With all the excitement of the legislature being changed, I have been reading alot about people planning on breeding and hatching bridgesii clutches. Although its fun to watch the babies grow up, please keep in mind that each clutch can produce well over 150 babies. That is alot of snails to feed, house, and find homes for. I have also cautioned against hatching out clutches, especially multiple clutches, unless you have a plan beyond "I will sell/trade them". Please make sure you have an idea of homes, LFS trade/credit, etc. Alot of LFS won't take them until they hit dime-sized, which is ALOT of bioload in a tank to reach that point. This means quite often every other day wc's and vacs to prevent secondary tank pests and to keep the snails healthy (that is what my 29g grow-out tanks require). Its not as easy to raise the babies as many may think. I would not use a tank smaller than 29g for one clutch of babies after they hit pea-size. They seem to develop more fissures, erosion, and grow much slower with overpopulation. Part of owning these great critters is being responsible about maintaining their populations. With hatching clutches comes culling babies as well as clutches. I routinely get 6-10 clutches each week, I hatch maybe one clutch every 6 weeks. The rest need to be frozen or smashed. As fun as watching their life cycle is, it requires LOTS of work to raise the babies, and lots of tank space.
Also, before planning to ship them, please take the time to research the appropriate and safe shipping methods. Shipping is stressful on any critter, snails are no exception. There are several accepted methods but the primary concern should be to keep their shells from being damaged during transit. I have found the best way to do this is to individually bag them.
I, myself, am probably going to stop hatching clutches all together. I am concerned that with the influx of all the new people selling/trading them, I will not be able to house them adequately long term. I do not have an LFS that can take them, and would not like to take the chances that they would have to either be inappropriately housed for adulthood, or be euthanized for lack of homes.
Also, before planning to ship them, please take the time to research the appropriate and safe shipping methods. Shipping is stressful on any critter, snails are no exception. There are several accepted methods but the primary concern should be to keep their shells from being damaged during transit. I have found the best way to do this is to individually bag them.
I, myself, am probably going to stop hatching clutches all together. I am concerned that with the influx of all the new people selling/trading them, I will not be able to house them adequately long term. I do not have an LFS that can take them, and would not like to take the chances that they would have to either be inappropriately housed for adulthood, or be euthanized for lack of homes.
