Page 8 | AIBU to think releasing a pet is cruel?

SnailTrailtoFreedom · 2022-07-23T08:16:30+00:00

We have a pet snail. He came to us on a lettuce leaf when he was so small his shell was translucent and he could fit on the nail of my little finger. He is now nearing the end of his life span. We are going on holiday in a couple of weeks and I haven't yet found someone to have him - our usual pet-sitters are themselves going away at the same time. One member of the family (YABU) thinks we should release him into the nearby forest, or garden so he has a taste of freedom before he dies --by being eaten by something-- The other (YANBU) thinks this is cruel. He has been kept inside since he was a baby, his food and water falls from the sky and he sleeps outside of his shell. He wouldn't last a minute in the great outdoors. We could ask the neighbours, even if we don't know the parents all that well, the daughter plays out with and is in a class with my DC; or smuggle him into the hotel with us (travelling by car, not leaving the country). Or ask the hotel. He's in a box, he doesn't need to be taken out of it. But I don't know if snails like travelling?

Welshrarebitontoast · 23/07/2022 12:18

WillMcAvoy · 23/07/2022 12:11

An animal sanctuary? For a SNAIL? Are you high?

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Off my tits.

Runningslow · 23/07/2022 12:19

Take him to a National Trust garden and release him. It’ll be watered regularly, and lots of plants to eat. Lovely place for a snail.

ButDoYouAvocado · 23/07/2022 12:19

If you’re in Glasgow I’ll look after him this is cute AF

Jebatronic · 23/07/2022 12:19

Stiff ( if external air pressure can collapse bottle it will come out too quickly) it plastic bottle with tight fitting lid and a small hole 1 cm from the bottom + 1 wide tray containing 1cm deep of water. As the water level drops the bottle will replenish it. Use number/size of bottles vs surface area of water to control duration of supply. Nice physics project for dc under supervision. Add wicking for plants or pop them straight into the tray of there is room. Did this for holiday (plants not snail!) one year with dc - place in coolest part of your home add pebbles/Lego or whatever for escape ramp.

Trisolaris · 23/07/2022 12:19

If you are anywhere near Maidenhead my dp says he will look after him for you.

Doingtheboxerbeat · 23/07/2022 12:20

I have soo much shit to do, but I am so invested. This has cheered me up no end 🤗.

sunglassesonthetable · 23/07/2022 12:29

"it's not like it's a Great Dane"

🤣🤣🤣

willowbears · 23/07/2022 12:30

mam0918 · 23/07/2022 12:03

If it was a fancy snail or a giant snail I would maybe get your point because those feckers are irratatingly delicate and die easy... a general garden snail just leave it with some food.

I have had many snails garden, common, ramshorn and a two bought exotic/fancy (started with one common who breed like nothing I have ever seen before until I had well over 200 and couldnt keep track which only took a month or 2 at that point they where left to fend for themselves).

The 2 fancy ones where the bane of my life:

escaped from a closed tank, it must have we searched EVERYWHERE for it and NEVER found it (how do you lose a bright yellow zebra print snail?)
it died for no reason (because they are sensative) and somehow managed to poison everything around it, we looked insance going to vets/petshops and eventually the local scientist that dealt with ecology and nothing could be found to be wrong but one by one after that everything that had shared that tank died.

I have never had a Giant snail but have heard the breed like crazy and died quite easily from food poisoning too.

My daughter (older teen) has been asking for a pet snail for a while. The escaping has put me off, though she was thinking more of the giant African snails. I thought they were easy to keep pets, obviously more research needed first.

willowbears · 23/07/2022 12:32

Runningslow · 23/07/2022 12:19

Take him to a National Trust garden and release him. It’ll be watered regularly, and lots of plants to eat. Lovely place for a snail.

The National Trust staff might have something to say if they spot you releasing snails into their gardens. 😅

Though it's a nice idea in a way...

Springblossom2022 · 23/07/2022 12:33

Given he's been in captivity for most of his life he probably won't have as good survival skills as snails that have always lived in the wild, but I'd imagine he'd still stand a chance. If it were me though I'd just ask a neighbour or literally anyone living close by if they wouldn't mind looking after him for the time you're away. The sleeping out of his shell thing intrigues me though. When I was young we kept pet snails for about a year (wild garden snails) and had them in a big tank. None of them slept out of their shells. We released them back into the wild after a while as my mum talked with me about how they needed to live in the wild really. Yes, they didn't need to fear for predators or lack of food etc when they were with me, but would you keep a child in their bedroom forever just to protect them from the world? No, because it's not what they would ultimately want. With him being a baby when you got him though my mind feels like it could be a bit different. Do you keep him in a glass/plastic tank? If so please make sure it's a big one. People often think hamsters/gerbils etc can live in small cages from Pets at Home, but actually they need at least 90x50cm floor space minimum. Imagine a small cage being your entire life 😞 I would find it a bit cruel if you released him, purely because you've sort of made him dependant on humans now, but I'm not sure what an 'expert' would say. Ask a neighbour, literally anyone living close by, if they wouldn't mind, and offer to pay them a bit for it. Make sure he has a large enclosure with lots of enrichment that simulates being in the wild as much as possible.

ShirleyPhallus · 23/07/2022 12:37

Given he's been in captivity for most of his life he probably won't have as good survival skills as snails that have always lived in the wild

this is making me lol thinking of him as some bear grylls adventure snail who wears dirt streaks on his face and rappels down cliffs

PearlClutch · 23/07/2022 12:38

ReneBumsWombats · 23/07/2022 09:39

I don't see why you can't take him with you. If he tried to trash the hotel room, you'd be back before he'd even moved three inches towards the minibar.

Snails are a bugger if they're in the breakfast queue in front of you, though.

Legoninjago1 · 23/07/2022 12:39

Sorry nrft but I didn't realise they slept outside their shells! Can you send a picture of him naked plse? As long as nobody would be offended.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 23/07/2022 12:41

Have you search for a local Snailery / Snail Kennel?

Could you get a friend or neighbour to pop in each day and feed it and take it for a slide?

goldfinchonthelawn · 23/07/2022 12:47

I would spray the soil and walls in its tank until they are very moist, soak a clay pot in water for it to hide in and put down plenty of vegetation, including some living plants that you know it likes to eat, planted in the soil of its box. It should be fine. If they feel too dry they just create one of those little mother of pearl seals until they sense moisture again.

erinaceus · 23/07/2022 12:47

ShirleyPhallus · 23/07/2022 12:37

Given he's been in captivity for most of his life he probably won't have as good survival skills as snails that have always lived in the wild

this is making me lol thinking of him as some bear grylls adventure snail who wears dirt streaks on his face and rappels down cliffs

That’s a children’s book right there.

erinaceus · 23/07/2022 12:48

Post your rough location and see if you can find an MNer who will pop in a few times to check on the snail(?)

Emotionalsupportviper · 23/07/2022 12:51

@mam0918

Were your fancy snails aquatic Zebra Nerites?

We have these - they are great escape artists. One of ours got out regularly - we would find him sometimes weeks later all shut up under a piece of furniture, stick him back in the tank and he'd just wake up again (until one day he didn't . . . )

Another died and we didn't know until we found the shell - empty. I was really surprised that all the fish hadn't died (a dead snail causes a huge nitrite spike in the tank which is usually fatal to all inhabitants, as you found out to your cost). The shell was totally empty and spotlessly clean, and we think the shrimp (we have four Amano shrimp) must have scoffed the corpse before it could do any damage.

I was going to suggest to OP that if they enjoy having a pet snail, Nerites, which come in many colours and are actually a delight to have, would be good. (The shrimp are fabulous, too - fascinating to watch and an absolute pleasure - and live several years.) The advantage of Nerites over cold water species of aquatic snail, or even ramshorns, is that they can't breed in an ordinary aquarium - they need very specific conditions. You will find eggs about, but the shrimp usually eat them. Amano shrimp can't breed in home aquaria, either - but Cherry shrimp can and do, and you'll soon get over-run.

If you get Nerites they'll keep the tank very clean - you can feed them on a slice of cucumber or courgette every now and then because they will very quickly dispose of any algae in there.

sunglassesonthetable · 23/07/2022 12:51

You already know it’s cruel to release anything into the wild that’s been living in captivity.

You know we're not talking about a tiger or a dolphin or something don't you 😬

Emotionalsupportviper · 23/07/2022 12:53

erinaceus · 23/07/2022 12:47

That’s a children’s book right there.

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😂😂😂

🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌

Emotionalsupportviper · 23/07/2022 12:54

Could you get a friend or neighbour to pop in each day and feed it and take it for a slide?

Take it for a slide . . . 😂

Oysterbabe · 23/07/2022 12:58

It's a snail. Hoof it into the nearest patch of weeds, preferably not in the direction of my allotment.

willowbears · 23/07/2022 12:59

Love this thread! 😅

mam0918 · 23/07/2022 13:08

Emotionalsupportviper · 23/07/2022 12:51

@mam0918

Were your fancy snails aquatic Zebra Nerites?

We have these - they are great escape artists. One of ours got out regularly - we would find him sometimes weeks later all shut up under a piece of furniture, stick him back in the tank and he'd just wake up again (until one day he didn't . . . )

Another died and we didn't know until we found the shell - empty. I was really surprised that all the fish hadn't died (a dead snail causes a huge nitrite spike in the tank which is usually fatal to all inhabitants, as you found out to your cost). The shell was totally empty and spotlessly clean, and we think the shrimp (we have four Amano shrimp) must have scoffed the corpse before it could do any damage.

I was going to suggest to OP that if they enjoy having a pet snail, Nerites, which come in many colours and are actually a delight to have, would be good. (The shrimp are fabulous, too - fascinating to watch and an absolute pleasure - and live several years.) The advantage of Nerites over cold water species of aquatic snail, or even ramshorns, is that they can't breed in an ordinary aquarium - they need very specific conditions. You will find eggs about, but the shrimp usually eat them. Amano shrimp can't breed in home aquaria, either - but Cherry shrimp can and do, and you'll soon get over-run.

If you get Nerites they'll keep the tank very clean - you can feed them on a slice of cucumber or courgette every now and then because they will very quickly dispose of any algae in there.

Its been many years since I kept the snails but I think you might be right I think one maybe was zebra and one was horned.

We have never had shrimp but considered it, we met a lovely little shrimp in a 'petting pool' an aquarium once that we still occasionally think off because he was so cute (super friendly, would swim into people hands, he wasnt shy at all lol) but we sold our whole big set up (was a massive tank with lights, fliters etc... took up half the room dispite only having 4 inhabitants lol) after everything died and I have no clue on looking after shrimp.

I dont know what happened to our smaller pond snail tank, we rescued him from our fish trying to eat him and had no idea where he came from. we put him in a small tak where he breed and they had their own ecosystem and breed over several years (we just topped up water and they thrieved on their own) and then they seemed to slowly stop breeding as much after many years and dwindled until they died out (possibly due to inbreeding as they all decended from 1 snail, must have gone through dozens upon dozens of generations though). The tank sat empty for a while and I think DH threw it out.

I considered a Giant Millipead too but with 3 kids now I dont think I have the time for more pets.

Julie89uk · 23/07/2022 13:12

why don't you just leave it in a tank with a tone of food and plenty of water