Hi! I’m Kylo and this is BB! We’re not the typical pair of animals found on Elizabethtown College’s campus, but we fit in just the same. We’re both mystery snails; also called spike-topped apple snails, if you’re feeling fancy. I’m a blue mystery snail and BB is brown. This is actually our first semester on campus, so we have a fresh outlook of the College!

I’m the oldest out of the two of us. My mom picked me up from a pet store she works at with my first roommate. I moved in a week before classes started remotely, so I kinda got the experience of moving on campus, but at home Moving on to campus was a little difficult. I have a heater, but I couldn’t travel with it on so I was huddled underneath my shell the entire journey. Also, literally every five minutes, I was jolted around because of the potholes. Unfortunately, my roommate couldn’t make the move to campus, so my mom picked up BB from a different store. I don’t think I would have been able to live without a roommate for long. 

We got along pretty well out of the gate. We usually keep to ourselves and hang out during dinner time. I spend most of the time climbing over rocks and the branches in our tank. My favorite thing to do is climb to the top of the highest branch and float all the way to the bottom. I like to call it para-snailing. Also, riding the filter outtake is so much fun. It’s like its own little wave pool. 

BB hangs out more with the plants in the tank. He actually ripped up the Anubis and started munching on the leaves one morning. I guess he got tired of eating algae. He also naps on the leaves, as they make great hammocks. You also just slide off the leaf to get out of bed. If he’s not in either of those places, he’s probably hiding underneath the heater or a rock. 

Yep, my favorite snack is the algae wafers as they have more nutrients than the algae on the walls. It’s also a good change of pace to just nibble on a wafer in one spot rather than crawl around the entire tank looking for food. Oh that? That’s a cuttlebone. Yeah, it’s to help build our shells. When our mom first put the bone in, BB immediately dragged it to the bottom of the tank. He started nibbling away at it. I was taking a nap at the time and almost didn’t get my fair share of it.  

My mom is in interesting classes.She’s learning all about writing and environmental science and is an English literature major with a creative writing minor and biology minor. That’s probably why she’s a great mom as she knows what she’s doing. Right now, she’s hoping to study abroad in the fall. I know it might be difficult with COVID-19, but I’m rooting for her. Also, I want to go with her. Maybe she can take me in her carry-on. I’m not going to need a passport, right? 

I do know that it is getting a little difficult with figuring out the future of on campus living and schedules for next semester. My mom and her roommate are trying to get an apartment next semester so I could be getting a nice upgrade. 

Well, I gotta go; my mom is about to give us dinner. I definitely don’t want to have to compete with BB. See ya around!