Our Newest Family Pet

My daughter wanted a pet snail for the longest time. I did some research to try to find one and found that the best place to get a snail was outside your home. Purchasing a snail online was a bit tricky with all the laws in transporting them from state to state. Well, after several months of searching at night and under bushes and trees we gave up. Snails aren't common where we live so unless we moved to a "snail friendly" area, finding a snail outside wasn't going to happen.

We went to Ocean City, Maryland for our vacation and when we were packing up to leave, I went outside to stack up the patio chairs. When I lifted the last one up, I noticed a small little critter attached to one of the legs. "OMG!", I screamed. My daughter went running assuming it was a spider. I picked the snail and took it in the house. He is just a little guy so I put him in a water bottle lid for the ride home. We hooked him up with a nice terrarium when we got home. I guess he's been enjoying the environment, because he felt "comfortable" and safe enough to lay his eggs. Now we have five itty bitty snail babies and one small momma/poppa...

The picture below is the momma/poppa trying to escape as I was searching for one of the little babies to photograph this morning. We like to think snails are slow, but really.. they aren't...




This photo shows the size of the momma and the baby. The momma won't grow much bigger than what she already is. The baby right now is about the size of a sesame seed... he's very tiny....



I found a great blog (Snail's Tales) that I have started following about all things snails and other interesting things. I think our snail comes from the "discus" family. As of right now, I am enjoying the new pet, my daughter is too. I hope she continues, but if not, I guess we can release him back into the wild. I remember having to wait 4 years for a hamster to "pass on"... and I thought hamsters only lived for up to 2 years.. may you rest in peace Hamtaro **tear**

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