Snails are shelled invertebrates belonging to the Phylum of mollusks and class Gastropoda.
They are prevalent in almost every region of the world except Antarctica. Around thousand different species of snails inhabit the land, including sea snails and freshwater snails. Slugs and snails belong to the same family the major difference is snails have shells when slugs don’t. However, some species feature shells inside their body to store the minerals. Weird species! Aren’t they? Read on to know how long snails sleep, and how long they live.
Snails have different sleeping patterns compared to other creatures. When scientists carried out research on a group of pond snails, they found out that snails do follow unusual sleeping patterns. Despite the usual 24-hour sleeping habits, snails nap for 13 to 15 hours a day. Sometimes, they can sleep for two to three days. Moreover, their sleep cycle is completely based on the atmosphere and climatic conditions. After a certain bout of sleep, they stay active for maximum of 30 to 41 hours before venturing into the same pattern. Snails mostly prefer being active during the night to stay safe and retain their moisture level.
When they fall asleep, they will be in more relaxed mode, keeping their foot, mantle, tentacles, and radula at rest. Due to their immobile state, the shell could slightly move over a little, but will not curl entirely into it. During sleep, they won’t react to any stimuli like when they are being touched or fed.
Snails neither have any sleeping schedule nor any alarm to wake them up. They lead a wild life where they can sleep anytime between 13 to 14 hours and awake whenever they want. Once snails feel fresh, they are more active.
In some instances, the snail may slumber for a long period of time which indicates they have entered the do-not-disturb zone. They usually hibernate during the wintertime when they feel too cold. Their heart rate may be low at this time but they will stay alive. The land snails can hibernate or estivate for three years straight. Such incidents happen due to extreme cold or dryness.
On the contrary, they will estivate when it is too hot i.e, on summer days. It begins to sleep when it feels too warm and moistureless. To bear this extreme weather, the snails protect themselves by coating their bodies with mucus.
Snail’s life span depends on where they inhabit. For instance, if the snail is wild-caught or discovered in your backyard, they may survive for 4 to 5 years whereas larger land snails may live around 10 or more years. The survival rate may vary depending on the species.
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