Painting Snails...

[Waters]

I don't care either way lol, but for the people asking about it being out of water long enough to paint...my snails have been found all over my basement from crawling out of the tank

 

[siggy]

 

[keddre]

I don't care either way lol, but for the people asking about it being out of water long enough to paint...my snails have been found all over my basement from crawling out of the tank

Lol, when I had a brackish tank I got so many free nerite snails from petsmart because they would climb out the tank and over to a different section...score

 

[sfin52]

Just a thought maybe not just a live snail by a empty shell that a hermit could move into. Gives more time to dry and no animal would be hurt but the snail that died;Dead . The felonies that have be committed.

 

[Gator1970]

I don't know that one can be "cruel" to a snail. I don't think it would good for the animal to be dry for as long as it would take to paint it.

Since there is no way I would want something like that in my tank, I would use this as an opportunity to educate my daughter on the nature aspect of reef-keeping. and how we shouldn't alter animals for our amusement.

What about selective breeding of animals to suit our needs? Dachshunds with bad backs, German shepherds with hip displaysia, etc.....

 

[flsalty]

What about selective breeding of animals to suit our needs? Dachshunds with bad backs, German shepherds with hip displaysia, etc.....

Same thing. Those dogs don't serve a need. I had a friend who loved rotties, but all her dogs would get hip displaysia. I wouldn't call it cruel as much as pointless, but I'm not a dog person. I have no idea why people keep dogs that have known health issues. But I was really talking more about things like painting snails or injecting fish with dyes, stuff like that. Young people should be taught to at least appreciate nature before they screw it up.

 

[Gator1970]

Same thing. Those dogs don't serve a need. I had a friend who loved rotties, but all her dogs would get hip displaysia. I wouldn't call it cruel as much as pointless, but I'm not a dog person. I have no idea why people keep dogs that have known health issues. But I was really talking more about things like painting snails or injecting fish with dyes, stuff like that. Young people should be taught to at least appreciate nature before they screw it up.

I agree young people should appreciate nature - but historically each and every breed of dog was bred for a certain working task - their body shape, size and temperament, even their hair in some cases, has been selectively bred for a purpose.

I don’t see anything wrong with a youngster wanting to paint a snail, and I wouldn’t equate painting a snail shell with injecting dye into a fish.

 

[SMB]

Tell your daughter to wait a bit and hope it turns pink from coralline.

 

[Rakie]

This is probably the dumbest thing I've posted yet, but I need to ask. I have some large Astrea Snails in my QT tank that I will be moving to my Display in a week or two. My daughter (7) wants to paint the shell of a particularly large snail. So I have some questions,

1. Is this cruel?
2. Is there a paint that will not hurt the snail or the inhabitants of my tank?
3. What about glow in the dark paint?

I swear this is for my daughter and not me...

Hey, I'm gonna firstly say SORRY, I did not read anything that anybody said after your original post, I just wanted to point out that there has been a "movement" of people painting garden snails to keep kids from stepping on them. I don't really go out and paint snails, and this has NOTHING to do with your tank at ALL... But I kinda like it. So here's some painted garden snails plus other awesome things

So basically, i think you need to get your daughter into knitting and have a roving swarm of shark-turtles in the backyard. It's the only option that makes sense.

 

[mckinleyw]

Hey, I'm gonna firstly say SORRY, I did not read anything that anybody said after your original post, I just wanted to point out that there has been a "movement" of people painting garden snails to keep kids from stepping on them. I don't really go out and paint snails, and this has NOTHING to do with your tank at ALL... But I kinda like it. So here's some painted garden snails plus other awesome things

All I can say is ROFL

 

[Dsnakes]

@andrew james need to get a poll up on this! Some great responses. To paint, or not to paint....that is the question

 

[Rakie]

All I can say is ROFL

It's the snake right? Bringing camouflage to a new level

 

[mckinleyw]

It's the snake right? Bringing camouflage to a new level

Definately... i had a snake just like that lol. Never dressed it up though...darn lol

 

[jsker]

All I can say is ROFL

+1

 

[DSC reef]

The snake really got Me! Friggen hilarious, looks like a Cadbury egg commercial. Lol

 

[H@rry]

How 'bout putting super glue on the snail shell and then sprinkle it with the glitter you can get from the craft store. Put it right back in the water and the glue will dry almost instantly and the snail won't dry out at all.

 

[dmw913]

I believe so but here's why. To paint it you would have to take it out of water to paint, no while I know they can be out of water for a while I feel it shouldn't be done on purpose. Secondly, you would have to let the paint dry which would be an even longer time out of water, which is where I'm thinking that if you need to paint to dry then the snail might dry out also, which would kill it. Lastly, it would be near those fumes while your painting which could ruin its health.

How about a nice medium, let her paint a few empty shells, give them a week or so to dry out completely, then buy a small hermit crab and hope it moves into one of the shells

Edit: if you do the hermit crab option, don't paint the inside of the shell and uou will also want to do a lot of research into paint for the shells. You will want to find one that won't leak toxins, won't fall apart and is reef safe.

This is a reasonable, kind, very well thought out suggestion.

 

[Rakie]

The snake really got Me! Friggen hilarious, looks like a Cadbury egg commercial. Lol

You know that guy is rolling up like "Hi there, fellow rabbits" lol

I never thought snakes could really "make a face" but that one is just looking at the camera like "It's stuck "

 

[savetheocean]

This post is awesome. I went to a shop before and all their snails were painted.

 

[Kent12456]

Absolutely the most entertaining thread in the relatively short history of reefing. My take is......I doubt snails are self aware. They could not care less about what color their shell is as long as it provides them refuge. Animal cruelty??!!!!!!?? Go to prison??!!?? Holy cow.