snails in FL..and there shells...

Miko · Post by **Miko** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:18 am

ok so i saw this http://news.yahoo.com/florida-...363621 ... or.htmland i was thinking it could be a good thing cuz then we would have a lot more shells but at the same time i really hope they dont go killing all of them.. maybe since they grow there shells theres got to be a way to captivly breed them to make there shells for our crabs...idk just a thought.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:59 am

Yea it would be if they were smart enough not to use a pesticide and actually put the shells out for the crabs. But the chances of that happening are not very likely.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 6:32 am

Captive breeding of these snails is a big concern to me as they are not native, contain a parasite that is extremely harmful to humans as it causes meningitis and the shells are the wrong kind for PP's they are the same style shell produced by the Japanese land snail that our E's are so fond of because of the D shaped opening.These snail shells are very thin and fragile making them risky for wild hermitcrabs to inhabit as they don't stand up to heavy or routine impact which would most certainly be the case with wild hermits.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 8:15 am

True, I guess we figured something was better than nothing.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:04 am

I do agree that something is better than nothing but you would have to kill the snails first to get the empty shells as they are actually physically attached to the inside of the shell like a turtle and so won't give up their shells and basically have to decompose and detach from them to free them up for our crabs to use.This means that the snails couldn't be captive bred for shell production and that all the snails that are caught would have to be killed in some manner normally by means of poisoning which would make the shells unusable.I know of a few harvesters that boil the snails that they catch to kill them and then retrieve the shells afterwards but that process seems utterly barbaric.Maybe one day we will figure out a way to use the same minerals that natural shells are made of to reproduce them on a large scale...

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:38 am

Yea, I wasn't talking about/considering breeding them. I meant the ones they're killing, but my 1st post already stated that the chance of the shells being usable much less actually being put out would be highly unlikely."Yea it would be if they were smart enough not to use a pesticide and actually put the shells out for the crabs. But the chances of that happening are not very likely. Frowner"