Cone Snails anyone?

Has anyone here had any experience with cone snails? I know they're quite poisonous, and as a result are not readily available in stores, but has anybody had experience caring for one? I may be able to obtain one from the guy at my LFS (connections with divers, etc) - I'm hoping to buy one of these.

I would keep it in a separate tank, handle carefully with tongs, etc - obviously it's a predator, and should be respected for what it is, but I think it would be interesting nonetheless.

 

The only thing I wonder is out of all the divers I know, I honestly don't think any one of them would risk injury or potentially worse to collect a snail, they are LIGHTING fast and I don't think a person would risk getting killed to collect it. IF they do, it would be pretty COOL!! I would put it in a species tank and feed it chromis or something, BUT then that would entail you feeding it LIVE MARINE[/I fish constantly. Do you really want to buy feeder chromis every couple days?!

 

That's what I thought - but - if you didn't handle directly ...never know, they may be able to safely collect one. This guy said that one of his suppliers used to collect such creatures, but insurance reasons eventually stopped them. But, his other supplier should be able to get one for me. Chromis are cheap - $4 for one or two a week, not bad.

 

I just think it would be very risky to own one....I have owned venomous fish before, and one of them was mislabled and the actual species of fish was known to have killed people and was "extremely venomous". However I cant see taking that risk for a snail....

Plus how much is really known about caring for them in captivity.....the Ambon scorpion that I got that was mislabled, had very little know about raising in captivity...and it ended up dying (due to equipment malfunction during a molt). LFS owner told me he could get me another one when he found out how it died, however I did not feel comfortable enough taking a fish that had so little known about its needs to risk another animals life.

Somethings are better left in the wild...nautalis, blue octopus, ambon scorpions etc. I dont know enough about cone snails to say if that is true or not, however something that deadly should probably be left alone. Be careful if you do decide to get one and good luck

 

You definitely have to be very careful and respect what you are caring for.

I find snails to be very interesting creatures, and the fact that this is a predator snail interests me even more: especially the way it hunts and kills. I'm trying to research as much as possible before I make a decision either way.

 

Take extra measrues of safety if you do get one. Post pics as well if you do decide to get one.

 

I will definitely post pics for sure! I'm thinking that I'll use the indo-pacific black reef sand in a 20 long, with some live rock and PC lighting. No corals, just a species tank with the snail, perhaps some crabs for cleanup - probably a HOB filter and a koralia nano powerhead. That is, if I decide to go through with it, and if I can actually get one. Extreme measures of safety would be taken, no hands in tank with snail, tongs used if I need to move it, etc.

 

LOL they're not all that quick, but you need to know what you're doing if you get one. You need to know stuff like... what the proboscis looks like, what foods he'll prefer and what he'll eat if he can't get his preferred foods, how quickly and how far the proboscis can be extended, and what to expect if you're ever envenomated. I've kept a bunch of different cones, and the easiest (although the deadliest) are the fish eaters, since it's easy to feed them. Conus textile should be fairly easy to keep, since you should be able to easily obtain Nassarius vibex. I never actually fed them that species, but they love the Indo-Pacific relatives in that family. They also love the small Tritons (Ranellidae) but they will be much more difficult to find, I'd think. In the absence of those two food families, they are liable to eat almost any other snail, but they dislike the "Margarita snails" (Tegula species) that are often sold to aquarists, and don't seem to do well if that is the only food option. They also don't like olive snails of any sort.

Cone Wars — Part 1

They are beautiful, but as you are aware, some of the components of C. textile venom are active against vertebrates. The venom composition changes with time in captivity, and the original composition (and probability of lethality to humans) varies with the area in which the snail originated. I've collected many of them, but I respect them and know how to handle them. Don't let your guard down if you get one, handle with great care, and don't expect a glove to protect you since their teeth can fairly easily penetrate a thick glove.

That should get you started. Read up on them as much as you can...Cheeers,




Don

 

Thank you for the insight pagojoe!

I'll continue to read up and let everyone know the results.

Z