The critters in my home

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A little snails peeking over a bucket.

Erika

Cantareus apertus

I've wanted to keep a pet snail for quite a while - and then the gods of fresh produce (read: local greengrocers) graced me with a lettuce with a free embedded snail inside! Snails are hardy creatures, and :she didn't seem too bothered from having spent a few days in the fridge - so of course I had to adopt her.

I noticed her coloration was different to what I'm used to. That's because she's no common garden snail, she's a green garden snail!

The common garden snail is also called Cornu aspersum. This little girlie here, instead, is a Cantareus apertus. This is where she is on the big tree of life - as you can see, the two are more like cousins rather than siblings, which is pretty fascinating.

They owe their genus name Cantareus by the fact that they are... singers! It roughly means "singer" in latin don't @ me if you studied latin, I will never remember my declinations. This is because they :make a very unique sound when bothered! I've been caught completely off guard by that.

She's lovely: curious, inquisitive, bold, goofy. I just wish I'd researched more about her species before falling in love with her: apparently we share the common trait of being serial sleepygirls. Cantareus apertus seem to sleep for most of the year! She's now :aestivating buried deep in the soil of the tank I finally finished setting up for her. I miss her, but hope to see her back in the fall!

A snail curled over some broccoli, munching on them. A little snail completely absorbed into eating broccoli. A little snails peeking over a bucket. Small snail climbing on a finger and looking curiously ahead. There's a computer in the background. A snail with a rich brown shell, partially retracted into their shell. A snail peeking out of their shell. A snail exploring a human finger! A snail exploring a human finger! A snail stretching to climb a branch over them. A snail from behind, holding onto a plastic flower pot while munching on an artichoke leaf.
A very tiny green snail with an elongated brown shell, sitting on a colorful plate.

The Tiny Twins

Ferussacia folliculum (probably?)

I found these two tiny creatures while hunting for woodlice in my potted plants. I thought they were babies, but a kind discord user identified them as a Ferrusacia species. These little things are quite common in mediterranean countries, and they stay as small as a fingernail!
There's not much info out there about them - all I can say is that they're fast and cunning escape artists!

A tiny snail walking on dirt. Two very tiny snails with a ruler besides them, showing them measuring about one centimeter in lenght. A very tiny green snail with an elongated brown shell, sitting on a colorful plate.

Bonus: I also found an equally tiny slug in their enclosure! It's an elusive creature that is usually mimetized in the moss, so I didn't notice it at first. No idea what species it might be!

A black isopod resting on a human hand.

The Isopods

Porcellio Scaber "Lava" morph

Very goofy yet carismatic crustaceans! They are a joy to watch scurry around doing their little crustacean things - and are really hard to get a good pic of, as they're either moving about, or hidden under something.

A natural variation of P. Scaber is calico - they will sometimes have orange/brownish and black spots all over their body. Someone then started selecting for clearer and more consistent spotting, and thus the lava morpho was born! which is what I have here. Pics don't render justice to how cool these little guys look!

I got them very recently, but one or two of them must've been pregnant - as I've now been blessed with tiny teeny baby 'pods!

Baby isopods - they're tiny, white, and have a dark stripe in the middle of their bodies.
Babies!!
Closeup of a brownish-orange isopod. A black isopod resting on a human hand. A couple of isopods in their tank, climbing on a branch and walking on the ground.