I forgot to post Mr Snail's birthday photo. You can see the line where he stopped growing before I bought a heat mat for his tank in November and how much he's grown since then. He's loving the spring nettles now and still eating plenty of dog biscuits and fish food. He won't touch cucumber anymore though. I might blanch and freeze some nettles in ice cube trays before they get unpalatable. He'll soon be back on the bean leaves though and I'll plant a few extra seeds just for him.
We've also been learning some fun snail facts:
Apparently in 1846 the British Museum received a shipment of snail shells from Egypt that were from a type of snail that lives in the desert. A curator mounted the shells for display and they were out on display for four years before one showed signs of life. They revived it and it went on to live for another two years in captivity. Further experiments showed that the species can go dormant for up to eight years and still revive.
Mine are eating SM cucumbers by the loads, they’ve all sealed over and slept for the winter, now emerged hungry. They also like a bag of mixed salad leaves. I’ve got nothing growing yet for them. this one’s got a dent in his shell,
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Ta Lyn - don't know what my 2 are up to then. They've never sealed themselves up as yet - just mooch along saying "don'r want this " or " "can we have more of that " and sod's law , I've never got exactly what they want when they want it. Last night they had the Radichio and Bean leaf but Cucumber completely ignored again. If I let them out, they'd probably go on a Protest March
No organic cukes available here at the moment. It's only been the last couple of bought Cukes that they have been refusing. They're making do with the Radichio again as well as the odd bean leaf. The beans had started to get more leaves but now the weather is turning colder again, they are slowing down ( the beans that is !! ) Roll on Spring or even Summer.
Hope you don't mind me popping in with a question - found this little fella in the garden this afternoon, I don't even know if he's alive. He looks too pretty to be a common old garden snail. What could he be so I can look his kind up, and what should I do with him now? Sorry for the blurring. The pics don't do him justice.
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@Lyn PM for you re the T's.
They also like a bag of mixed salad leaves. I’ve got nothing growing yet for them.
this one’s got a dent in his shell,
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border.