snail question

[gr33neyes]

I guess this is more directed at Kapo really and I'm probably going to look silly for asking but if you don't ask you dont know so Kapo I have seen you many times mention one of the things to feed an axolotl is snails.
Its about one of the only things i haven't yet fed mine. I see you mention you should crush the shells first, are you actually removing the whole shell as well?
I got past the chopping a worm in half bit ,I suppose i could manage to deshell a snail although it does sound a bit yucky.

 

[kapo]

I also had issues with chopping the worms when we first got axies and would squirm each time I did it, much to my kids delight!

I crush the shell (usually the smaller baby or medium snails as the shell is softer) and pick off the shell bits, then drop it into the tank. I may not need to do this but am a bit paranoid about our axies ingesting shell bits.

I still squirm a bit with the snails and slugs (the slimey bit) but it's all for a good cause. If you have any kids though - they love to disect (sp?) creatures or pick them apart given the chance, which I must admit I sometimes get them to do!

 

[gr33neyes]

ok thanks Kapo. Unfortunately it looks like the picking shell bit will come down to me, my 10 yr old daughter is disgusted at the thought and my 1 yr old baby boy will probably try the taste of snail for himself

 

[Bellabelloo]

My son used to peal snails....... at the time I was horrified to see my pride and joy at 18 months squatting in the garden doing this, but now I realise he was in some kind of early training! Now at 9 years old he is now my worm chopper ( can't do it at the moment) and snail catcher/peeler.

 

[Lisa]

Can't see any of my four girls wanting to peal snails. The eldest (9) was horrified when she saw me chopping an earthworm up, and the youngest (17m) would definately consider it food. So I think my axie is going snail-less.

 

[Daniel]

Concerning a snail question, I have one, too:

You are talking about wild caught snails and slugs, aren't you?

What about the risk of parasites? Many snails do act as a intermediate host for different kinds of parasites (for instance flat worms - Fasciola hepatica, Dicrocoelium lanceolatum) so I personally do not feed any wild caught snails (neither land nor water - snails) but just the offspring.
Maybe this is an european problem, I do not know...

 

[gr33neyes]

yes wild caught in my garden.
I've been feeding them worms and slugs from my garden for months now, i suppose they probably do carry parasites and germs and stuff like that, but then surely so do the things an axolotl would eat in Its own natural wild enviroment?
Does not the axolotls stomach acid kill most of these things anyway?
I suppose its a matter of weighing up risks.
I'm not saying that i have an unclean house far from it, but i also encouraged my kids when they were babies to play and get dirty (inside the house and outside), to help them build up some sort of natural resistance to germs, perhaps this is possible with an axolotl. Maybe it will build up natural resistance???

 

[Daniel]

The stomach acid won't kill the parasites I mentioned (they are some kind of encapsulated) - it's a part of the natural reproduction process of these animals that they get eaten for several times by several hosts.
There also is no "natural resistance" as far as I know - these parasites may be or may be not harmful, depending on different factors (how many there are, how strong and healthy the host is an so on).

But to be true I am not even sure whether parasites from land snails use aquatic animals as Axolotls and fish as hosts at all because it's not their natural reproduction cycle (the snails are usually eaten by birds or terrestrial amphibia). I know that there can be a parasite-problem with water snails and fish/axolotls.

The more I think about it, the more it seems appealing to do some more research into this matter...

 

[gr33neyes]

Research away Daniel, i'm all ears...