I have been trying for 4 months to get some of these baby snails to grow, and it has been hard. Lucky for me, it was so hard that I didn't even worry about completing the permits even though I had received level 2 clearance, or whatever you want to call it, several months ago.
I am finally getting to the point where some of them are actually growing. I have been breeding them in a 55 and using the breeder traps and it still isn't easy. I just bought a 29 gallon tank that I am going to set up as a nice invert tank for Mystery Snails and RCS only, with maybe a couple neons for additional color. If it turns out that I cannot sell/trade these snails, then I have 16 loaches that would probably be happy to help me with my dilemma.
Rachel,
Just like any other business, do not jump to conclusions too fast. Yes, permits were a barrier to entering the snail selling business, but how much of a barrier was it really. Almost anybody could get the permits if they spent a couple of hours at it. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it until you actually cannot sell any of your snails for quite a while. Even if demand slows down a little, just hatch less clutches until people figure out that it is way too much work.
By the way, I agree with you completely that you can barely break even doing this stuff. I have been selling plants and it is way more work than it seems to be. I started over the summer when I wasn't too busy with my profession, but now it is starting to become a headache. Only those that keep moving forward will persevere.
