Big snail, smaller snail, smallest snail.

Right before I took this video, the big yellow snail was trying to eat the Ramshorn out of his shell! It was shocking.

Long time no snog.

We (all of the contributors of this Snog) have all been meaning to write in the Snog, but we're lame and have been distracted by our "lives."

I want to take a photo of my tank now that I've cleaned it out, added a bunch of plants (thanks Lo-g!), and gotten a big fat yellow apple snail (thanks Lo-g!). It's looking fabulous and the snails seem so happy.

I also moved Tara's snail vase back to her desk, where it's displayed more prominently. I also gave her little baby snails a chunk of algae disk so that they'll grow big and strong.

And now, just because it's been so long, here's a blast from the past:

Lucky Snail's Foot

Today I was extended a job offer from a stellar company with some exciting opportunities. Now, you might not believe me, but I put Ebony and Ivory (you remember Ebony, right? I'll introduce Ivory later this week) in a little zip lock bag and stuffed them in my pocket for my interview. You know - can't leave my handicap children alone and all. But I'm pretty sure they're my new good luck charms. Without them I doubt I would have breezed through the interview with such panache and charm.

So go out there, dear readers! Go out there and pick up your very own lucky snail and take him with any time you're in need of luck. Because I promise you... the snail gods will look down on you and smile.

(But don't take them to a bar in hopes of "getting lucky". The overwhelming luck you receive will bring the potential one-night stands in close proximity where they may possibly hump your leg... and essentially crushing your new found good luck charms. A little common sense is sometimes better than a little luck!)

A snail out of water.

Knowing about my fascination, cultivation, and love of snails, a co-worker brought me a pretty good sized outdoor snail and left it on my desk for me to find this morning. I put him on a paper plate and watched as he stretched his antennae to sniff out his new surroundings. After watching him for a bit I took him outside and set him in an area that I trust will suit him better.

SNAIL FAD TAPERS TO A CRAWL snailenasia bill floated as shelters fill

It’s true, like post Easter bunnies and Dalmatians after Disney movie blockbusters my snails are suffering from what some might call sneglect. Blame it on a mountain of projects at work, the sexy Seattle spring, or typical American fickleness but the bottom line is my snails have been sitting in their own poop for 3 weeks. Honestly I haven’t noticed a plummet in snail moral.

What's in a name?

I've nicknamed the snail of mine who has an egg sack on his shell "Spooge," but we decided he should have a proper name for when the egg sack has long since gone away. I settled on Winston for a first name, but needed to come up with a really great last name for him because I wanted him to have roman numerals on the end. At work we were discussing some naming options and were trying to think of what the British royal family's name is and realized they don't have one. The closest thing they have to a last name is "of Whales." So, after much balking at the british royal family I settled on a name for Spooge:

Winston "of Whales" Mountbatten-Windsor IV

Now what?

I came home today and saw that my snails have made new snails. At least twelve. How many snails can a tank hold before it becomes one giant snail?

I think, in general, snails kind of gross me out.

Clean tank!

My snail tank was literally cloudy with snails and snail larva and I was getting a little grossed out, so today I rolled up my sleeves and went about cleaning my tank.

1. I removed the plant first and put it in a Tupperware container with some of the tank water.
   
2. Then I started picking the snails off the side of the tank and rocks and placing them in the container with the plant.
   
3. The baby snails are the hardest to pick up and move, so I'm more than certain that I lost several of them in the move.
   
4. After the snails and plants were out I drained the water and put the rocks into a different Tupperware container.
   
5. I cleaned out the tank with a sponge (no soap, no scratchy sponge) and then rinsed it several times.
   
6. I dried it off, including the inside so that I could wipe off any remaining attached debris or egg sacks.
7. Then I started running hot water into the container holding the rocks; I kept the water running hard and hot as I moved the rocks around inside the container with my hand. The water spilled over the side of the container carrying with it all kinds of disgusting things. I did this until the water ran clear.
8. I put a couple bottles of room temperature water into the tank.
   
9. I placed the plants back into the tank and then covered their roots with rocks.
10. I filled in the other areas with rocks and made them even.
11. Then I picked all of the snails out of the container and put them in their tank.
12. I filled the tank back up with water.

Now the snails are busy checking out the new terrain in fresh clean water. I think the big, older ones are pretty relieved to be rid of some of the egg sacks and larva; I know I am.

More than a gift of quick thrills, The gift of snails.

After many weeks of laborious efforts, my English pond snails have finally reproduced! My snail decanter was full of baby snails last week, and I decided to put a small tank together for M at the front desk.

When giving the gift of snails I like to remind my friends that not only are they receiving a gift of hours of fun and excitement, but also a small piece of our collective culture as human beings. Here are 3 fun snaily facts (snacts) I like to surprise my friends with.

1) Did you know that in Michelangelo’s Moses, Moses is pictured with a snail’s ‘horns’ and snaily demeanor?
2) Even as late as 1975 approximately 40% of Oceana residents still believed that the earth and its residents were balanced on the back of a giant snail. This cosmic mollusk was believed to consume entire worlds with a lick of its tongue.
3) In the ancient Navajo creation myth, snail girl was celebrated above all other animal spirits. According to the Navajo when the earth was created snail girl brought water from the underworld in her shell for streams, lakes, and glaciers. A pretty shoddy case for water conservation, even for a 10 thousand year old civilization, but a testament to mankind’s fascination with the snail none the less.


For more information on snails and their lofty postion in our religious history visit this great site! http://www.godchecker.com/gotw/012_holy_snail.php

Boy, do I have a snog for you!

Those snails are crazy!

Now, what I am about to show you is something I've never seen before. On Friday I noticed something that I thought I was hallucinating; one of my largest snails is carrying the eggs of another snail. So apparently, one snail was knocked up then climbed on top of the biggest snail in the tank, and laid all his/her eggs on THE SHELL of the snail! I picked the snail out of the tank to get a good look, but the photo I took of him in the tank is much better quality. Enjoy Snoggers!

An introduction

Here's Valerie Plame making her way across a fake plant leaf. If you look closely, you'll see I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby eyeing her from the red rock. I can't remember if the rock was red when I bought it. The plant is kind enough to point Scooter out in this shot. Joseph Wilson is off in the corner writing a book or something.

I need to get some real plants for my snails. The fake stuff just isn't cutting it anymore, functionally or aesthetically. As you can see, fake plant extraction will be super simple since I just gently set them atop the blue rocks.

Snails poop a lot.

Snail me, I'm Irish.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A while back CJ and I talked about making snail merchandise, and one of the items we came up with was a shirt that said, "Snail me, I'm Irish!" We discussed whether the "Snail" should be the word snail or an image of a snail and I think we decided on the image. I think we should have these made for this special holiday!

My snails dogpile on a piece of algae.

Lights out!

The light in my snail tank died a week or so ago and I just haven't gotten around to replacing it yet, so my snails have been "chillin" in a dark and colder tank. They've adapted quite well to their dimmer lifestyle, but I don't get to enjoy them as much as I usually do because I can't always see them.

Hopefully I'll get a new light for the tank soon, so I can go back to watching my snails instead of working.