as decrease the processed things when I see consumptions slows down and it increases in the fresh foods. I heard its good to feed snail mixes 1x a week. This I will do when the signes / snails show me its time.
I will aslo " bathe " ( which means to let them slime in some around the bathroom sink with the top running. ) them every 3 days or so in case they are needing extra water & again when they aren't drinking so much lessen it to 1x a week.
I weighed them yesterday.
Harlow, 6 grams
Harlean & Marilyn 4 grams
Isabella & Rossellini... who know. They are the tiniest snails and probably weigh not even a gram. They eat however.
All rasp at cuttle fish and I also shave some into the soil when I turn it.
Zen lesson learned, OBSERVE
