Apple Snail gone Wild part 2!!

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Dita

AC Members
Jan 10, 2011
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Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to share an update on my little apple snail friend. I posted a link about *him early in 2011 when he started growing massively huge. If you are intestested in some ''baby pics'', here is the link to that post: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...e-Snail-gone-wild!&highlight=apple+snail+wild

There were a lot of views, so I thought I'd update again... Toby... renamed Tobi (ends with an 'i' now because Tobi recently laid a big bright patch of pink eggs in my tank officially making himself... a her :)
Tobi 2012.JPG

Meet Tobi. Estimated age 1 year 1 month, Exact weight 122.9 g !!! (she has almost doubled in size from my last post), Diet algae wafers and zuchini slivers. Tobi spent most of her formative months in her own 10 gallon tank with a 30 gallon filter attached. She ate a leaf of lettuce every day for months. I had to keep her out of my community tank because she would eat all my plants... literally, right down to the roots. About 2 months ago her appetite slowed down. She stopped eating lettuce and most other scraps she normally would... so I began experimenting. She got an amazon sword in her tank... she left it alone... she got another one... and left it alone. Eventually she started eating algae wafers and not bothering with the plants and lettuce at all.

So I moved her into her new home. She is now back in the community tank with 55 gallons of space to frolick with my discus fish. She is playful, loves 'falling' into the bubbler and filling her shell with air and drifting across the top of my tank. The discus have grown accustomed to her random 'drop ins'. Everyone who sees her in my tank comments on how amazing she looks, and how fast and frequently she moves around the tank. I am sooo happy that I did not return her to the store when she was eating me out of house and home. She never takes a bite out of my plants and I hand feed her an algae wafer every 2 days which she will literally reach out and take from my fingers. I should take a picture of her 'holding it' for everyone.

I highly recommend this tank buddy to anyone who has the patience to raise one :)

Cheers!

Dita

Tobi 2012.JPG
 

Goodcreature

AC Members
Sep 9, 2011
192
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Holy mole! That's a big snail!

Could you give us a size reference?
 

platytudes

AC Members
Nov 4, 2006
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Panama City, FL
Real Name
Nicole
That is AMAZING! I mostly gave up on apple snails, the two or three I kept many years ago never lived too terribly long...I always thought it was because they need to aestivate (bury themselves in the mud and hibernate) for a period of time. Looks like according to applesnail.net this isn't necessarily true:

http://www.applesnail.net/content/ecology.php

"Apple snail species that live in environments with food and water available throughout the year, like in tropical forests, do not show a well-defined aestivation period, although their activity can vary."

Unfortunately, I couldn't try again even if I wanted to, I haven't seen one for sale in years :( They are banned from interstate transport, so perhaps that has to do with it. Apparently they are a real nuisance in places where they are not native!

Do you plan on raising some babies if Tobi ever lays another clutch? :)
 
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AquaticAustin

AC Members
Sep 29, 2011
1,170
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Orlando, Fl (UCF)
I love my big snails too! They are still growing (golfball size) but one of them laid a clutch of eggs already lol. They are so cool you can see their bodies so well when they are that huge. Mine are blue and it seems to get darker with age, but they and their babies seem to leave plants largely alone. Granted there arnt any big plants in the tank.
 

DaisyTattoo

AC Members
Jan 11, 2006
1,395
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51
Illinois
Beautiful snail! I used to keep cana's but once they passed away I never got more. I do keep the shell of the last one in my betta tank for a hidey hole.
 
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