KazKazKazoo said:

Hello! I have some questions!

1. I know that there are a lot of snails out there that have delicate/fragile shells, is this the case for all of them? Or are there some snails that have tougher shells?
2. Can snails survive with a cracked/damaged shell?
3. What are some snails that you would note as being particularly "unique"? (interesting color, pattern, behaivor, etc)
4. What sorts of things do snails eat? Are any of them carnivorous?

I will add more if I think of anything else I'm curious about! o7

1. Snail shells are definitely fragile compared to humans, but they can be quite sturdy for their size! Larger species will have thicker shells, naturally, but all snail shells are constantly growing a new layer as the bottom most layers break down. The shell is made of calcium carbonate, so calcium intake is a major piece of a strong healthy shell. Too little calcium can cause them to be quite brittle.

As for significantly tough shells, I'd say in my personal experience, conch shells! I own three different sizes Queen Conch shells, cut down to be played musically, from Florida and they're quite hefty! They do hold a large sea snail though, so again strength tends to be relative to size.

2. Like I said, snail shells are surprisingly durable, and always growing. I even had a snail that significantly damaged his shell, right on the spiral, and he healed after several months. So yes, snails can survive with a damaged or cracked shell!

3. Definitely Conch- they have the *goofiest* eyes ever 😭

The Malaysian Fire snail, because of its colours.

The Candy Cane Snail also has amazing colours, rainbow like stripes.

Violet Sea Snails are really cool too - they use their mucus to make bubble "rafts" and float on the ocean surface! Also they eat jellyfish.

4. I did touch up a bit on what snails eat above, which is a large variety! They can be herbivorous, carnivorous, omnivorous, and detrivitorous.

As far the most well known carnivorous snails

The Rosy Wolfsnail is one. This particular species is also cannibalistic, and invasive outside of the Southeastern US. It's one of the main invasive predatory snails in Hawai'i too.

Not all carnivorous snails are cannibalistic, though a lot of them do prey on other snails, many also eat earthworms and as well saw, sea snails have more diverse options. They can eat bivalves, other mollusks, and even fish!

Listless said:

I have a question :D

i know that squids and snails are apart of the same phylum and i was curious what charcateristics are similar & different despite the fact they reside in the same category?

So squids are Cephalopods! This class of Mollusks includes squid, octopus, the nautilus, and cuttlefish. For those who don't recognise the nautilus, he's a goofy lil guy that looks like a squid squished into a snail shell. This is important because it shows that the difference between them is not a lack of a shall, which is further emphasised with snails and slugs being in the same class.

The similarities between classes of Cephalopods and Gastropods are that they are soft bodied invertebrae and have a shell and/or mantle protecting their organs.

The differences between them are that Gastropods have a fleshy foot which they use for movement, and while they also have at least on pair tentacles, they are cephalic tentacles for sensory information. Gastropods can also live on land or in water.

Cephalopods however are exclusively sea dwellers, have at least one set of arms or tentacles branching out from their foot, and have a prominant head right above these limbs. Their name actually originates from from Greek and means "Head foot".

fawned said:

This is such a cool thread! Thanks for sharing!

Do you have a favorite snail? And what species of snail is, in your opinion, best to keep as a pet? I've always been curious about them but worry about the ethics regarding obtaining certain species!

I do! I love Cuban Brown Snails, or Zachrysia provisoria. They were quite common where I lived in Florida, and were my first pet snail.

As for having snails as a pet, it really depends! I have only ever had land snails, and live in the United States, so that's where my expertise lies.
Getting into the legalities of snails as pets.

Any snail from the Achatina genus, or that falls under the category of Giant African Land Snail (GAS) is illegal in the United States for a variety of reasons, regardless or permits. They cannot be imported or cross state borders, so if you find a GAS breeder/seller in the US they are illegal. The primary reason is that they are invasive, and Florida is unfortnately suffering grealy even though they were believed to be eradicated.

Helix pomatia, the Burgundy snail, is the largest snail you can legally obtain in the US in some states. They are also considered an invasive species, so check your individual state laws.

As far as ethics go, there are people who sell smaller common snail species online, but I don't have much experience with this. The easiest, and most common, way to obtain a little land snail is to happen upon them. I'd say if you find you snail on your own, it's best to take them from garderns rather then a more wild environment like the forest, where they're doing an important job. Mine were all "garden pests" or found out in the street and would've been possibly killed.

If you do get a snail and cross it over state borders, or in case you have a larger snail species like the Burgundy snail, make sure you have a PPQ 526 plant pest permit. This is required for the importation and interstate tranportation of mollusks that could cause agricultural destruction. That's a very specific case though, for people interested in more advanced snail keeping.

Edit: The Brown and White Lipped Grove Snails are very very common snails originating from Europe. They're great as a pet in my opinion. Not extremely large, but not horribly small and delicate. I had one named Gail, and she was a delight. :>

Ecifircas said:

Where did your interest in snails start? How strong is your passion for them?

I'm answering the last because it's easiest haha. Will definitely answer the rest on my laptop when I get home.

I started living snails in sixth grade. I was but wee baby Will, at somewhere between 11-12 years old, where I found a snail on the sidewalk when walking my dog, and immediately brought him home. This was my beloved Jake from State Farm. <3

My entire 6th and 7th grade years of school were there spent drawing a bunch of 'Snails Tails' comics for my science class. They were super cheesy, and alas I don't have them anymore, but they were brief educational mini comics. Think Amoeba Sisters on YouTube, but all of the characters were my four pet snails.

In eighth grade I moved to New England, and unfortunately my snails did not make it. I was devastated, and it was generally a stressful year so I couldn't do much snail stuff.

My freshman year of highschool changed all that when suddenly I could do reports on topics I picked. Naturally, when I had to do a research presentation for English, I did it about snails. By sophomore year I was 'the snail girl'.

My senior year of highschool I managed to make my physics project about snails, which my teacher was very impressed with lol. I also wrote my entire college essay about snails.

*Note: I cannot condone writing what's supposed to be a very serious piece just on your favourite animal. It was virtually just an information dump, and my school was still recovering from COVID so nobody proofread for me. 💀 But I got into 4/5 of the schools I applied to so heyyy something worked there.

Ironically, when I was in middle school I wanted to be a Malacologist so bad. By highschool I thought this was an 'unrealistic' dream job, but here I am around a decade later realising that I literally can do that with my life if I really want to lmao.

I don't think I'll ever be able to properly express my passion for them, but gosh I love them so so much. They mean the world to me, are so interesting, and I would love to work with them, or just mollusks or even just invertebrates, in any context. I'm really interested in possibly even looking into some way to work in educational programs like aquariums or natural science museums, especially since I've started this little forum- but that doesn't exactly impress people since it's not a 'big money' job rip :').