Goopy Bloopy Gastropods

Hello! We are Oliver, Penelope, Horatio, and the babies! We are common garden snails from Montreal, QC. We live with Moony, and we like it when humans ask us questions. Sidebar portrait by shestval, theme base by flamora!

[oliverthesnail]

Hello! So I just found these two cute little garden snails outside (in march, wow!) and I set up a nice tank with dirt and some leaves and kale. They were out in a small holding tank, but now they will not come out of their shells. It's been about an hour. Is this alright? Are they adjusting? Thank you so very much!

It sounds like you’ve done everything right for garden snails. They’re probably just startled from being moved around. Give them a few more hours, and make sure the soil is nice and moist. They’ll probably come poking out when they’re comfortable :)

[oliverthesnail]

I don't know much about snails and was wondering how does snail family structure work? Do they show affection. Are the monogamous? Ect etc etc. Really any cool snail facts will work Thanks Have a wonderful day

Grove snails like these are honestly not particularly bright and I don’t think they have any real emotional comprehension. They’re hermaphroditic and they’ll essentially mate with anyone nearby, and I’ve never noticed any real recurring bonds or pairs in the habitat.

Oliver used to come out and greet me when my hands were in the tank, but I suspect that was more because he associated my smell with food. The current generation of snails don’t know a life where my hands didn’t bring food, so they likely don’t care. Penelope used to actually chew on my skin, but she was kind of a weirdo.

Sorry I don’t really have any neat facts about snail families!

[oliverthesnail]

@gazza-ladra replied to your photo: “How many snails does it take to solve a Rubik’s cube?”:

Oh, you're back! That's wonderful! ��

Thank you! Life has calmed down a bit, and I've missed playing with my little goobers. Hopefully we'll be updating more regularly! <3

[oliverthesnail]

How many snails does it take to solve a Rubik’s cube?

[oliverthesnail]

Hello! If you don't mind asking, where did you purchase your snails? Also, what type of enclosure do you keep yours in? I'm curious to have some as pets but also not sure what they need. Thank you for answering and have a nice day!

I don’t mind at all! They weren’t purchased, they were rescued. Oliver was found on a plant in December, when it was too cold to put him back outside. Penelope was found with a damaged shell and brought in so she could heal. Horatio was also found outside, he had some kind of mineral deficiency or something and his shell was squishy and not protective enough. The rest of the gang are babies of the original three :)

The enclosure is a reptile tank with coconut fiber and fake plants in the bottom, but if you’re not planning on amassing an army of tiny goobers to do your bidding a small plastic tank (like a betta tank) with some compost in the bottom is a good, inexpensive place to start!

[oliverthesnail]

Make a wish!

[oliverthesnail]

@hiressnails replied to your photo:

It's been so long.

It has. We lost Penelope not long after Oliver, and it pretty much killed my motivation. Then yesterday I was at a garage sale and found this adorable piano music box, and I felt my motivation come back <3

[oliverthesnail]

[oliverthesnail]

Hi! I hope that some day you will find the time and motivation again to post further pictures of your snails. Penelope, Horatio, the babies - I miss having your cute noots crawl over my dash. There really aren't enough quality blogs dedicated to garden snails. I love yours so much!

Thank you so much, nonnie! Things in my life have settled down a bit and I’m hoping it get some taken soon. <3

[oliverthesnail]

I buried Oliver in the raised bed where the hostas are this morning. He’ll go back to the earth and complete his life cycle. I’m feeling better today. He had a good life, and got to do all sorts of amazing things. He made lots of people very happy, and the other snails will continue to do so. :)

[oliverthesnail]

raltvater replied to your post: Goodbye, Oliver.

Lots of love to you! You and Oliver did great things together and you made his lil squishy life the best that it could be. Wishing you peace and strength during this trying time.

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. I’m glad he got to live in peace and comfort for as long as he did, and got to do things no other snail had done.

fabulouscrabulous replied to your post: Goodbye, Oliver.

You are a stellar snail parent! Oliver had a great life.

<3 He did. I realise that now. How many other garden snails got to ride a motorcycle, fly in a hot air balloon, travel in the Tardis, or rule the Iron Throne? Lucky guy.

charlietheskonk replied to your post: Goodbye, Oliver.

goodbye, oliver. you excellent snail, you.

One of my big regrets is that I never did find time to make him pose with his clay doppelganger. However, one of the babies seems to be almost the same shade of pea-soup green, so Ollie Jr might have to pose with it instead.

gem-sloop replied to your post: Goodbye, Oliver.

oh no, i’m so sorry!!!

Thank you <3

pickledpennies replied to your post: Goodbye, Oliver.

you have my sympathy. One of my two hissing cockroaches died a few days ago and I felt the same way as you. Hope you feel some closure after burying him xx

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that :( Maybe there’s a special place where bugs end up when they cross the rainbow bridge, and they will hang out together.

[oliverthesnail]

Goodbye, Oliver.

It’s with a heavy heart that I write this. Oliver died, sometime between Sunday night and mid-day yesterday. I noticed he hadn’t moved at all, even after a good shower of the habitat and a nice big chunk of Persian cucumber, and I got worried. He was very deeply retracted, with only a small measure of his foot outside the shell, and totally unresponsive to stimuli. I sprinkled him with warm water and placed him directly on some veg, hoping he was just hibernating, but it’s been over 24 hours now and he’s still entirely immobile and starting to smell.

I feel like I’ve been neglecting the poor snails, busy with housework and my job and whatnot, and I regret that I hadn't played with him in months. I know he’s just a snail and he was just as happy farting around in the terrarium and eating cucumbers as he was posing for silly photos, but I can’t help feel that I let the little blob down somehow.

As far as I can tell, he just reached the end of his life cycle. There are no signs of distress or illness in any of the other snails, and I honestly don’t know how old he was when we accidentally adopted the little goober. The average live span of a cepea nemoralis is between five and seven years, and he’s been living with me for two years now. He was full grown when we brought him in, so it’s not unreasonable to assume he was already four or five years old.

He may just have been a squishy little gastropod with only the barest awareness of his surroundings, but he made me smile and opened my world up to how adorable and fascinating snails are. I’ll always have fond memories of that. I even had him worked into a back tattoo I got recently, and I’m so glad I got it before he passed on. Now he’ll be with me forever. As soon as it’s properly healed, I’ll share a photo of Oliver’s inky doppelganger.

This is definitely not the end of this blog, we’ve still got Oliver’s legacy to uphold. Penelope, Horatio, and the babies are still hale and hearty, and hopefully I’ll be able to play with them more frequently now. It’s too dark and rainy to do it now, but tomorrow after work I’ll bury him in the yard, under our hostas. I think he’d have enjoyed that.

[moonblossom]

I have not had much time or energy to take elaborate photos of the snails, so please have this pic of Oliver riding a glow in the dark dinosaur skeleton as an apology :) #snail #snails #gastropod #cute

[oliverthesnail]

Wait a second... you’re not our real mom!

[oliverthesnail]

-- Weird, snail, vomit anon again -- The snail is eating cucumber. and a surprising amount of it, too, much more than usual. I've watched it, and the masses are coming out of the pneumostome. When I took some out of the tank, it appeared to be some bits of intestine, and what I'm guessing could have been a lung. There are still more coming out, though. I'm hoping that my giving of more information could help with solving whatever's happening to the poor little guy >.<

Oh man, I wish I knew what to tell you :( I’d suggest maybe contacting the blogs I tagged in the last post, see if they have any more insight than I do. Good luck!

[oliverthesnail]

Okay, really weird question that may seem really bad and uninformed, but one of my Grove snails ended up expelling, what looked to be internal organs, from its "breathing hole". The snail was eating whilst this was happening. I noticed when I saw a fleshy mass on its side coming from its pneumostome. The snail is still eating away, and seems fine, but I am very worried. (Also, a week ago, this snail had laid a lot of eggs, so I'm wondering if that may have something to do with it.)

Honestly, I have never heard of that happening but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. However, the anus expels waste quite close to the pneumostome on some snails - are you sure it was actually coming out of the breathing hole and not possibly some sort of waste matter? Keep in mind that snail digestion is not terribly efficient and their waste is usually the exact same colour as whatever they’ve eaten. My tank looks like a bit of a horror movie after they’ve had tomatoes and carrots. The first time I saw tomato poops I freaked out a bit.

If anyone has any idea what else this nonnie might have seen, please reply? molluscainthehouse, snailkeeping?

[oliverthesnail]

Oliver and Penelope, having a quiet moment away from the babies