Thanks for the reply!What a amazing project, dude where are you? I would love to know where I would be able to get so interesting slugs. Actually Im doing a very similar project with several lineges of wood lice (info to follow in a few weeks). You have very good chances of sucsseding in your project and DONT kill anything of what your doing Im SHURE there is both interest and a market for your product, and yes there is a growing number of people that keep pet slugs, they would drool at your owesame ones. Here is the site: www.bugnation.uk. You could make some pennies selling your slugs
Now my sugestions. 2 slugs are a start but you defenetly need a larger gene pool, try to put together at least like 6 of the coolest ones you can find. If you cant find especimens of so intense coloration still use them and then sellect the best looking offspring at each breeding. Now dont forget it may take some time for baby slugs to develop their full color. Its the photo the setup you have for them? Because its inadequate, you need a ruber container with very small numerous holes on the top, moist dead leaf litler, a chunk of cork and a moist substrate several inches tick (moist peat and sand) for the slugs to burrow and lay their eggs. Ad some wood lice to keep molts and waste in control. Feed them with washed fruit and vegetable left overs and mushrooms. I recomend dont removing the eggs.
Ho knows maybe in your selective breeding work you are able to unlock some very cool genes
I live in Western WA, USA. But, ironically, these slugs are an invasive species from Europe. They are arion rufus or arion ater, discernible only upon dissection, I've read.
I just took on wood lice, too! I had to poke around a bit because the species that don't pill up tick me off. I found a good stash of mature a. vulgaris. They are big, gray like a robot and roll up into a perfect fish-food sized ball. and am pretty happy so far. It's too soon to expect any offspring (less than a week, I've had them so far).
Thanks for the link.
I am actively seeking more reds and will add to my pool as I can. I'm only accepting the red-with-white-base type. There are tons around that are the right shade of red, but on the black meat it looks duller. Hey, Can they look white as babies and color up later? I keep finding white babies and have no clue whether or not to bother.
That was not their home. Just a collection container. They are now in a shoebox-sized plactic box with a leaf of collard green, a piece of banana, some maple leaves, a wet scrubbie and a dish of soil. I read through an experiment where the researchers were able to force the slugs to lay in a controlled location by only providing soil in that spot. The slugs find the soil to lay the eggs.
So I've got: moisture, shelter food. Other than keeping it somewhat - but not too - clean (they reconsume their feces as part of the digestion process and may die or stop reproducing without access to...that), am I missing anything? I read about cuttlebones and calcium supplements, but green veggies are loaded with calcium so I don't see any deficiency to be compensating for.
Okay, I will leave the eggs in the dish.
Are you sure I should add the wood lice?
