Who are slugs: lifestyle, types, description. Large roadside slug: description and photo What does a slug eat?

Just the word “slug” makes people disgusted. A nasty, rather disgusting, shapeless, slippery creature immediately appears before your eyes, always crawling somewhere.

Doesn’t nature really have any intelligence that it could give birth to such an animal that no one needs and is not suitable for anything? To find the answer, you should study in more detail what characterizes the large roadside slug, the photo of which is now before your eyes. After reading the description of a slug, a person will have an idea of ​​what appearance of this creature, what kind of life it leads, where its habitats are located.

Large roadside (or leopard) slug: appearance

Representatives of this species are the largest of all types of large slugs. These mollusks were brought to different parts of the world from Europe, which is their homeland. The large roadside slug is a mollusk of the order Pulmonate snails. Its body consists of one leg that merges with the slug's head and is called the sole. The body length of the mollusk reaches from 10 to 20 cm. Sometimes the body of the animal grows up to 30 cm. It is wrinkled, somewhat rounded, and pointed at the end of the rear part.

The body of slugs is symmetrical on both sides. On top it is covered with the so-called mantle in the form of a plate. Below it are the reproductive organs and the anus. There is a keel on the tail.

The color of the slug ranges from light gray to chestnut, sometimes yellowish-white or ashen. The entire body of a large roadside slug is covered with black spots and stripes. This “cute” creature has very long tentacles. Their mucus is colorless.

Internal structure

On the back, under the skin of the mollusk, a shell is visible, which, like all other slugs, is highly reduced. The shell is white in color, shaped like an oblong oval, its length is 13 mm and its width is 7 mm. It is assumed that healing substances are stored there. This shell has been known since ancient times and was used for medicinal purposes.

The leopard slug's digestive system consists of the radula, pharynx, esophagus and intestines. In the intestines, four sections are connected to the liver, while the other two simply hang freely inside the body.

At first glance, this slug resembles a very simple creature, but it has nervous system, which consists of ganglia. Each ganglion has its own place: the pedal ganglion lies under the radula, the abdominal ganglion is slightly to the right of the midline, and the visceral ganglia are located in the middle between the esophagus and the uvular membrane.

Habitats

The habitats of the great roadside slug cover large areas. The habitat is located in humid and temperate zones climate zone. Slugs live only in biotopes with sufficient moisture. For them, a very comfortable habitat is the litter of deciduous forests.

Slugs are indigenous to Australia, New Zealand and North America. They are also found in Western and Central Europe, in the Caucasus, where their favorite places are fields, meadows, forests, gardens and caves.

Large roadside slug: what to feed

These mollusks are herbivores and are not too picky when choosing food. While kept in the terrarium, they should be provided with vegetables, fruits and mushrooms. Separately, we need to dwell on what the large roadside slug feeds on in its natural habitats.

Vegetation is considered the main food of mollusks. The leopard slug feeds on fallen leaves, flowers, fruits and soft stems of living plants. Sometimes mushrooms are present in his diet. Although these slugs eat a lot and are voracious, if necessary, they can live without food for about 60 days, while in a humid place.

Large roadside slug: reproduction

This species, like all slugs, has a hermaphroditic reproductive system. Each individual has genitals that correspond to their sex. Reproductive products become mature at different times. First, the sperm matures. She presents packaged bags - spermatophores. Then it begins in males. This substance is endowed with a smell by which the slug is found by its relatives.

The mating ceremony of large roadside slugs is very in an unusual way. The mollusks hang head down on mucous threads, their bodies are woven into a single ball by their genitals. Since the blue penises of slugs reach great lengths, it is not always possible for mating couples to disentangle themselves. In this case, some individuals resort to extreme measures and bite off the genital organ, which grows back after some time.

After fertilization, the mollusk lays eggs in the ground; on average, one adult can lay from 30 to 70 large eggs. Their development occurs within 21-35 days, after which small slugs are born. They reach sexual maturity after 60 days. These animals live no longer than two years.

Economic importance. Damage caused

For nature, slugs bring some benefit, being orderlies. They are able to process leaves that have fallen from trees, turning them into humus. But most of all, these mollusks, including the large roadside slug, cause quite significant damage agriculture.

These voracious creatures cause especially great harm to potatoes by eating the tubers and foliage of the plant. Colored and White cabbage, various varieties of lettuce, root vegetables, young vegetable plants, as well as strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers. Vineyards and entire citrus plantations are affected by this pest.

The large roadside slug causes much less damage to the following crops:

• Red cabbage.
• Parsley roots and leaves.
• Onion and garlic.
• Crops of barley and oats.

Spring wheat, flax and buckwheat almost do not feel the invasion of slugs. In addition to the fact that mollusks voraciously destroy agricultural crops, they are also carriers of fungal and viral diseases. Among these pests is the large roadside slug. The description of these diseases, which include cabbage spot, potato late blight and downy mildew, makes it possible to once again verify the harmfulness of the slug. In this regard, the question arises: how can you get rid of such a nasty enemy?

Methods and methods of dealing with slugs

Before you find out which ones exist effective methods fight against slugs, you need to study and use all available preventive measures in a timely manner. First of all, it is necessary to ensure that the sites have a large number of natural enemies slugs. These include hedgehogs, frogs and toads.

In addition, you need to make a trench around the area and sprinkle it with sand, pine needles, lime and crushed egg shells. The slugs will be forced to avoid such an obstacle. Plants in the beds should be kept weed-free and thinned out on time.

You can fight slugs by collecting them with your hands. To do this, at night, pieces of wet bark or piles of mown grass are laid out between the plants, under which the pest will hide. In the morning, the collection of a pest called the "big roadside neem" begins calmly by hand. People know many ways, one of them is catching shellfish with a can of beer, which in this case serves as bait for slippery uninvited guests.

If the above methods failed to get rid of slugs and it has already begun mass reproduction pests, you will have to use chemicals. Currently, new generation products have appeared that are no danger to surrounding nature don't imagine.

Do you know which animal on the planet ranks first among the toothy ones? This is probably very interesting to every person. Although surprisingly, the toothiest creature that is not a predator is the large roadside slug. There are approximately 30 thousand teeth on his tongue! This grater tongue helps the slug grind all the foods it feeds on and make them

It can be concluded that among toothy individuals there are not only large predators, but also mollusks, which are among the smallest representatives of the animal world.

Not a single search engine in the world has yet found a single text with the phrase “slug care”, until today. I came across mostly links to advice to gardeners on how to deal with them while caring for the garden. It is called the most disgusting garden pest. It's time to fix the mistake. Let's talk about the slug.

A slug is a land mollusk without a shell. Wikipedia says that this gastropod evolved as a snail, but lost its shell. According to one hypothesis, he simply switched to a different type of diet - leaves; according to another, he began to lack calcium. Without a shell, the slug has become helpless; it is eaten by many animals: rodents, moles, hedgehogs, and birds - ducks, for example, and even insects. Ground beetles feed on slugs. In general, who doesn’t eat them?

It is unlikely that we will need Serpukhov capacitor units for this. Something else will be needed. We are engaged in a hobby and not in saving energy and money.

The big question is, what do slugs eat? They eat leaves, both dry and wet, green and fresh. They generally live in the forest floor, in the damp layer of fallen leaves. Slugs are necrophages; they eat leaves, spreading fungi and viruses along the way, thanks to which the fallen leaves rot. They eat potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms - even poisonous ones. Everything they eat spoils very quickly and becomes covered with a thick layer of mucus. They love to eat strawberries, cucumbers, and tomatoes. They do not like garlic and grains. One of the ways to combat them in the garden is associated with garlic. Garlic is passed through a meat grinder and diluted in a bucket of water. The beds are watered with this water and slugs do not crawl on them.

Sometimes the slug behaves violently and attacks earthworms.

Slugs are one of the most common garden pests. It eats almost everything in its path: vegetables, leaves and plant stems. Their natural enemies can fight slugs in the garden. Let's figure out who eats slugs.

Many animals feed on them:

• Moles
• Some types of rodents

Birds

• Rooks
• Blackbirds
• Jackdaws
• jays
• Starlings
• Wagtails

Amphibians

• frogs
• Salamanders

Reptiles

• Lizards

Insects

It turns out that slugs are quite tasty prey for many. How to deal with slugs, with the help of their natural enemies, some of them can be attracted to your garden plot. Hedgehogs and toads will be the first to come to the rescue from the above list.

Toads and frogs will like it if your site is located nearby near some body of water; if not, try building an imitation of it yourself.

Now let's talk about hedgehogs, some lovers of these animals report that hedgehogs have been noticed to love dog food. Use this knowledge, and you will have natural protectors of your garden and vegetable garden. If you want to for a long time enlist the support of hedgehogs, make them a shelter for the winter.

For the winter, make feeders for the birds, but in the summer they will simply fly to the site as usual and eat the slugs.

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Ways to combat slugs:

If you are not a fan of the above activities and do not intend to breed a zoo of “slug lovers”, there are several other methods on how to deal with slugs:

• Mechanical method
• Phytochemical method
• Folk remedies

Mechanical method- This is the collection of slugs by hand or the preparation of traps for catching.

If you collect slugs by hand, use tweezers.

Use your knowledge of what slugs like and don't like. Prepare traps:

1. They love the smell of beer and fruit. Place pre-soaked beer or fruit juice linen, burlap, or cabbage leaves. During the day, slugs will fall into traps, and by evening you will simply gather “invited guests.”
2. They don't like salt and soap. Dig small depressions between the rows of plants and place not very deep containers, which you fill with a strong solution of salt or soap. Cover the top with burlap or a rag. Slugs getting into the solution prepared in this way die.
3. They do not like dry porous material. Scatter crushed eggshells, broken shells, or pea gravel around the plants. The rough surface is not very pleasant for slugs; they cannot reach the plants.

Phyto-method– use of herbal scents:

• Parsley
• Bay leaf
• Santolin
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme
• Lavender

Plant these grasses around the perimeter of the beds, and you will protect the plants from encroachment by slugs and other pests.

You can also prepare a special herbal tincture from mustard, hot pepper and garlic, which will repel with its smell.

Chemicals are used as a last resort method, as they are poisonous to shellfish and pose a risk of poisoning for domestic animals and humans. Therefore, their use must be carried out under special control.

From chemicals blue metaldehyde granules - “Thunderstorm” and “Meta” - are effective. You can also spray the soil and plants with a 1% solution of iron or copper sulfate.

Folk remedies

• Citric acid solution. Dilute 25 grams of citric acid into 10 liters of water and water the plants with the prepared solution in the evening once a week.
• Caffeine solution. Water the soil between the beds with ground coffee previously diluted in water.
• Sprinkle the ground around with salt, wood ash or tobacco dust.

Prevention of occurrence

• Regularly remove weeds and other plant debris, thereby depriving pests of a favorable environment for life and reproduction.
• Loosen the soil in your garden beds more often; slugs will have fewer places to hide and lay eggs.

There are many methods for dealing with slugs in the garden: by attracting their natural enemies to your plot, mechanical, phytochemical or folk remedies, choose a method that is more acceptable to you.

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See how to make a trap for slugs and snails with your own hands

“Since I was twelve, I have eaten some strange things, and from now on I will be happy to crunch on fried locusts or swallow live fish. And yet, unless I change in the most dramatic way, I will never be able to eat slugs. Just thinking about it gives me stomach cramps.”

This is how Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, better known by her initials M.F.K., begins one of her essays. Perhaps the best English-language author writing on culinary topics in the 20th century.

“I tried to look at them with a sober, cold gaze. She continues. I tried to admire the beauty of their movements, obvious when the film was fast-forwarded, and forced myself to read in the Encyclopedia Britannica about the harmlessness of everything that formed their slimy bodies. All to no avail. Any mention of these creatures awakens the animal horror dormant somewhere inside me. Slugs are a nightmare, they are something abnormal, I am terribly afraid of them and everything connected with them. That being said, I love snails. Most people love snails."

In that essay, titled “Fifty Million Snails” and first published in 1937, Fischer writes about how she once ate so many snails while living in Dijon, France that she became dizzy for two days while the gastropods “turned under the influence of garlic into old rubber." And nothing. She still loved them, as did most of the French, who, she said, ate 50 million snails every year. Since then, consumption volumes have grown so much that they are measured not in pieces, but in tons. Today we're talking about about 35 thousand tons per year!

Parisians alone eat 20 tons during the Christmas holidays. I also love snails, although I find it difficult to say why. Honestly, I think I could eat anything after dipping it in hot butter. Even the cut-up rubber flip-flops I wear at home in Bangkok. I don’t know whether to believe historians who claim that snails were one of the main sources of animal food for the first people. Partially in favor of this theory is evidence found in caves. ancient man piles of shells, and the fact that snails are easy to catch.

It is believed that the Romans were the first to breed them, feeding them vines and grain. Pliny the Elder (1st century) in the 37-volume “Natural History” writes about fried snails, which were eaten with wine before dinner or as a light snack between feasts and orgies, to which his fellow citizens were big hunters. Gauls who inhabited the territory modern France, served snails as dessert. And in the Middle Ages, the Church allowed them to be eaten during Lent. Typically, snails were fried in oil or with onions, skewered or boiled. One of the earliest praise for this culinary delicacy appeared in 1394 in the French newspaper Le Managier de Paris.

“Snails should be caught in the morning. Collect small black-shelled young specimens from grapes or elderberries and wash them in several changes of water until no more foam appears. Then wash once in salt water or diluted vinegar, pour fresh water and put it to simmer.

Next, the snails should be removed from the shell with the tip of a needle or pin, their black tail should be cut off, since this is their excrement, washed again and stewed in water, then placed on a dish and served with bread. Others say that the preparation described is not enough: the snails should also be fried in oil with onions and seasoned with spices - such a dish can be served in the most refined society.”

TO XVII century The popularity of snails has fallen. In subsequent centuries, across large parts of the European continent they were seen not as a potential delicacy, but garden pest. Which is what they are, multiplying in countless quantities and devouring almost any greenery. In France, snails came back into fashion after being served at a dinner given by Talleyrand in honor of the Russian Tsar. Since then, France has remained the world leader in their consumption.

In England, snails have always been mercilessly fought as a serious threat to agriculture and neglected as food. In a curious book called Why Don't We Eat Insects?, published in London in 1885, its author, Vincent Holt, devotes twelve pages to these creatures. Holt believed that snails, like many insects, fell victim to human prejudice and reluctance to recognize them as a generous and accessible source of protein.

He makes, in particular, the following proposal. “Some progress could be achieved through the power of example. Gentlemen could order delicious dishes made from snails, prepared according to recipes used throughout the continent, and in time the servants would begin to imitate them.” Also disturbing, according to Holt, is the misconception that only one type of snail is edible. Whereas the only advantage of its representatives over other snails is their larger size.

The author is sure of the opposite: all snails are edible. He further writes that in Italy and other European countries, many farms grow snails in a kind of nature reserve. “In specially designated areas of the garden, fenced off with a board fence and covered with a net. Such reservations are home to hundreds of snails that feed fresh vegetables and those herbs that will give them a pleasant taste. I would like to see such reserves in every English garden."

French snail meat recipe.

Classic preparation of snail meat.

The best are snails that live in vineyards. Pour some water into the pan and bring to a boil, then lower the snails into it. Cook for a quarter of an hour. Remove the snails from their shells, rinse them thoroughly several times, and then throw them in clean water and cook for another quarter of an hour. Remove them from the pan and rinse again. Then dry and fry with a little butter until browned. Serve with some hot sauce.

Snail meat cooked in French style.

Crack the shells and drop the snails into boiling, lightly salted water with herbs that can create an organic aromatic bouquet. After a quarter of an hour, remove the snails from the water. Remove from shells and cook again, then transfer to a saucepan with butter, parsley, pepper, thyme, bay leaf and a little flour. Having simmered sufficiently, add well-beaten egg yolk and lemon juice or a little vinegar to the saucepan.

Isn't it true that the description alone makes you hungry? Holt's appeals were ignored by his contemporaries; they were never considered worthy of table, either in England or elsewhere. developed countries. The attitude towards them as food became more and more favorable, which was associated with the gradual transformation of France into a trendsetter in world culinary fashion. Today, in some areas of this country, snails are starved for a week or even longer to remove all toxins from their bodies. Eliminate all unpleasant tastes associated with the food they consume. In other areas of France they are fed an aromatic diet of thyme and other greens.

How are snails prepared?

They make broth from them; they are stewed directly in the shells with wine or garlic oil, chili sauce and chives; they are removed from their shells and cooked with a white sauce based on butter and flour or with garlic mayonnaise and béarnaise sauce. They are also fried on a grill, sprinkled with salt, pepper, thyme and ground fennel.

Snails are served with homemade bread and red wine. In Laos and northeastern Thailand, apple snails are collected from the rice fields during the rainy season, simply boiled and eaten, dipped in a mixture of crushed garlic, chili, fish sauce and coriander leaves. Traditionally, sticky boiled rice serves as a side dish.

Eating slug meat.

If the above and many other recipes for preparing snails have become quite widespread, then slug meat remains today not only in the lowest “gastronomic position”, but also for many on the last line in the list of promising culinary products. The justification could be the unattractive appearance of common garden and marine (nudibranch) species of slugs, lacking a pretty, geometrically perfect shell, but it is unlikely that crabs, lobsters, oysters, and the same chickens are more attractive “live.”

In essence, the only significant difference between snails and slugs is the shell. She protects the body of the majority invertebrate molluscs, but slugs lack this armor. Although they belong to the same classification type, along with squids and octopuses. The shell is an important thing, but snails and slugs also have a lot in common. Like snails, land slugs feed on plants, usually at night, and are therefore also classified as pests. As for sea slugs, being in many ways similar to their terrestrial relatives, they feed on corals and other animal organisms.

If land slugs failed to attract the attention of a hungry public, then catching and cooking nudibranchs have a long history across vast areas from China and Japan in the south to Eskimo camps in the ice-bound north. Land and sea slugs have some external differences. If the first can be the most different colors, including red, gray, yellow, black and white, and vary in size, depending on the type and age, the latter in most cases are gray or black in color, much larger and weigh up to 900 grams.

Alas, history has preserved only a few written evidence of the consumption of sea slugs. One of the earliest dates back to the period before the 5th century and is contained in a fragment of a Chinese source called the Gastronomic Canon. There these creatures are called haishu, that is, “sea rats,” and are described as “similar to leeches, but larger.”

Over time, the status of nudibranchs increased, and they began to be called haishen, which can be translated as “sea ginseng.” They were credited with strengthening and tonic properties. In China, nudibranchs were so popular that the emperor sent powerful fleets that reached the coasts of Africa and Australia to search for sources of additional supplies.

It got to the point where shellfish became a reason for real war. In 1415, the then king of Sri Lanka ordered the Chinese ships to leave, but the Chinese responded by sending troops, taking the king prisoner and continuing to catch slugs at sea and collect them along the island's shores. One of the reasons for the hype around shellfish was their supposed ability to increase male potency. This idea was probably based on the external properties of this creature: long, thick, elastic body, swelling when touched.

A Chinese document has been preserved from the 16th century, which suggested, in the absence of a shellfish, “to take the penis of a donkey and be content with it as a gastronomic substitute.” In 1913, in Alaska, a woman named Eli Hunt was questioned in her native Kwakiutl language about the technology of catching and preparing nudibranchs. According to her, the hunter, always a man, waited for the tide to go out and swam around the remaining lakes in a canoe sea ​​water, stringing the abundance of shellfish remaining in them onto a two-pronged spear. “He takes a knife and cuts off the slug’s head. Then he squeezes his insides into the water and throws him forcefully into the bottom of the canoe with words. “Now you’ll be as hard as your grandfather’s cock.”

On the shore, the shellfish were steamed for two days, then the slugs were boiled over an open fire. Since during cooking the water almost always overflowed, the man, according to the narrator, threw handfuls of dirt from the floor of the hut into the cauldron and thus supported the cooking process. After boiling, the shellfish were washed again and served as is. Today, nudibranchs are sometimes called sea ​​cucumbers, most often dried, soaked for several days and then boiled, changing the water several times, until the original spongy structure of the tissue is restored.

If you decide to have one unusual pet, like a snail, it is worth familiarizing yourself with their features in more detail. First of all, you need to decide what type of snail you like. Possibly as breeding grape snails, and African at home. From the point of view of aesthetics and exoticism, African ones are much more attractive. But they also practice the cultivation of grape shellfish.

It should be understood that they are grown not only for beauty, but there is also a whole business for breeding and selling shellfish. From one animal during reproduction we get about a hundred new individuals.

Achatina - giant African land snails

The natural habitat of Achatina is located in East Africa, but representatives of this species can also be found in many European countries. African Achatina have gained popularity as terrarium pets and are also bred for food. In many countries with warm climate, including in Spain, they are serious pests of agricultural crops.

They live in places where it is warm enough, damp and there is constant access to food. They feel ideal in tropical climates.

African snails can live at home; it is not at all difficult for them to create an optimal local climate in a terrarium.

The size depends on the species - Achatina is the largest snail in the world, its shell grows up to 200 mm, and its weight can be 400-500 grams. At home, slugs also reach large sizes– adult individuals can have a carapace length from 70 to 170 mm and a width from 30 to 80 mm.

Caring for Achatina at home

These mollusks prefer warm, humid areas, especially areas around bodies of water. Terrarium

must maintain a temperature of 20-30°C and air humidity of about 80-95% (specific parameters depend on the subspecies). For more demanding species, a device for additional heating is required, for example, heating elements placed on the outside of the terrarium.

Mollusk activity depends on temperature environment, sunlight and humidity. During the cold season they are active around the clock. During the hot season, they are active mainly at night or during rain.

They can become inactive for many reasons: insufficient humidity, low temperature and illness. This Achatina is closed in the shell using a lid made of limestone.

The average lifespan of an animal is from 3 to 5 years, but there are individuals that live for 9 years.

How to care for snails at home? You should take their nutrition very seriously so that they receive all the elements necessary for their life. This phytophage feeds various types plants. Achatina feels the taste of food and its diet should be varied.

What do snails eat at home?

They use fragments various plants, as well as special additives:

• beans;
• pumpkin;
• vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, celery and parsley, zucchini and zucchini;
• fruits and berries: apples, pears, plums, bananas, blackberries, raspberries, grapes and strawberries;
• watermelon, melon;
• you can give her an additional boiled egg;
• soaked food for dogs and cats (such additives are used once a week, not more often);
• the dry mixture should consist of oatmeal, dry granulated food for rodents, dry food in the form of fish flakes, dry skim milk, wheat bran;
• sometimes they eat baby cookies and baby rice porridge.

All feed must be fresh - free from rot and mold, and must be thoroughly washed. Given the fact that fruits and vegetables are often sprayed with anti-snail agents when grown, it is best to peel them before serving them to your pet.

To make cleaning the terrarium easier, it is better to put food in a bowl. Some people also give their pets a cup of water.

Achatina must be looked after carefully.

They need a continuous supply of calcium; special preparations can be purchased at pet stores. You can give the so-called calcium phosphate, food chalk - everything we feed our pets with, sprinkle with this powder.

Mineral deficiency causes snails characteristic behavior, associated with scraping and eating the top layer of membranes of other animals. Subsequently, such a broken and weakened part may burst, and as a result, pathogenic microorganisms can penetrate through the cracks or protrude internal organs. Adults that lay eggs have an even greater demand for minerals.

What foods are not advisable to give?

You should not give Achatina parts of plants such as:

• lettuce, spinach;
• onion and garlic;
• radish;
• chicory;
• cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli - due to the oxalates they contain, which, by binding calcium, can disrupt the functioning of the body, which leads to slow growth and cracking of the shell;
• citrus fruits (oranges, kiwi, grapefruit).

How to properly keep snails at home - setting up a terrarium

The terrarium should allow the slug to move freely and burrow into the substrate. Its height should not exceed 40 cm, since young land animals can crawl along the top of the terrarium and sometimes fall.

The terrarium cover must be well secured due to the fact that, thanks to the amazing great strength muscles, it can be moved by the snails. You should not use any elements made of copper in the terrarium, since this metal reacts with mucus.

The most important element of the terrarium is the substrate - acidic peat, which can be purchased at pet stores. It must be sterilized in the oven the day before placing the animal mat. The height of the substrate layer should correspond to the height of the shells of the largest snails, because it serves them for burrowing. On average, it is about 10-15 cm. The base should be constantly moist, but not flooded; for this purpose, it is sprayed with water, preferably boiled, once a day.

To increase the walking area, you can place decorative plant roots in the terrarium. You can also add a small tradescantia to improve the appearance of your home. However, don't be surprised if the plant is eaten soon. As a decoration and a very dietary ingredient in the diet, you can buy potted grass in stores.

The terrarium cannot stand in straight lines sun rays. You will not need additional lighting, only diffused lighting will be enough daylight. If, for aesthetic reasons, you decide to add light, then it should be a low-energy fluorescent lamp, separated from the rest of the terrarium, so that the Achatina cannot get on its surface. An alternative would be lighting located outside the terrarium.

One or two pet snails?

These animals have sexual dimorphism, that is, there is no difference between the sexes. This means that each individual is both a boy and a girl. If you get two Achatina, sooner or later they will both lay eggs. The number of eggs depends on the species - from tens to hundreds of eggs from one individual. Incubation period and breeding young animals does not cause difficulties, but you must decide how you will then support such a number of pets.

Additional facts about Achatina:

• Achatina should not be released into wildlife, they need care. They are not resistant to diseases carried by snails in our climatic conditions. If they are free, they will not be able to survive the winter.
• Their mucus contains allantoin, a bacteriostatic substance on the basis of which drugs are produced for those suffering from asthma and tuberculosis.
• Mucus also contains collagen, elastin and glycolic acid, which provide tissue regeneration and accelerate wound healing.
• These are edible shellfish.
• The easiest species to cultivate is Achatina Fulica. They do well at home at room temperature, eat little and grow very quickly.
• In some countries, the cultivation of Achatina is prohibited because they cause huge losses in crop production.
• During World War II in the tropics, Achatina provided a rapidly renewing food source for soldiers.
• This pet may bite or rather scratch. However, its bite is almost invisible.
• In the USA and other countries where the climate is optimal for the reproduction of mollusks of this genus in nature, their cultivation is illegal.
• An animal grows throughout its life, but grows faster when young and if it has access to plenty of food.
• The average movement speed is 1 mm/s.

If you decide to get an unusual pet, go for it! Perhaps snail breeding will become your favorite hobby for many years.

Unusual pet: slug

Slugs belong to the class gastropods. They either have no shell at all, or it is very small. Slugs live on land, in fresh and salt water. But usually the word “slug” is used to refer to terrestrial mollusks, while aquatic mollusks are called freshwater and sea slugs, respectively.

Slugs closely resemble snails, except they lack a shell. They have two pairs of tentacles: one has eyes, and the other has olfactory organs. The slug's leg has strong muscles. During movement, these mollusks secrete mucus, which reduces friction and does not damage the leg.

Some types of slugs hibernate in winter. Their body contains a large amount of fluid, so it is difficult for them to survive during the dry season. Slugs are usually seen after rain and in damp and damp areas. Slugs are most active at night, after sunset. During drought they often burrow deep into the ground.

Slugs eat fallen leaves, mushrooms, fruits, vegetables, and some plants. Some species of slugs are carnivores: they eat snails and other slugs.

They themselves often become prey for frogs, toads, snakes, rats, birds, beetles, etc. But many animals refuse to eat them because bad taste mucus. In addition, they are very slippery and can escape from a predator.

Some people keep slugs, like snails, as pets. How to care for them?

First of all, find as much information as possible about what your pet needs. Can be used as housing Plastic container(at least 20x20 cm) with a secure lid. The lid should have small holes for ventilation. Enough substrate must be placed at the bottom of the container so that the slug can move freely. You can use garden soil as a substrate, and put fallen leaves and stones on top. The substrate must be wet all the time: without this, your pet will die! Therefore, you will need to regularly spray the container with clean water.

Slugs feed mainly on fruits, vegetables, rotting plants and leaves. Do not overdo it with fruits: they contain too much sugar, this is harmful to the slug. Place a small amount of food in a container and replace it with fresh food every day. You can also buy special dry food for snails and slugs: it contains all the substances and elements necessary for your pet. The substrate must be changed once a week to keep the slug's home clean. You can place small sticks in the container so that the slug can crawl on them.

When you move the slug to clean its home, handle it very carefully, making sure that its body does not touch any sharp edges. It is best to handle the slug with clean, damp hands. Never place the slug container in direct sunlight.

Some Interesting Facts about slugs:

• A slug is actually a snail without a shell;
• Most slugs are herbivores, but some carnivorous species exist;
• They feed on rotting plants;
• Slug eggs can remain dormant for several years, and then the young will hatch when conditions are favorable;
• Slugs are hermaphrodites;
• At good care slugs can live up to 6 years;
• Slugs are able to stretch their body and fit into even very small holes;
• Slug tentacles can regrow if they are broken for some reason;
• Slugs don't have a backbone.

Keeping slugs turns out to be interesting!

Color variation from straw-yellow to bluish-greenish.

The slug lays eggs. Notice that eggs can be seen in the "well" in the lower center of the photo.

So far none of the eggs have hatched. Will wait. But I don’t know whether to rejoice or not to rejoice at the unexpected eggs: after all, laying eggs in slugs means the inevitable death of an adult. But these slugs are still something special, we’ll see.

they are really, very interesting and amazing I would like to see your entire collection

The other day little Cubans hatched:

They live separately from their parents (I moved the clutch a few days ago), I covered the ventilation holes in their container in the same way with gauze (pulling it as tightly as possible and securing it with tape), but it’s somehow weird. They are so small - they can easily get under the gauze and get tangled there.