Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Our newest family member























Meet Mr Sneelock, our mighty African snail. He (well Nino insists he is a he, although snails can be hermaphrodites) loves potatoes, moneyplant leaves, lettuce and doodhi, in that order. He's a very curious guy and makes a lot of poo for a little fella. Slightly bigger than my palm when's he out and in his form, Mr Sneelock, says Nino, loves boys who do acrobatics. He also loves to walk, sip water from his leaf-shaped private pool and pee on the walls. Plus he has 'suction cups' on his belly, just like Spiderman, adds Nino.

He's our newest family member: and perfect entertainment for too hot weekend afternoons.
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21 comments:

Choxbox said...

Whoa! Lucky Nino! Mr.Sneelock sounds fun!

Had a friend who's mom was doing a doctorate on molluscs and you wont believe the number of snails they had in their house. Hundreds. We'd be mugging and suddenly one dozen of them would slowly emerge from under the table!

In love with my life said...

you're here , you're here. So nice to see you back.

A very slow family member Mr. Sneelock is. Who chose his name?

Anonymous said...

wow..looks so interesting! and reminds of one Mr Sherlock. nice to see you back :)

Manjushree Abhinav said...

Kya, yaar, I thought its a new baby, and thats why you have been so quiet!!!

Sands said...

how cute!! Where did you find him??

Solilo said...

Sneelock is a cutie. Kids loves all things esp. insects and small living things.

I cannot stand snails. Snails eat all the leaves in our garden so our gardener has to spray something every 2 weeks to keep it away.

Anonymous said...

aah! your feet those? but i loved the earlier pic with Nino.

Nino's Mum said...

Chox - actually you're right, lucky nino! My ma-in-law is petrified of pets and resolutely refuses to let us have a pet: Sneelock is an answer to both nino's needs for a pet and since it lives on the upper floor with us in his terranium, the m-i-l is not fretting as well!

in love - thank you! Nino sorta choose sneelock after a bit of prodding from me: we both love Mr Sneelock as he appears in Dr Seuss's If I Ran A Circus.

Preeti - beyond interesting! It's like a proper pet: feed, clean poo, wash, think up of intersting food, give it a free regin (walk) on the walls, etc.

Grasshopper - I wish ;)

Sands - well Nino's teacher was gifted Mr Sneelock and she did not want to keep him because he was runining her garden leaves, so she put him up for 'adoption' and we brought him home!

Solilo - so true :) we've tried spiders and small garden snails, but they've died before we could crack out how to let them live with us (see my answer to chox to know why) happy and healthy. I know about them runining the garden: we don't have one in the flat, so in a way, it's a good thing.

Preeti - yes, all mine, neon blue paint, tattoo and all. :) I'm rediscovering myself, I guess!

MiM said...

I like the feet pic...

i saw a snail once in Mumbai... and it was like any other Mumbaikar -- going quite fast(!)

I hope your Mr. Sneelock is the kinda laid-back kind

Choxbox said...

@ MiM: in ahmedabad they have to be laid-back, they get to eat DHOKLA.
plus why am i not surprised you like feet pix?

momstir said...

Oh so cute! Like your new pic too

Anonymous said...

tatoo...sort of missed it and then I see it somewhere, yes. Its a recent one? and whats it like?

Nino's Mum said...

MinM - chox is right: this one is very laid back, and in nino's words, just like Nino's dad: he snoozes through the day and has a busy night.

Chox - hahaha:) I'm going to try giving him Dhokla and then we'll see. Oh and btw, Happy Mahavir Jayanti. Did you do Paryushan? I tried teaching Nino the concept, and although I've managed to get through to him that he has to be kind to animals, I can't seem to make him understand that people are living beings too and must not be whacked!

Momstir - thank you:) hope you're well.

Preeti - it's a nandi-head. I got it, ummm, maybe 7 years ago, at the Kumbh mela, screaming my lungs out on the ghats of Nashik. I like to call it my holy cow.

Anonymous said...

Hey Nino's mum!

So good to see you cheered by your new pet! It is an African snail, you say? Looks bigger than what you find in India..

Best wishes,
Anjali

Anonymous said...

And forgot to say that I liked the nail paint of your toes :)

Best wishes,
Anjali

Nino's Mum said...

aww Anjali, thankyou!

Vivid nail-colours is a recent obsession: I've done bright yellow, bright orange (both of which I loved), purple (which was staid for my current frame of mind) and then this neon-blue. Nino is most embarrased when his classmates (girls) crowd around me to check my nails. Their parents have been bithcy, but what the hell :)

Sneelock's species is known as African Snail, although I'm sure he was born and bred here.

Choxbox said...

Yup paryushan is on N's mom. Been taking kids to the derasar. Have banned kand-mool from the kitchen. Thats it. Used to do so much more when I was a kid :(

My cousin is on her 5th upvaas today, aiming for an atthai.

wordjunkie said...

wow! am so jealous, it looks lovely.

Nino's Mum said...

chox - I've been dying to know more paryushan tales/rituals: my in-laws are very, well, jain only by default of cuisine. My theological questions go unanswered. I'd love to read a post about what you did: and what the girls said/asked.

wj - come see it!

dipali said...

Hi Sneelock! Our kids had a snail once, long long ago, called Snail Patel.
Enjoy:)

Nino's Mum said...

Dipali - hahahaha! I fell off my chair at Snail Patel's name :) I love the name - although I'll be stoned in gujju land if I do rechristen Mr Sneelock!