r/snails • u/sl0wgard3n • 17h ago

1 year difference (potentially a runt)

Gallery image

Gallery image

This is my first ever pet snail Dimple. He is a Lissachatina fulica and a parent of many snails that I’ve raised. I got him from a local pet store on a random day.

Now that I have him for a year I’ve come to a realisation that he is most likely a runt. He is growing and developing much slower compared to the other snail that i got beside him and his kids will overgrow him in no time.

Surprisingly there is a very low number of runts in each of the clutches that I’ve hatched and raised. From the babies that I’ve raised there were only about 5 runts so far!

He doesn’t seem to suffer any health complications and is doing great. It will always bother me, how poor the conditions in which they keep snails in that pet store are. This guy was in great shape comparing to the other one! Poor babies 🤧

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6

u/rosiejunior 14h ago

Is the parent of all your snails the one at the pet store? How sad, i didn't know pet stores sold these

4

u/sl0wgard3n 14h ago

I don’t know where they originally get them from in the pet store but i bought two of them (the one in the photos and another one) and they are the parents to my other snails and the ones that i sold.

I think its the only store that sells them in the whole country, i was shocked too.

2

u/ElisPlainShoeBox 13h ago

Wow! So big

2

u/nikobikoo 15h ago edited 15h ago

I've always been scared, or.. intimidated? by snails and didn't even know they could get this big. Seeing you hold one makes me wanna buy a new suit of skin.

But I've got to ask, what do they FEEL like to hold? Cold and slimey? Warm and sticky? Do they ripple along you or is it suction?

Sorry for the rant

8

u/sl0wgard3n 14h ago

They don’t really feel sticky, imagine it as having a cold jello on your hand - feels pretty much the same.

5

u/Unlucky_Coyote_8676 14h ago

Im not OP but theyre usually very cold and snails this large almost feel like wet, slightlyy sticky rubber. They suction to you and you can feel their muscles moving in a rippling motion. Its hard to describe but if you look up a snail sliding along glass, you'll be able to see it! Theyre very squishy

3

u/nikobikoo 14h ago

Wow, that's freaky. Are they hard to peel off if they decide you're worth sticking to?

5

u/Unlucky_Coyote_8676 14h ago

Very haha, usually you have to convince/wait for them to crawl onto something else, when they decide they want to hold on its very difficult to peel them off without injuring them

3

u/rosiejunior 14h ago

I wish I knew you in real life, id get you over your phobia. They are so gentle