Mother Broke Mystery Snail Shell (Preserved) - Story/Vent

I’m very upset and need to vent. I’m not asking any questions, and if you came to answer a question, and aren’t interested in a long story/vent, please don’t waste your time.

My mom has never really seen how a snail, or even a fish, and be an individual with a personality. She likes my aquariums, and enjoys watching the fish, but has never been able to see how each creature is irreplaceable.

A while back, I got two mystery snails from PetCo, a male and a female. They were both stunning. The male was brown and white, while the female was a beautiful pink and yellow. They had one egg clutch together.

A few weeks ago, the male managed to escape and was eaten by my mom’s dog. I’m not saying the snail was alive at the point it was eaten, but she still wasn’t allowed to let her dog in the living room.

She asked me to, but I refused to pay for the vet bills (the dog was fine, but she was so worried she took it to the vet [it had no symptoms]

Anyway, things have kinda been tense.

Today, my female mystery snail died. (It was pretty old and had been deteriorating for a while). I decided to preserve its shell. I took the body out, and I boiled the shell for 30 minutes. I left it on the counter to dry.

However, when I came back, I saw that the shell was laying on the counter without the towel. Upon further examination, the shell was cracked. I told her, and she said she dropped it on the tile floor while trying to get the towel. IMO, it’s a miracle it didn’t shatter.

However, the real reason I’m mad is that her first reaction was to offer to buy me a new one. I told her that I would never kill a snail just for the shell, and she told me that we would just wait for it to die, and then I could have the shell.

I told her that this snail was very special to me, and could never be replaced, be she just sighed and said that, she was sorry, but she was offering me a new snail, take it or leave it.

I’m just so mad. I know bringing it up with her again wouldn’t fix anything, as I can’t change her mind, but I can’t believe she would think that “getting me a new one” would fix everything.

It’s true. I’m not grieving like I would for a cat or a dog. I barely shed a tear. But that doesn’t change the fact that this snail was special, and can’t be replaced by “a new one”.

Thanks for reading to the end.

 

Can I have some pics of the snails?
SIP both snails.

 

My apologies. Some people will never understand the bond owners have with their small pets, regardless if it's a seemingly replicable thing. It stinks that she'll probably never understand, but she should've at least been a little more apologetic in that situation; clearly you were upset by it.

Anyways, hope you feel better.

 

Can I have some pics of the snails?
SIP both snails.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures while they were alive, however, I took a few pictures of the shell.
These are of the unfortunate fall damage:



And these are just some pretty pics:

My apologies. Some people will never understand the bond owners have with their small pets, regardless if it's a seemingly replicable thing. It stinks that she'll probably never understand, but she should've at least been a little more apologetic in that situation; clearly you were upset by it.

Anyways, hope you feel better.

I agree. Thanks.

 

I'm so sorry. Some people just don't get it... Every pet is special, no matter how large or small they are.

Do you have the egg clutch? If so, are you going to hatch them?

 

I understand, I’m honestly really angry on your behalf… if my mother did something like that I would’ve reacted very differently lol. So I applaud you for being able to keep cool with her.

It’s always confused me how people can keep dogs, cats and other animals but can’t see how fish and other water pets have their own personality and identity just like other pets do. While it’s more subtle and detected by long term observation in comparison to mammals, that doesn’t make them any less special or important to us just because they’re less complex. They’re our pets and we love them, it’s as simple as that.

Anyways, I hope that made sense, it’s late here and I’m tired so apologies if it doesn’t lol. I’m sorry to hear about your snails. it’s one unfortunate thing about mystery snails particularly is they really don’t live very long. Thank you for sharing and I hope everything gets worked out for you soon