Cannibalism

[jclyde13]

I got a couple of mystery snails about a month ago that had been doing fine together, but I just got home about 30 minutes ago and found that one of them had eaten most of the other one's body. I've never heard of mystery snails cannibalizing eachother before, has anyone else had this happen, or is it just my bad luck? (I've had previous experience with cannibalism among gerbils...)

 

[snowy]

wow that sucks

 

[VinceC_69]

Thats pretty odd, are you sure it didn't die beforehand and the snail was just picking its carcass?

 

[Newt]

Mystery snails don't just up and start eating each other. The other snail was most likely dead and was being scavenged by the other.

A dead or dying snail cannot close its "door" and their soft body is fair game to fish. They also stink to high heaven if they die.

 

[Lupin]

Newt is correct however in some cases, some apple snails do cannibalize but this is very rare among Pomacea diffusa. It's the canaliculata complex that is prone to such terrifying behavior.

Any pics of their shells? This might confirm whether they are diffusas but it's just a minor factor. Snails are scavengers so they are bound to scavenge carcasses and yes, they do stink very badly when they're dead. Have you sniffed them before for any unusual smell?

 

[tonergirl]

What a totally gruesome find! I have to agree with whoever said that the other snail was probably already dead before that one started eating it. Still sounds gruesome though...but "THAT IS" natures way!

 

[jclyde13]

Hey guys, sorry for the extremely delayed reply, I honestly forgot about this thread.

Thats pretty odd, are you sure it didn't die beforehand and the snail was just picking its carcass?

Mystery snails don't just up and start eating each other. The other snail was most likely dead and was being scavenged by the other.

A dead or dying snail cannot close its "door" and their soft body is fair game to fish. They also stink to high heaven if they die.

I guess it's possible that it was already dead, but I was only gone for about an hour- 1.5 hrs. and when I got back, most of the dead snail had already been eaten, and both snails were active before I left.

Newt is correct however in some cases, some apple snails do cannibalize but this is very rare among Pomacea diffusa. It's the canaliculata complex that is prone to such terrifying behavior.

Any pics of their shells? This might confirm whether they are diffusas but it's just a minor factor. Snails are scavengers so they are bound to scavenge carcasses and yes, they do stink very badly when they're dead. Have you sniffed them before for any unusual smell?

I have never noticed any kind of unusual smell coming from either of them before.

Pics:


^^^This one is the one that was eaten

 

[jclyde13]

What a totally gruesome find! I have to agree with whoever said that the other snail was probably already dead before that one started eating it. Still sounds gruesome though...but "THAT IS" natures way!

Wasn't nearly as bad as the gerbil incident I mentioned earlier. I had just gotten home from school and went into my room to find that one gerbil had eaten the entire lower jaw and about half of the face of the other and was still eating...

 

[Raetak]

I had the same problem with my gerbils... Not cool at all, not a bit.

I found that feeding gerbils pieces of hot dogs and some dog food every now and then helps prevent that. When it happened to me it was due to.. I have no idea why they did it they had food and water, it was crazy to say the least.:WTF:

As for the snail cannibalism not a big expert on it and never had it happen, sorry.