AIBU to think releasing a pet is cruel?

[SnailTrailtoFreedom]

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?

If you are anywhere near Wiltshire, I can look after him for you. We once had garden snails too.

You can only do this if he has goggles.

I wonder if your horned one was a rabbit snail? They are as cute as anything.

The shrimp pretty much look after themselves if it's a tank with real plants - you feed them a couple of algae wafers every couple of days (they pick them up in their little shrimp "hands", like a biscuit) and will also thoroughly enjoy a slice of cucumber or courgette. They also clear up excess fish food.and eat their own discarded exoskeletons (they shed every few weeks). The plants and the filter deal with any shrimp poo.

If I had to choose between fish and invertebrates, I'd pick invertebrates every time.

Don't forget to leave the TV on for company, and so he can keep up with his favourite soaps.

Take snail on holiday with you! We have stick insects which are usually fine left with plenty foliage. But we raised baby leaf insects last year, two of whom died. We only had one left and didnt want her to die so we found a jar and took her on holiday with us! She tasted different bramble and enjoyed herself!
Here she is sightseeing!!

forgot to say we have a caravan, but in the car, our kids strapped her holiday jar into the middle seat so she would be safe!

UK holiday? We took ours with us.

SHe's lovely - much prettier than the ones we had. (Though ours had fantastic personalities and a very dry sense of humour) 😁

www.gocomics.com/speedbump/2022/07/23?ct=v&cti=1306039

Love this idea

She was lovely! Lost her earlier this year sadly but we'll always have the caravan!
She was quite tame and preferred my son to anyone else!
@Mydpisgrumpierthanyours we did this! That pic is of Leafy taking in the Wallace Monument!

You could keep its habitat nice and moist while you're away with capillary matting, a reservoir of water and a bit of ingenuity, I suppose.

When I read the landmarks one (@Mydpisgrumpierthanyours)I thought that was a great idea!

I loved our stick insects, too - they got out once and I only noticed because I was watching telly and realised that something was stalking up the curtain with a very determined tread! They were brown, so didn't stand out as much as Leafy.

I’m 99.9% certain the OP just means that he doesn’t curl himself up inside his shell to sleep. He won’t take it off completely because he can’t.

Oh God I need to know what is gonna happen to the snail now 🐌

How can you tell if a snail is sleeping? Do they snore?

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

😂😂😂

We have African land snails and they hibernate if they get cold so cool your snail down. Let it hibernate and wake it up with some delicious cucumber on your return. (I don't know how you would do this because if you put them in the freezer they obviously die, so maybe fridge?!

You’ll need to make sure you don’t leave it unattended in the car at any time in this heat

That’s brilliant, lucky Leafy!

Wow! You learn something new every day. So I looked it up and found out they can also get themselves pregnant.

So OP, if you do leave Shelly/Speedy/NoName at home alone and you come back to 80 babies, please don’t assume that he/she has been having a shag-fest with a snail mate.

Gosh it’s email (snail mail?) pronouns footer must be a tough one.

There is a genuine scientific question as to whether snails have the capability to learn. They can learn to avoid painful stimuli, probably, but I really doubt a garden small can genuinely learn to rely on you or to be tame. Snails are not reared by their parents. The eggs are laid in a hole and the parents have no role in helping them to learn snail behaviour. So it would probably be fine in the wild if it was a native snail. If it came in on a lettuce, it could be from another part of the world, though, so the outdoor environment may not be right for it. At this time in the summer, snails will estivate (like hibernation in the summer) if it's too hot. Hope this helps. ❤️🐌

Releasing him to die outside would be very cruel. Please don't

Releasing him to die outside would be very cruel. Please

How do you know he will die? He's not a mammal who learns behaviour from his parents?