Two years ago I adopted the clutch of a Giant African land snail (Achatina fulica, "White Jade" ). 🐌

Crazy how fast time flies. In this video they were just a month old. It plays at 11x speed. I hope they are doing well in their new homes now. I last saw them 9 months ago.

The little animals are predatory mites. They feed on small insects, springtails and mites. This is useful because they leave the snails alone but eliminate pests.

Mites are arachnids just like spiders and scorpions. There are many specialized mite species worldwide, including blood-sucking ticks and dust mites.

Yesterday, on a rainy summer night, somewhere between kindergarten and cemetery, I met these two friends.😁

The snail is a garden snail (Cornu aspersum). A globally invasive species originally native to the Mediterranean region. It used to be assigned to the Roman snail, but represents a genus of its own. Like the Roman snail, this species is also bred as a food snail. Even to a greater extent than the Roman snail.🐌

The isopod is a common striped woodlouse (Philoscia muscorum). A very widespread species of woodlice in Europe. Because it can run exceptionally fast, it is called the fast woodlouse.💨

Both species have a beautiful eel line.❤️

Looks like the snail is the big boss (Jabba) and the isopod is his nimble sidekick who tells him the latest news from the neighborhood.🤣

Giant African land snail
(Achatina fulica, "White Jade")
pushes off its epiphragm. 🐌

An epiphragm is created to seal the aperture of the shell against desiccation. The main function is to reduce water loss during inactivity. It also protects against parasites and predators. Certain species of snails can remain alive as they pass through the digestive tract of predators because of the protection from the digestive enzymes.

It's a while ago that I showed Fusili 🐌💕

In Christian culture, the snail has been used as a symbol of the deadly sin of sloth. In Mayan mythology, the snail is associated with sexual desire, being purrsonified by the sexy God of Annual Misfortune, called Wayeb. I must say it feels very good how my baby slides on me! 😶🐌💘

I disturbed their sleep. 😶🐌🗯