Painting Snails...

[Jguido1987]

Take it easy. It's just a little paint. I say have fun it's not a big deal. It's a shell. No harm. Hopefully u find some reef safe paint. People groom dogs all the time. If a child wants to get involved w a tank that's a plus plus plus.

 

[Jguido1987]

I wish there was a way to dislike some of the haters comments.

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

A while back I had a frag (of... clove polyps? Kenya tree? I don't remember) that was glued to a shell instead of a plug.

Couple weeks later unnoticed it kept falling over and landing really far from where I had put it.
Lo and behold, a hermit moved in.
I watched him for a couple days because it was really comical, but I figured he would have a hard time finding food while playing at being a body builder, so I cut the coral off the shell.

I had always thought it would be fun to see a snail with Zoanthids on it.

 

[roberthu526]

I would be concerned about the chemical getting in the tank. Anything that will stay on the shell has to dry fast so the snails don't die dry. This means the paint needs to have some kind of fast vaporing solution which will likely pollute the tank. If it was me I'd never try something like this but if you decide to try make sure you keep us posted.

 

[DSC reef]

A while back I had a frag (of... clove polyps? Kenya tree? I don't remember) that was glued to a shell instead of a plug.

Couple weeks later unnoticed it kept falling over and landing really far from where I had put it.
Lo and behold, a hermit moved in.
I watched him for a couple days because it was really comical, but I figured he would have a hard time finding food while playing at being a body builder, so I cut the coral off the shell.

I had always thought it would be fun to see a snail with Zoanthids on it.

Bought a handful of astrea snails and one came in with porites on the shell. It was cool and still alive months later. This came in naturally, I did not do this. No cruelty to report here....

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

Bought a handful of astrea snails and one came in with porites on the shell. It was cool and still alive months later. This came in naturally, I did not do this. No cruelty to report here....

Sounds like a nice freebie!

 

[DSC reef]

Definitely! At first I thought it was sand dollar montipora due to the colors but it was porites. The only down side is sometimes the snail hangs out in one spot for a bit and the mystic sunset had it's way with a piece of it.

 

[shrimped]

My LFS found this Zoa covered astrea snail in the wild. This poor snail is carrying a large amount of palytoxins. I guess that's animal cruelty so Mother Nature shall be fined for her crimes lol!

 

[Krzydmnd]

Did you even consider the embarrassment for the snail?? His buddies will have a great time with this one down at the Bearded Clam.

 

[Amoo]

@Paul B has an Urchin that wears a Zoa dress

 

[DSC reef]

The felonies are stacking up!!

 

[sundog101]

I’m sure it’s your “daughter” that wants to paint the shells

 

[Dancingmad]

How about some of that 2-part (usually together in tube form) fraggin' epoxy with a drop or two of food coloring worked in. You could give that snail a gnarly + colorful hairstyle. Not exactly painting, but in the same spirit.

Personally I like the idea of painting some shells for hermits to occupy. At least they can move out if they're not happy.

 

[Kmsutows]

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.

I would definitely agree to painting shells for crabs. Painting a snail shell IS like painting skin. It grows with them just like a turtle.

 

[Gator1970]

I would definitely agree to painting shells for crabs. Painting a snail shell IS like painting skin. It grows with them just like a turtle.

More like painting your fingernails I think - the shell only grows near the foot.

 

[LJLKRL05]

More like painting your fingernails I think - the shell only grows near the foot.

Look at uv cureable fingernail polish

 

[Gator1970]

Look at uv cureable fingernail polish

That’s a great idea! I bet you can get any colour of the rainbow, maybe even glow in the dark! Plus it would probably be relatively non-toxic.

 

[savetheocean]

The snail will never even know it's there, just make sure it's not toxic and you aren't keeping the snail out of the water for too long.

 

[scurvy dawg]

Yes it is cruel.

It’s like painting your other pets such as a dog or cat. Would you do that to them so they glow in the dark?

People have gone to jail for such acts,as it is considered a form animal cruelty

Holy overreaction Batman

 

[reefguyty]

I think the drying the paint would be the biggest issue. Maybe they make a fast drying non-toxic paint?