# Fun with Ramshorns



## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

It looks like I got Ramshorn snails (or rather, their eggs) in with some plants that I bought recently. They've hatched out and now I have all these little snails scooting around the still-cycling 10g tank. I gave it a water change and dosed it with prime to keep the toxicity levels down, since I'd like to keep them. They're super cute and my roommate has fallen in love with the little dudes. I don't overfeed, so I'm not worried about them being a huge nuisance when it's time to add Mr. Phoenix when he and the tank are ready.

Right now it's impossible to tell their color, but the person I got the plants from said he had pink, blue, and speckled ones. I'm particularly hoping for blue, but pink would rock, too. :-D

The pet store might take them for credit if they're especially pretty...and I also think they're interesting...so, have any of you bred these guys on purpose before? If so, how does it work? How long do they take to reach maturity? Do they have any special needs aside from food, substrate, and clean water? Any temperature preference or anything like that?

I found some general information articles online, but most of them were just "Ew, pests!" or "They're so misunderstood!" and I wanted something a bit more specific.


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

They live 2-4 years so they will be mature in 3-6 months, they can eat betta food but will prefer algea wafers, the only real need other than listed is there can't be any dissolved copper in the water.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Excellent, thanks. I'm going to make a shredded carrot trap tonight and see if I can tell colors yet. :-D


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## Bikeridinguckgirl14 (Oct 22, 2013)

They MAY also eat lettuce, cucumber, or zucchini


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Someone also recommended spinach. Hmm, I have a box of it that's starting to get a bit soft for sandwiches.


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## BambooTikiBettaGirl84 (Jun 29, 2014)

Mine LOVE fresh cut cucumber. I would put it on a veggi clip and they literately come swarming after the slice.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

I bought an organic cucumber from the grocery store on the way home, so I have bait...but I'm thinking they're all super transparent so far. Hmmm. How long until color shows up?

EDIT: I put it in anyway, to give them something yummy to eat. It'll be fun to see what turns up by morning.


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## BambooTikiBettaGirl84 (Jun 29, 2014)

Is the cucumber clipped down or held down by something? If it's just floating you might not have much luck with them going for it since they don't normally float around after food.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Haha, somehow I hadn't realized they float until I tried dropping it in. Ended up securing it with a couple of rocks, leaving the majority of it exposed.


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## BambooTikiBettaGirl84 (Jun 29, 2014)

Yeah, I didn't know that either but luckily my mom bought a clip for me. How are they doing with the cucumber, are they all on it like flies to a light?


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

No! They didn't touch it at all. I was very surprised. But, the tank is cycling still and I'm still finding out which plants are going to make it and which are not, so there's a lot of dead plant matter for them to munch on, even with me pulling out stuff when I see it's not gonna make it. Maybe next time I'll try blanching some spinach. If I love it, they should--right? :lol:


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## BambooTikiBettaGirl84 (Jun 29, 2014)

That is super weird but then again you might be right, they prolly have all that plant matter to eat vs. human food. Mine are in a hospital tank and before I put the hornwort in, they gobbled the cucumber up. Spinach sounds awesome though, they might like that better cuz they look more leafy than cucumber. Gotta name one of the bigger ones Popeye the Sailorman! :-D


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Haha, okay...as soon as I can tell them apart. Gosh, I'm really hoping to get pink and blue ones...if there ends up being a mix, I think I'll put a couple of one color in Mr. Kitty's tank, and a couple of the other in Buttercup's, and see what happens with selective "breeding" (more like removing the ones without good color).


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## givemethatfish (Feb 10, 2014)

My ramshorns love the cories' bottom feeder wafers more than any other food. Anytime I want to harvest some ramshorns, I'll toss in a couple more wafers than the cories will typically eat, and a couple hours later it's snail thanksgiving. They'll be clustered around them by the dozens.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

That's an interesting idea. I'll pick some up next time I'm at the shop.


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## DianeA7X (Feb 13, 2014)

I have LOTS and i mean LOTS of ramshorn snails. In my tank and out of my tank. The ones I can grab I take them out and put them in this container that I have. I also have lots of tiny babies. I don't breed them on purpose. You think petco would buy them off me? I'm trying to find an assassin snail but the 2 stores i've been to no luck. Gonna go to this other store. I doubt they will have them either but gonna try. About a month ago (maybe a little less) I gave lots of these snails away too. They just keep appearing lmao. I just can't kill them they are way too cute. I'd rather give them away.


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## DianeA7X (Feb 13, 2014)

Oh I should also mention that we had some spinach that most of weren't good anymore but I picked a couple out that looked good still and the snails ate them. I also put celery and they also ate them. Too bad my money went down the drain with the celery cause I only give them to small pieces and I didn't even use the celery for food for us too eat. Oh well. Least it wasn't that much for the celery. They also eat pellet food that i give to my african dwarf frog. They also eat fish flake food. I guess mine aren't picky eaters lol.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

You can ask at a PetCo, but you may have more luck at a smaller family shop. It's worth asking. Also if they are particularly beautiful, forum members here might be interested, so don't hesitate to advertise in the Classifieds.

As a note, I can CONFIRM I HAVE PINKS! WOOO!! Not many, but some. Separated three of them out to begin selective breeding.


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## DianeA7X (Feb 13, 2014)

I don't think i've seen any pinks. I never shipped a live animal before so dunno how i would do that. Unless i shop a lil bit of java moss with little snails on them? But yah i'm gonna be going to this store tomorrow and check if they have an assassin snail and if I remember to i'll ask if they will take them.


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