In Search Of Pond/Pest Snails

[PondCometer]

Starting up a Dwarf Puffer tank and looking for some pond/pest snails to start a breeding colony in a separate tank. I know most people are more then happy to get rid of these guys so if anyone would like to help me out I'd be happy to pay postage. I've tried asking LFS but they refuse due to liability. Thanks!

[tennesseemom]

I have a dozen or so baby briggs you can have. they breed easily. can a puffer eat them?

[RodInCALIFORNIA]

If there is a abundance of apple snails i would be happy to offer alot of them a home. if pondcometer gets more then he can use.

[paperdragon]

I have a dozen or so baby briggs you can have. they breed easily. can a puffer eat them?

I don't think they're a good idea for a food colony. They tend to have a heavier bioload when breeding than pest snails.
If you want to get rid of your brigs post in the classifieds. In fact, if you have any purples I'd take some.

PondCometer: I'd recommend an ad in the classifieds for you too. You can pretty much always find someone to give you pond snails. :)

[pik01]

was it a big chain pet store that told you selling pond snails was a liability? If so I suspect the person was just clueless. I've been to several petsmarts and petcos and many have more than willingly tossed ramshorns and pouch snails into a bag, no charge.

[Bethany1979]

I have some, but I don't have heat packs. I don't know if they would survive the trip from NJ to CA???

[Sploke]

I have ramshorns and pond snails, and heat packs. No problem shipping htem, I could probably send you a starter colony of 100+ if you really wanted. PM me with your info.

[Hollygirl]

Are you near a Petsmart? Simply buy a couple of bunches of hornwort. When you get the plants home, don't rinse them. Place them in a rubbermaid tub or small aquarium with dechlorinated water. Add some sinking food pellets, and just wait. The odds that there are some small pond snails on the plants are in your favor. If not, you most certainly will have snail eggs. The reason I say buy hornwort is that they little needles are great for holding the eggs, and even after bringing them home and thoroughly rinsing I still would end up with pond snails.

[jackiomy]

I told him to come to my house. I will give him as many as he wants. LOL

[bazil323]

Any snail will work just fine for feeding to puffers except for Malaysian Trumpet Snails (mts) due their shells being so hard that they crack the puffer's teeth. You can get by (maybe) with feeding them to the larger puffers like Fahakas because they generally have larger, tougher teeth that can handle the shells.

The smaller the snail, the more shell that the puffer has to crunch through, so they are better for feeding and keeping those teeth trim. If they are too big, then the puffer will just "suck" the soft body out of the shell without touching the shell. Learned that the hard way.

[tinah]

hey Sploke! that offer for snails still open? :D

[PondCometer]

Thanks everyone for all the replies. I asked three different PetCo and one Petsmart as well as two small LFS as well. I would buy plants but all their plants are brown and dying...

[blue2fyre]

What a jip!

My petsmart gave me a bunch of snails for free. i would send you some of my pond snails but I really have no idea how to ship them. Plus it looks like others have way more than I do :D

[Hollygirl]

Thanks everyone for all the replies. I asked three different PetCo and one Petsmart as well as two small LFS as well. I would buy plants but all their plants are brown and dying...
One bunch of those dying plants may be all you need to get a culture starter. :) I don't mean to slam Petsmart but they pretty much just get their plants in and throw them in a tank to sell with no rinsing or pruning. That is where all the snails come from. I have 3 different colored ramshorns as well as about 4 other kinds of pond snails, all Petsmart hitchhikers. Another idea is to ask them when they get their next shipment of plants. Good luck!

[Sploke]

PondCometer, just replied to your PM.



hey Sploke! that offer for snails still open? :D

Absolutely, just PM with your zip code and what you want and I'll let you know how much it will be to send them. Trust me, I have plenty to go around.

[Sounguru]

Wow I got all my starters at my local Petsmart for free..... and still pick up the occasional batch for a new infussion.

Let see I got MTS, Bladders, Pouch, and Rams....

I do know that petsmart was sued for giving some guy snails and he claimed they killed his fish, but I understand he lost. Claimed his common feeder fish was as highly prized as a platinum arrowna, at least from the rumours I heard and you know how those can go....:evil_lol:

I'll bet that if they won't give them to you it is because they really have no clue or their manager has put the clamp done and said no free stuff... Maybe offer to pay a penny or 2 a piece for the snails since they just throw them in the trash anyway. I did that and they would save them for me. I would go by once a week count snails well as close as we could, swap out tubs and pay for them. My pet Smart cleaned snails out of thier tanks on Fridays and I would go in on saturday and pick them up. Got to a point where I had about 200 to 300 every saturday for a while, until they got a new manger and he said he wasn't gonna do it anymore.

[Lupin]

That guy has a deeply fried brain, Will.:screwy:

[Sounguru]

Agreed Looks over at his big very loved sevrum and thinks how can microsoft be blamed for killing my fish.... Hmmmmm...