Mystery snails info?

[BradH]

I have a couple of questions regarding mystery snails. I'm sure msjinkzd or some of you knowledgeable people can answer for me. I got 3 tiny snails (getting bigger now) from a friend that had a clutch hatch and I didn't think to ask them... and I haven't talked to them in a while. Anyways.... My questions are. How often to they lay clutches.... how big or how old before they do... and can you just throw the clutch in the water and let other inverts or fish eat the clutch before it hatches if you don't want them? Also, I have just been throwing in algae wafers along with fish food for them..... is that ok?

[petluvr]

How often and how big I am not really for sure, I know it can be quite often. As far as throwing the clutches in the water I have always just got them off the tank and froze them and then discarded. Algae wafers and fish food are ok but they need to be supplemented with a calcium rich diet to promote healthy shell growth. i would suggest reading the sticky at the top of the invert section for easy DIY calcium rich foods.

[BradH]

lol I was trying to avoid cooking for the snails. I don't even cook for myself much. I eat out alot. haha I do have a bag of crushed coral in the tank. Wouldn't they get calcium from that?

[petluvr]

The CC just buffers the water to a higher ph which the dnails do need so don't take it out, and its not really cooking. Get some baby food, I use carrots, put it in a microwave safe bowl heat it for 1 minute on high. Take it out of the micro add some calcium powder, I use JurassiCal you can find it in the reptile section at most big-box store throw in some fish food-optional-add 1 pack of unflavored gelatin. Let it cool and set-up in the fridge then cut in to cubes and VOILA snail food.

[BradH]

Cool. Thanks.

[pik01]

drop the water level 2-3 inches so the snails have somewhere to lay their clutches. They might otherwise try to escape if your tank is uncovered. It's potentially harmful to the snails if they don't release their eggs.

[BradH]

If I gave the other to another friend and left one. Will it still lay egg clutches if it's a female or do they not lay them if they are alone.

[pik01]

If she and the other snail have gotten friendly, i believe they can store sperm for some months. I don't wanna give you a number for risk of putting my foot in my mouth, though. Anyone else know how long a female brig can hold sperm?

[crimsonmoon]

I believe it is 6 months. And i am almost positive that the female will lay clutches without going through the fertilization process.
The approximate age of sexual maturity is 4 months (at least that is what i have been told)
sorry about all the "maybe"s and "i believe.." stuff but there ya go :D lol

[BradH]

thanks for the info.

[msjinkzd]

They hit sexual maturity at about dime-sized. They can store sperm for 3 months or so. They can lay clutches, more than one a week, for the duratoin of their sexual maturity. You don't have to cookfor your snails, its also easy to keep a bag of frozen green beans inthe fridge to feed them or to buy a calcium rich prepared food (I use ken's veggie sticks and catfish pellets, both 16% or over in calcium content). They will lay eggs even if they are not fertilized as part of reproductive health. Some fish and other snails will eat the clutches if submerged, but its always been easier for me to take them out and crush or freeze them.

[BradH]

Thanks msjinkzd. They are a little bigger than dime sized now so I assume they are sexually mature. I guess I'll just try to find out which one is the mail, if any are, out of the three. I don't want to deal with eggs really. lol I'll give the females to a friend with a bigger tank.

[msjinkzd]

HERE (http://sexingapplesnails.blogspot.com/) is a guide to sexing them, it can be a challenging task. I find it easiest to observe who is mounting who.

[BradH]

I saw that a little while ago while browsing the applesnail.net forums. I was going to try to look at them later and see if I could tell. I might just get over the whole egg thing and not worry about it. Their colors are so cool, I hate to get rid of them.

[msjinkzd]

Since the eggs are laid above the water line, its not hard to check the rim of the tank, under the lights, etc a few times a week to pull of clutches to discard by either crushing or freezing. Other species who lay their eggs under the water line are more challenging tokeep up with.

[vampie]

I'm not sure if this is the usual case, but mine always laid eggs the same time each week, on the dot almost.


I find it easiest to observe who is mounting who.

As with most animals. :)