Keeping pets will have you wondering and cooking up the most interesting questions, especially when your pet is a mystery snail. Just as the name implies, they’re quite the puzzle to solve: simple yet complex little creatures with a lot to learn from, even in matters of social interaction. If you’re wondering whether your mystery snail is an extrovert or an introvert, you have come to the right article for that analysis!
Mystery snails cannot feel loneliness and are solitary creatures that can do pretty well on their own. They do not feel love, sadness, or anger like some animals do. They can, however, determine when it’s time to breed; something they also do by feeling indifferent about. All your snail craves is food and the comfort of its home!
Let’s delve into the details of the solitary nature of mystery snails to help you understand and appreciate your pet better.
The 4 Major Reasons Why Mystery Snails Don’t Get Lonely
Simply put, the biology and environment of a creature determine its social interactions. As whimsical as it may seem, socializing plays a key role in survival, and most animals use it to their advantage. Here are the reasons why your mystery snail doesn’t need to socialize:
1. They Have a Simple Brain Structure
Unlike most animals with complex brains, mystery snails have ganglia, which is a cluster of nerve cells that allows for simple coordination like movement, decision-making, common responses, and sensory perception. The ganglia is connected to every part of the snail’s body, allowing it to navigate its surroundings thus making its life a lot simpler and solitary.
2. Their Surrounding Is The Priority
Freshwater may be the undebatable habitat for mystery snails, but they still need to adapt to various places like aquariums and different parts of their habitat. They never run out of scents to perceive, textures to feel, and places to go which mostly take up their time and keep them company! This motive hinders their ability to socialize and allows them to be content with being solitary.
3. They Move at a Slow and Steady Pace
Life moves quite slowly for mystery snails, which causes them to interact with their surroundings better than with other animals. Since exploring on their own keeps them occupied, there’s less and less need for socializing, making friends, or depending on building connections to survive.
In comparison, animals that move in a herd like deer depend on their group for survival. They share information that helps with finding food and avoiding predators and can manage this strategy thanks to their speed. Contrary to mystery snails, moving slowly defeats the necessity of a herd and makes it easier to rely on individuality for safety.
4. They Are Wired for Survival
To eat, breed, and survive is all that the snail is wired to do, which can seem quite entertaining for something as small and slow as mystery snails. Each snail would rather scout for food than companions to keep themselves alive. Due to their ability to overpopulate, resources are mostly limited, creating grounds for competition. In essence, your pet will probably be grateful to be the only snail in the tank.
The Most Important Ways To Keep Your Mystery Snail Happy
Although mystery snails don’t necessarily feel happiness like a cat or a dog, they can still be satisfied when their necessities are provided. Here’s how to make your pet fulfilled:
Provide a home-like habitat for your snail
You must provide a home away from home for your snail. Even if your pet has never lived a day in the wild, it is still wired to function in such environments, and robbing it of feeling at home will make it dissatisfied and uncomfortable. The following are steps to take in creating a nice home for your snail:
- Get your snail a sizable tank. A five-gallon tank will be suitable for one mystery snail, including all the extras like plants and decor. If you desire to keep more than one snail, ten gallons will be just fine.
- Include plants and climbing/hiding spots. The natural freshwater habitat is not void of features like plants and branches. Planting Java Moss or Anubias here and there in the tank will give your snail spots to graze on. Also, place a piece of driftwood in the tank to give your snail places to hide and new textures to explore.
- Pour in the substrate. Sand or gravel is necessary for your mystery snail to feel at home. There must be a soft floor that allows your snail to burrow or crawl across happily.
- Maintain proper lighting. If you have a spot that allows direct sunlight to enter the tank, that’s a bonus. Otherwise, you need a lighting source that can mimic day-to-night routines. This is necessary for breeding and allows your snail to maintain healthy sleep patterns.
- Keep the water at the proper parameters. pH and temperature are not only important for your snail’s comfort but also for its survival. Snails prefer an alkaline environment with a pH of 7.6 to 8.4 and a temperature between 70°F to 80°F.
- Maintain slow-moving water currents. Ensure that there is a gentle sway of the water in which your pet lives. If you find that your mystery snail isn’t moving a lot compared to the normal pattern, the currents may be too harsh to bear. By adjusting the water filter, you can regulate the water movement to ensure your snail feels comfortable.
Feed Your Mystery Snail Correctly
Mystery snails are omnivorous and thus require both protein sources and plants to survive. They can eat anything from veggies to aquatic plants, including seafood like fish or shrimp, and meat like chicken. If it’s soft enough to eat, your snail will have a fun time doing what matters the most: feeding! Mystery snails also enjoy decaying foods and may even prefer them over fresh meals.
However, it’s dangerous to leave decaying matter in the tank with your pet, as this could cause ammonia and nitrite levels to rise and harm it. In their natural habitat, mystery snails are not directly affected by this problem since the ecosystem enables the proper breakdown of ammonia into nitrates, which are further consumed by bacteria.
Handle Your Mystery Snail With Care
Although your snail is not able to process complex emotions, it can still detect danger, which could be in the form of rough handling. Frequently taking it out of its tank, squeezing its shell too hard, or placing it on dry surfaces for long periods is alarming to your mystery snail. If you must observe it, 15 minutes a day on a damp surface is a much more manageable scenario for it.
Ensure That Its Tank Mates Are Not Dangerous
If your mystery snail is living with other aquatic organisms like betta fish and tiny turtles, it is inherently dangerous to keep them in the same tank. They are known to nip at or even eat snails, which can cause them to be extremely uncomfortable. Friendlier tank mates for your snail are guppies and tetras; with these fishes, they will coexist comfortably.
Will My Mystery Snail Die If It Doesn’t Breed?
While breeding is important to keep their species alive, mystery snails do not need to breed to survive on their own. At around 3-6 months, the snails become sexually mature and capable of breeding and can stay fertile for their entire 1-3 years lifespan. However, spawning is not a necessity for their survival. It’s just the common impulse of creatures to replicate and keep their species alive. When the conditions are right—proper temperature, fewer threats, and availability of resources—a mature mystery snail will take cues to reproduce. If there is a potential mate nearby, they will come together and copulate to make offspring.
Can Mystery Snails Recognize Their Owners?
Mystery snails cannot recognize their owners, but your snail may be able to remember your scent and associate it with either a negative or positive response. If you reward your pet with its favorite treats whenever you handle it, with time it will get more comfortable hanging out with you. Mystery snails have chemoreceptors that allow them to perceive chemicals and interpret them as either danger or food. They also use these chemoreceptors to locate their potential mate in their niche.
How Do I Know If My Mystery Snail Is Comfortable?
Mystery snails move around a lot when they’re comfy. They may be slow, but you will notice activity in the tank. Snails enjoy interacting with their environment and scouting for food across the floor. If your snail is stressed, it will minimize movement, retract into its shell, and eat less than usual. Mystery snails can also produce excessive slime and a funky smell to ward off predators, and they do this when they’re stressed too. It’s important to ensure that your pet is comfortable in its environment at all times!
