It’s perhaps not the most pressing question in need of answers, but here we are. How long do snails sleep?
Stop pondering your own existence for a second or wondering whether life exists beyond earth. Right now, we’re going to learn about the sleep cycles of gastropods.
Do Snails Sleep for 3 Years?
Some are very big, some are very small. Some people despise them and some love to eat them. When you think about it, snails really are quite diverse creatures. And the same principle applies to their sleeping habits.
If you’ve already searched the question - “how long do snails sleep?” you may have discovered that the answer is said to be 3 years. Sadly, that’s inaccurate. To make such a statement is barely half an answer.
We’ve already addressed that many different types of snails exist. From the common Garden Snail to the Giant African Land Snail. Sleeping habits can differ drastically according to factors such as species and environment.
Like many other creatures, some snails hibernate through the winter months. They can also estivate during particularly warm and dry seasons.
Hibernation and estivation are not the same as sleeping. While creatures do remain dormant during these states, their bodies are also going through extreme physiological changes.
Sleep predominantly alters psychological aspects. Hibernation and estivation, however, are more focused on physical alterations such as the change of body temperature.
So, how long do snails sleep for? Technically it’s not 3 years. They can in some cases hibernate for up to 3 years and this is where the misconception arises.
How Long do Snails Really Sleep?
The average sleep cycle of a snail isn’t too astounding. Snails will sleep on and off for several hours at a time. Once they’ve rested though, they can stay awake for around 30 hours. You may even know a few people with similar sleeping patterns.
Snails don’t tend to pay attention to the day and night cycles. Instead, they’ll sleep as and when they feel the need to.
Why Is This Even a Topic of Discussion?
It’s quite a funny story actually. You’re likely familiar with Google and may know of their endeavours to continuously improve upon user experience.
Nowadays, when you type a question into Google it’s a lot more likely that you’ll be presented with an immediate answer. These answers tend to be siphoned out from higher ranking content for the search term in question.
Anyway, a Redditor by the name of “Unidan_nadinU” must have one day wondered about the question we’ve been tackling today. They typed into Google “How long do Snails Sleep” only to be presented with the incredibly accurate answer of… three. No unit of measurement to compare to just “three”.
This individual then took to Reddit to share a screenshot in a post titled “Units of measurement are for suckers”. The post garnered a lot of attention and multiple memes based on the original post also began to surface.
So, there we have it! We’ve not only provided you with an answer to the question of how long snails sleep. We’ve even gone as far as to let you know why people even cared in the first place.