# Snail Log



## kitkat67

Since I have baby snails I thought it would be cool to do a "Snail Log" for all the invert-lovers out there! I have mystery snails and nerite snails. While I hope to eventually learn and experience breeding nerite snails, I will be focusing on mystery snails for now! I have lots of pictures and videos to share with everyone and hopefully become the resident snail expert someday. A little snail background info: I've had nerites for a couple years (_long_ time, I know, lol!) and mystery snails for less than two months. I have five purple snails from ebay and two from Petco. Six of them have grown remarkably well since I've got them. The smallest pea-sized ones grew to golf-ball sized in less than 2 mos. (Except for one which has not grown past the size of a grape.) I originally sexed them as all male, but I was obviously wrong when I noticed a pair getting their "snail freak" on, as my friend coined. The two largest snails are female, Big Mama and Lil Mama. Lil Mama has red nail polish on her shell and I hope to eventually color-code everyone as soon as I get a chance. (Their shells are like our nails so don't worry about it harming them!)

About three weeks ago they came into sexual maturity and two weeks ago I got my first clutch from Big Mama! The next two (mini) clutches came in two-day periods after the first, laid by Lil Mama. I artificially incubated them. Yesterday night I noticed the first clutch was empty of snails and there were dozens of babies on the bottom of the Snail-Ubator. I emptied out the rest of the clutch and crumbled the other two. My mistake was not waiting for them to naturally hatch because they are much tinier than the first clutch and I believe only a small % are actually surviving. 

I have a HUGE clutch that was laid a few days ago my Lil Mama (she sure can turn them out, can't she??) As for the babies, today I counted them (120 +/- 5)!! and put them into the gelato grow-out container, the Grow-Ato. (Yes, I love silly names!) They are super tiny! All the adults I have are dark purple/black. 

This is all I will post because I have class in the morning! Ew. I would like to open this journal to any and all snail questions, comments, stories, and shares. I don't know everything but let's call this a learning experience for you and me! (<bad grammar, oops!) I will be posting lots of photos and videos, including those I've been posting in various posts/threads these past couple months. 

Until My Next Post,

Kat ___.,@Y


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## Flashyfins

Cool


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## NickAu

You said you had photos and video? I love snails.


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## ShelbysFish

Look forward to hearing more about your snails.


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## AstrosMom

Kitkat, still working on this journal project?


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## kitkat67

Ahh, yes. I wish I had waited to start this journal. I had a couple hundred babies ready to make their debute on this journal when I started it. I left for a weekend and came back to all of them dead. So I didn't want to start until I had some good material to write about, and experiences. But my snails started laying eggs this week after a long hiatus and I also now have ivory mystery snails, so I ask you for a little patience as I get some stories and experiences worthy of writing down in this journal!

I'll work on a post with lots of pics and vids tonight. Will take me a while but it's good I enjoy it.


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## AstrosMom

Oh no! Sorry for your babies!
I will be waiting *somewhatpatiently* until you are ready to publish about your little snail friends. :thumbsup:


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## kitkat67

*What went wrong...*

So I mentioned I had lots of babies that I may have neglected and they may have all died. Oops. But I'm human and I will learn from my mistakes. To those of you with baby mystery snails, CLEAN THEM OFTEN. Those little suckers are delicate poop machines that can foul up 1L of water in two days bad enough to kill themselves. Change their water daily. They are like baby bettas in that the new added water needs to be treated and the same temperature. I fed my guys betta pellets and tiny pieces of algae wafers. I also included a small chunk of cuttlefish bone in their tank to promote healthy shells. And added some duckweed and salvinia if they preferred a fresh salad in their diet. With my next clutch I will try microworms.

Here is a picture of all my babies that I accidently murdered:


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## kitkat67

Here are some close-ups of how cute baby mystery snail can be:


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## NickAu

Awww baby photos, I love Mystery snails, and yes they are poop machines.


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## kitkat67

*How do mystery snails lay eggs?*

After insemination, female mystery snails wait until an opportune night to lay their clutch. I have found that they will lay them mostly at night, especially in early morning. It can take a few hours to lay a clutch, longer for larger clutches. I have a glass lid on my 20 long breeder to keep water from evaporating. I have found it is also great for hatching mystery snail eggs. Not for laying them, however. One of my females was recently trying to lay a clutch but kept slipping. I had to prop the lid open a crack to lower the humidity. She laid her clutch that night successfully from 3:30 am to 7:15 am. They must be exhausted because barely after the last egg is laid they just let go and plop back into the water.

They push eggs up their foot and they stick to to the surface. Here is a video on one of my females laying her eggs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiN_bh33Ro


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## kitkat67

*How do mystery snails get their snail freak on?*

Mystery snails are not asexual. They require both sexes to reproduce. A male snail has an appendage I'm not sure I am allowed to write on this forum.  The breathing siphon (labeled below) is often mistaken for this appendage. Breathing siphons (for purple and brown mystery snails) are the same colour as their foot. With white mystery snails the siphon is white. In all mystery snails, the male's appendage is white and found on the right side inside the shell (red star in picture below). The female's lady parts are also located on this side and are also inside the shell (red star in picture below). It can be very difficult to sex mystery snails, especially when they are young. I thought I had all of one sex when I sexed my snails but it turns out I had an even mix.

During sexy time (video 1), the male has to align himself so that he can be received by the female. They stay locked in position for one to many hours. They don't move usually, but I have seen a couple of my females giving the male a piggy back ride in search of food....multitasking! If you have more than one male there is a likely possibility of other males trying to pull the male off of the female. This can be a violent affair (second and third videos are of multiple males fighting over one female.)

Tip: if you want a specific color of snails and have mixed (purple, brown, blue, white) then keep them separated. Two colors mixing will result in the wild-type brown color. Also, keep in mind that the female can store sperm for a long time after sexy time.

https://youtu.be/TlZrcxmLnfE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zkUvBicTq8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_boQY1sdQbc


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## kitkat67

*Clutches*

The bubblegum wad that a female lays is called a "clutch." A clutch of eggs may contain as many as 30-120 eggs (in _my_ experience). She will lay them a few inches above the water line. 

Tip: to stimulate a female to lay a clutch, lower the water level so they have six inches of dry space to lay their clutches or else they will seek high ground in inopportune places, like filters (picture 1). :-? 

They need humidity for the eggs to hatch and warm water to warm the air. I have had great success with a glass lid or a plexiglass cover for humidity and water temperature 75-80*F.

If they hatch in the tank, then be prepared to have them eaten by fish, lost in siphoning your tank clean, and dead from lack of food/dirty tank conditions. Your best bet for maximum survivors is to artificially incubate them (look for a post titled "DIY Snail-Ubator" in the near future). DO NOT take your egg clutch off soon after it is laid. Give it a few days (3 minimum) to dry up. If you try to remove it before you will crush the delicate structure. After a few days, grasp the clutch firmly, but VERY gently, and push it to one side and it should just pop off. Then proceed to incubate them. (See "DIY Snail-Ubator")

Tip: if your clutch is in an awkward place (like on your filter :/) then wait five days until it's definitely firm and "push" it off the surface.

Stay tuned for future posts regarding artificial incubators, artificial hatching, raising baby mystery snails, adult and baby diets, etc.

Picture 2: you can see the whorls of the shells! (Taken literally right before I hatched them!)


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## AstrosMom

I need baby snails in my life. They are so cute! :-D


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## OUOhYeah2016

This is a really cool idea! What are you planning to do with all these baby snails? Seems like a really cool experience.


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## cousiniguana

Love snails! I wonder what colors you'll get


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## kitkat67

cousiniguana said:


> Love snails! I wonder what colors you'll get


I have mature purple ones that are breeding now and juvie albinos that will be breed this summer.


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## kitkat67

Male mystery snail siphon versus male anatomy.


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## kitkat67

*Clutch A1 Update*

Totally just dropped my lens cover into a cup of pulpy oj. Better than the fish tank, I suppose. -_____-


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## NickAu

Are you making snelo for them?

I am going to pinch this idea ok?


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## kitkat67

NickAu said:


> Are you making snelo for them?
> 
> I am going to pinch this idea ok?


Sure! I'll be making a DIY post on the Snail-Ubator sometime today/tomorrow after my research paper is done. I'll be going into full detail on how to make them, where to put them, and different variations (with pictures!).

No snello, too much work. Maybe when they are reaching dime-sized.


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## NickAu

This is the batch I just made.

I used Atisons betta pro, New life spectrum pellets, Tropical flake, Carnivore flake, Crushed Loach wafer's, Crushed Algae wafers, Blood worm, Brine shrimp.

Mix it all in a plastic container with a bit of water, In another plastic container add 1 gelatin leaf pour on boiling water and stir till gelatin is dissolved, combine container one and two mix well pour onto plate and let it set, cut it into small cubes put in plastic container and put into freezer, feed as needed.










PS.

Memo to self, Do not use the wifes dinner plate next time. She went nuts.


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## kitkat67

Babies hatched exactly two weeks after being layed. (April 21-May 3rd)

Pic 1&2: right before I freed them
Pic 3: today


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## kitkat67

I moved my tank home and decided to let the snail babies free. They are now living with my last two purple snails (breeding pair, thankfully) and all my betta fry you can read about in my spawn log here http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=679745.
The fry are attacking the snails so, yay. Also, I did not leave headspace in the tank so no egg clutches until I come back home from finals week. Also saracastic "yay." The snail babies have quite a journey to take to breathe air (in the Snail-Ubator it was 1cm, in the 20 gallon it's a lot more). They are super cute to watch cruise along. They will get to eat whatever is growing in the tank as well as the adults' algae wafers and the fry's microworms my dad will be reluctantly feeding them. I am hoping that by letting them go in the 20 gallon tank their growth will accelerate.

(Last pic is size comparison.)


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## kitkat67

Their new home (more plants coming soon):


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## kitkat67

Cruising

https://youtu.be/Pmd68nAntgs


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## NickAu

aww I love baby snails.


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## kitkat67

Insane how much the little ones have grown in the past few days. I can't believe it. Every time I look in the tank they are easier to see because of how quickly they grow.


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## kitkat67

The baby mystery snails are the size of peanuts now. They seem to be growing more and more rapidly. There is a color difference between them, some have a yellow foot and some have a grey foot.

The ivory mystery snails are also growing well. I situated them in the betta fry tank and moved the adults purples to another tank to prevent cross-breeding between the colors. They are still not sexually mature, they are about the size of kumquats, maybe slightly bigger. But I have a feeling when they do I will have clutches out to wazoo. The purple adults have not had any clutches since they laid these babies, so I am a little disappointed. 

And a very exciting purchase yesterday...golden rabbit snails!!! Petco had 20% off fish and they had two golden rabbit snails available. Had they more in stock I would have picked up more. They were only $4.50 each, plus the discount.  No way to tell what genders they are but I would very much like to breed them as well! They are super cute and are better escape artists than Houdini. They have settled in nicely with the betta fry, baby purple and juv. ivory mystery snails....HUGE bioload but the tank is handling it very well. Pics to come soon!


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## Sadist

Those baby mystery snails are cute! I love the speckled shells. How awesome to get some rabbit snails on sale!


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## kitkat67

golden rabbit snail from petco






They are super cute but really slow. They have to drag their their shell behind with every "step." Abs of steal.

Update: SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY THE VIDEO GOT EMBEDDED. THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING


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## kitkat67

I did a huge water change today and picked out every snail I found. I think my dad and sister were onto something when they said they seemed to multiply (a little too young for that). I HAVE OVER 170 BABIES. o.0 

I would like to correct a statement I made earlier in this journal about how many babies can be in a clutch, it's actually 40-200. TWO hundred. Wow. I had a couple dozen empty shells from a couple weeks ago from babies that did not make it so I had ~200 eggs in that one clutch.

I mentioned earlier that I noticed a color difference between the baby snails and I separated them in my count, 40+ white foot and 130+ grey foot. I think it's very cool to find this color variation especially since all my breeding adults were/are grey-footed. I might want to cross a white foot purple with an ivory snail one day.


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## kitkat67

Other snail-ular picture updates...


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## kitkat67

I just found out there is no word that means "baby snail." This is a travesty. All in favor of calling baby snails escargettes say aye! (I may also refer to them as "my darlings" in the future as that's what I have taken to calling them in conversation...)


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## kitkat67

Picked up two more rabbit snails today for $4.50 each! I guess this is their price as compared to ebay, I assumed they were more expensive. They are covered in nerite eggs. I would love to hatch them but I don't think brackish water is okay for rabbit snails. I can't wait for them to start making babies! Hopefully I have males/females


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## kitkat67

Will be calling the LFS on Monday again to talk to their boss about selling some of the large babies (dime-sized) to them.

The first rabbit snail pair has been named Fitz and Simmons and the newer pair Rhett and Scarlett. My sister and I are hopeless romantics -__-


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## Crash

Omg, Petco sells Rabbit snails? :OOO I never knew! Are they adult size?

I just bought 4 babies from my LFS yesterday for $1.99 each, Employee dude who likes my parents told me they were all golds but I got quite the mix (which I was happy about). I ended up with 2 golds and 2 spotted (I think they're yellow spotted, one may be orange though, too early to really tell; one of the golds is also a bit pale but looks better than yesterday). I _adore_ them! Just need to find some orange rabbits and I'll be a happy camper  Hoping to get at least 1 male and female in the mix!


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## kitkat67

babies...as in RABBIT SNAIL BABIES?! I NEED TO GO THERE AND BUY THEM ALL.

Lmao, can you guys tell I have a new obsession??


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## Crash

kitkat67 said:


> babies...as in RABBIT SNAIL BABIES?! I NEED TO GO THERE AND BUY THEM ALL.
> 
> Lmao, can you guys tell I have a new obsession??


Yes! They're SO CUTE!

Same though :lol: I have a dedicated tank to them and am going to try my hand at breeding them when they get older, I want to go back and just buy out whatever babies are left :lol: ugh...

Told my boyfriend yesterday that he's lucky Giant African Land Snails are illegal in the US or I would already own one  Snails are so cute.


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## kitkat67

Crash said:


> ...am going to try my hand at breeding them when they get older...


Can I just say something? When people say "try my hand at breeding" something (I am NOT picking on you, I do this ALL the time!) I laugh a little. We don't really do much other than hope and pray our critters are the right genders and are in the mood to get their freak on. lmao!


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## Crash

kitkat67 said:


> Can I just say something? When people say "try my hand at breeding" something (I am NOT picking on you, I do this ALL the time!) I laugh a little. We don't really do much other than hope and pray our critters are the right genders and are in the mood to get their freak on. lmao!


Ha! I feel you, I figured there wasn't much to it, especially in the case of snails ;-) gotta leave it up to nature and let it take it's course xD

I bought 4 just to make sure they would turn out healthy in my water (that and my LFS tends to neglect their inverts...) might go back for 2 more later just to be safe on gender possibilities.


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## kitkat67

Found this image on aquabid here: 

AquaBid.com - Archived Auction # fwmixed1281660267 - 9 SPECIES OF RABBIT SNAILS + YELLOW SHRIMP + MOSS! - Ended: Thu Aug 12 19:44:27 2010

If those images are correct, then I believe I have yellow poso (poso?). Since this is a snail log, I thought it would be cool to have all the wabbit snail varieties in one place! (I WANT THEM ALL)


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## CollegeBettas

The snails are so cute! Are you going to sell any on here? I went to go get a nerite yesterday and they were all out. They had a couple baby snails, but I think they were apple snails.
Crash, there are other snails you can have here in the US. I have 2 milk snails and another member here (DangerousAngel) is getting a couple snails as well soon. They are fairly easy to care for and don't cost near as much as fish. I can pull up the links on ebay that we found. There is one seller that has a bunch of babies and some adults for sale.


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## kitkat67

I am having trouble selling the snails. It's been a week and their manager has yet to show up.


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## kitkat67

Omg! So my ivory mystery snails have opaque shells and you can see their hearts beating, annnnnnnnd, guess what? I took their resting heart rate at 58 bpm (avg.)! Ah, the wannabe-doctor/vet in me was over the moon making this discovery!


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## kitkat67

Ivory mystery snails (I want to abbreviate using MyS) are getting down to business finally! I cleaned their tank today and left the water level lower than I usually have it to give them ample room for clutches!


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## kitkat67

Hello, dears. Another snail update! Still no word from the petstore, but my babies are speed-growing! I have to feed the hoard five wafers 1-2 times a day and vacuum their poopies every few days (thank God it's a bare-bottom tank!). I actually strain the waste water and dried their "product" and am planning on mixing it with soil when I plant new pots in the future. (Recycle reuse!)

(Sorry the pics are so dark!)

SO. MANY.
















purple vs peppermint:


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## Sadist

Aww, look at their cute little red eyes! Is that just from the flash? They are growing so quickly!


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## kitkat67

Sadist said:


> Aww, look at their cute little red eyes! Is that just from the flash? They are growing so quickly!


red eyes?


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## Sadist

They have red spots under their feelers. It looks like eyes, but I'm not sure if snails even have that.


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## kitkat67

Lmao! I thought you were talking about my fish! I mistook this log for my spawn log!! They have iridescence spots on their squishy part so it reflects as bright orange with flash. The spots (even around their eyes) are orange, just a duller color. But their actual eyes are black.


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## Aqua Aurora

kitkat67 said:


> purple vs peppermint:


Where did you get your peppermints? Would you sell a peppermint snail? I'd love to try one!


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## kitkat67

I bought dark purple snails, breed them and got a small percentage of peppermints in the mix!! I am excited to have them in the mix and would love to sell them on the site. I will do more research tonight and see if I can set up a paypal because that cursed fish store still hasn't called back and I am sick to death of calling them!


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## kitkat67

Hello, dears. Here is the link to the snail sale!

http://www.bettafish.com/140-betta-fish-marketplace/697258-purple-mystery-snails-banana-worms-sale.html#post7460866


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## kitkat67

Ivory snail female moving up to lay eggs!! :cheers:


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## kitkat67




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## kitkat67

Oh, boy! Oh, boy!! What a monstrous clutch this is!


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## kitkat67

Another female going up to lay a clutch, I turned the lights on, not knowing what she was up to and spooked her. Maybe she'll try again later tonight, maybe not.


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## Sadist

Wow, what a huge clutch! Love the peppermint coloring, too.


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## kitkat67

*The Snail-ubator II*

With this new clutch (and lack of surface space) I decided to create a new clutch incubator for my tank. The traditional Snail-ubator would have taken up precious surface space in my tank and blocked light. This new snail-incubator has a sleek design, meant to fit flush against your tank wall, nearly invisible. While the traditional Snail-ubator allows young snails to be caught after hatching, the Snail-ubator II allows the babies to drop directly into your tank. This incubator is perfect for clutches that need a safe place in your tank after falling or being relocated. There is room for three large clutches or numerous smaller ones.



Lol, I should patent these puppies and sell them. But alas, I am too lazy and am not going to bother. So, anyway, I popped off the ivory snail clutch because I have to touch everything and have a problem leaving things alone. This thing is massive. I am disappointed, though, because shortly after my largest female laid this clutch, it was damaged somehow. I will take that into consideration when I correct my statements about how many snails are in a clutch because this is my largest clutch. I did a rough count of one end and I believe there to be over 200 eggs, not including the damaged ones.

top view








front view









For size reference I needed something small so the only thing I had on hand atm was the number 8 (don't ask). I wonder, has anyone else had clutches larger than this? I want to know the most eggs anyone has ever gotten out of one clutch.










On another note, the purple juvies are getting bigger.

finally, all my ducks, er, snails in a row!


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## Aqua Aurora

But I want to ask about the "*8" key! One of my husband's gamer keyboard had keys fly off it after a lot of use.. designer of that product wanted to make it easy to remove keys to clean under.. Minor side effect that aggressive smashing of said keys in a battle tends to send them flying and cause in game deaths when retrieving and placing said key(s) back on the board. >.> 


I have a real question for you. I put the mystery snail I bought from you in a 10g with sponge filter and air stone to oxygenate + a heater set to around 72F. I dosed prime to make sure ammonia/nitrite are not an issue and live plants are in to deal with nitrates (will also do water changes).
The snail so far is staying at the surface, its head is not 'out' where I can see it but the foot is not shut either, I can see its eyes from an angle. Its not eating, siphon tube is not out, its just lounging on the glass wall, when light was on and now while its off. Is this normal.. just resting, or something to be concerned about?


Where did all that poop come from? its not even eaten anything yet! Doesn't seem interested in the soilent green gel food I put in.


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## cousiniguana

Aqua Aurora said:


> http://s556.photobucket.com/user/aquaaurorapb/media/riparium/006_zps4iegehyb.jpg.html
> 
> 
> Where did all that poop come from? its not even eaten anything yet! Doesn't seem interested in the soilent green gel food I put in.



Mine that arrived today had some poop in their shells (they were sealed up pretty far in). I rinsed them off before I placed them in the tank. I guess they pooped on the trip.


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## Aqua Aurora

S/he's moving around now so guess it was just resting.


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## kitkat67

I am laughing so hard because neither of you know how much poop I have to deal with on a daily basis from 170 baby mystery snails and 13 adult snails! They probably came with poop locked and loaded from their last feeding here. The reason they are at the surface is because they are resting/sleeping. (refer to ducks/snails in a row picture) Like bettas, they come up to the surface to breathe air in. They sleep at the water line so all they have to do is snake up their siphon, pump in air (and by pump they do this cute little heher-heher-heher dance to suck air in), and go back to sleep.

Side note, 72 might be too cold for them. Their tank has been in the high 70's to 80F.


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## kitkat67

Stahhp! What are you doing?! Noooo, dont lay yours eggs _there_!









Peppermints (peppermints and dark purples for sale!)


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## Aqua Aurora

kitkat67 said:


> I am laughing so hard because neither of you know how much poop I have to deal with on a daily basis from 170 baby mystery snails and 13 adult snails! They probably came with poop locked and loaded from their last feeding here. The reason they are at the surface is because they are resting/sleeping. (refer to ducks/snails in a row picture) Like bettas, they come up to the surface to breathe air in. They sleep at the water line so all they have to do is snake up their siphon, pump in air (and by pump they do this cute little heher-heher-heher dance to suck air in), and go back to sleep.
> 
> Side note, 72 might be too cold for them. Their tank has been in the high 70's to 80F.


Ah cool thanks for the info! I was actually thinking of moving it to the goldfish tank (which is about 75F) today after I do the water change. Its shown no interest in algae wafer or soilent green so figure might as well put it in with the diatoms and hope it doesn't end up a snack.


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## Sadist

Gorgeous snails!


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## CollegeBettas

Thy are so cute! If I can't find any nerite snails, I may get one or two of these guys. Do they eat brown algae at all? I want a snail to get a snail, but I do have brown algae that if eaten would be wonderful.


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## kitkat67

No brown algae. Leftover fish food (they love bloodworms! frozen and dried), snello, and wafers.


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## Sadist

Do they do okay with gravel, or do they need sand? If I get room in my 10 gallon, I'll think about getting one or two.


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## kitkat67

I have mine in a bare-bottom tank. They should be fine with any substrate. Gravel would be fun for them to browse through


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## kitkat67

They're getting bigger!


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## kitkat67

Snail siphon, kind of want to call them snorkles.










Just giving an update: I still have dark purple and peppermint snails but I am running low on peppermint. Get them before they're gone!


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## kitkat67

Looks like we will have eggs tonight!


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## Sadist

Yay, eggs!


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## kitkat67

Another massive clutch! I thought I'd have two as two females were patrolling for egg-laying locations as at 3-4am this morning.


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## kitkat67

Expanding the snail family...ordered plants and snails from Bama Plants. Great selection and prices! Shipping was a killer though.

So I got three blue mystery snails (hopefully male/female) and two olive nerites ($1 each, couldn't pass them up, they will take care of that hard algae hopefully)!


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## Aqua Aurora

Wow the blue snails look lovely when I googled them! If you get blue babies I think I'll have to buy 1 (or 3) as blue is my favorite color ^^
edit: apparently there's even a zebra striped mystery snail (wonder if its same family-non plant eater) but I'm not finding many photos of it


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## kitkat67

It's a mystery snail with a black foot, ivory/yellow shell, and black stripes. An uncommon genetic mix, but I think it may only occur in apple snails. Of course it could just be a mystery snail disguised as a nerite! ^~^


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## kitkat67

My female's egg laying plans have been FOILED AGAIN!! Got back from Finding Dory and turned on the lights and startled her. Oops. I'm already pushing 400 eggs, do I really want another clutch?



Yes. Yes, I do.


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## NickAu

You know people eat Mystery/Apple snails?



Chicharon "Golden" kuhol (apple snail) recipe
Hawaiian Escargot Leterc
BoKe Spicy Pupu
Apple snail in white wine
Apple snail croquettes
Borbor chon. (Khmer Snails and rice soup)
Num pachok chon. (Snail noodles soup)
Nhoam Chon. ( Snail Salad)


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## kitkat67

No joke, my Dad and I were discussing what to do if no one else buys them, sell them in the city as escargot. Apparently my mom went to Paris before I was born and absolutely loved escargot there.


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## Sadist

It's hard to sell a pet for people to eat :-( I suppose if you don't get buyers here and on Aquabid, maybe you can become a local restaurant breeder for them.


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## kitkat67

I really don't think they're food grade.


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## kitkat67

Monster clutch #3 laid this morning. Clutch #1 looks to be ready to hatch.


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## ThatFishThough

I wish I could by from you but my tank is already overstocked and I don't have the space for an apple-sized snail. XD


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## kitkat67

Only golf ball sized.  They're not apple snails.


----------



## kitkat67

Thinking about selling my third clutch. If anyone is interested in 150-200+ ivory snails, message me!


----------



## kitkat67

Babies started hatching 6/20. The clutch is all mush but I will check in the morning for any stragglers. It's important to go through the clutch and make sure no babies are left in any eggs. When you place the remains of the clutch in the water, the stuck ones would drown. The clutch should be left with the babies for a couple days so they may eat the remains for nutrients and calcium.

Also, I noticed these are mini versions of their parents. They are a light yellow--ivory--color. They do not have spots (precursors for stripes) like my purple ones did.

I also interrupted three females who were scouting earlier this night. I am sad that I have bothered them so much but relieved because a few clutches can easily reach 1,000+ babies. THINK ABOUT ALL THE POOP *shudders*

Edit: I also moved the third clutch into the Snail-Ubator II. I prefer it to the original version, but the first one is where clutch#1 is hatching atm...exactly two weeks after being layed. I love timing.


----------



## NickAu

> maybe you can become a local restaurant breeder for them.


Or


> In September 2014, a 50 gram jar of Viennese Snails brand snail caviar, produced at a farm near Vienna, Austria, retailed for more than €150


*Snail caviar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia*


----------



## kitkat67

wha.....

no

f.u. demon snail 

WHYYYYYY?!!??!!?!?


----------



## kitkat67

Personal space?

Never heard of it.


----------



## kitkat67

Had a normal-sized clutch today. Adding it to the For Sale pile. I have two XL clutches, one crescent-shaped XL clutch, and one medium-sized clutch. PM if you are interested.

One of the mamas would like to say hello:









Bonus pic today: Pán Páv


----------



## ThatFishThough

Is that your peacock? LOL


----------



## kitkat67

My aunt's but she lives next to us. His favorite food is brownies. Idk why but he loves it! He's had two small brownies everyday for the past three years right before he goes up to roost! My uncle calls him down off the roof and hand feeds him.


----------



## ThatFishThough

Isn't chocolate toxic to birds? o.o


----------



## kitkat67

Not sure. He hasn't keeled over yet.


----------



## Aqua Aurora

kitkat67 said:


> One of the mamas would like to say hello:


She might want some privacy for a bit of intimacy (I notice some one's on her back side there).



ThatFishThough said:


> Isn't chocolate toxic to birds? o.o


We know it is for dogs/cats. But can't say for birds, I recall a giant gourami being rescued that was fed nothing but kitkat bars (Google it). It had to be several years old since it was full grown-not some little juvie like at the petstore.


----------



## kitkat67

Wow. I could live on chocolate....

Walked out of Petco with four yellow rabbit snails. Had I come the day before, employee told me, could have had a gold one, too. *le sigh*


----------



## kitkat67

I just realized people probably think my user name is for the chocolate KitKat. It's actually short for Kitty Kat, my childhood nickname.


----------



## kitkat67

The three "blue" snails from Bama Plants...

I will admit, though, they look cooler IMO than google search blues. Mine have a blacker foot than the purples and have an ivory shell. Maybe if I breed to purple I can get the zebra look...


































Am I nuts or are they "cool" looking...were I to breed and sell these would anyone be interested (before I go through all the work of breeding/raising babies?)


----------



## NickAu

Oh they are cool.


----------



## kitkat67

The four rabbit snails I got today...still sad I did not get that gold one :'(

These have better intact, less chipped shells than the other ones. These are also much bigger, too! And much more active! Lmao, on the glass canopy they look like limp...noodles. 

































this one kinda looks dead, but I promise it's very much alive!


----------



## Crash

I think the blues are cute! Not too into mystery snails myself, my sister has one and it kinda freaks me out for some reason xD

Your rabbits are adorable! Weird that the majority of adults always seem to have no shell tip... My LFS started selling orange/goldens and they all have missing tips.


----------



## kitkat67

They like crawling to the tank surface and then they always get freaked out by something and plop down. At night every once in a while I hear "plink" of their shells hitting the bottom. I guess with gravel it also get worn and chipped from falling.

I am waiting for the day I find a baby rabbit snail in my tank!


----------



## kitkat67

Got 3 or 4 nerites from Bama Plants, one is presumed dead and here are the other two. They are super tiny! I asked for smaller ones and they are they're so darned cute but they're not eating the algae, the kind that can't even be scrubbed off the tank wall. I guess it's not their favorite. :/


----------



## kitkat67

Escargettes that hatched 6/20 are doing great! I think they will go in the 10 gallon all by themselves because I am sick to death of vacuuming so much ****. I am thinking about moving all of the purple juvies and the last two purple breeders in the 10 gallon, too. The breeders are already there but I am redoing the tank.


----------



## kitkat67

Recently, one of my males died. He shared a ten gallon with another male. A couple hours ago I scrubbed that puppy out, opened my new glass canopy and set up a new snail tank! The two adult purple will soon have all their babies joining them! I have been slowly tweezing the babies in the 20 long and moving them into the 10 gallon. The ivory babies are still floating in a cup but they will be moving, too. The only snails I will have in the 20 long are the 10+ adult ivories, the three "blues," the two...three? nerites, and the eight rabbits. The 10 gallon only has two pieces of mopani so it will be a breeze to clean! I also made everyone some bloodworm-krill-kale snello. Yummy! I have an auction on ebay for 50 of the babies (yummy yummy puffer food!) so I can't wait to have less poop to siphon! lmao! Now I know how parents feel when their kids leave the house. No more messes to clean!


----------



## kitkat67

My friend adopted a fishie and snail a couple weeks ago and they are both doing great! I'm curious to see if they would survive in the mail. If someone wants to experiment with me mailing baby fish in the mail send me a pm.


----------



## CollegeBettas

Are you going to do another spawn during the school year? I really want to raise a baby again, but I can't get one know because my parents will kill me.


----------



## ThatFishThough

I mean, I'll help with the experiment, but I has no money LOL.


----------



## kitkat67

Will I have another spawn?

Only if:

1) all my babies sell by end of August
2) they sell well
3) I reach my friend in Turkey and share an apartment with her instead of a dorm
4) I find a nice pair


I would like to but I need money and space.


----------



## kitkat67

I just realized this is on the wrong journal. Oops. Supposed to be on the Uglies Spawn Log. This is why you don't post when you're in a rush.

On another note, minor crisis resulted in the baby snails to be turkey basted out of the fry tank and into the snail tank. The snailubator got sucked under the filter outlet and it filled with water. Some baby snails escaped into the great unknown but some were rescued. Now they are joining their foster siblings in the snail tank, crawling over a foot to get to air.


----------



## CollegeBettas

I'm crossing my fingers then. I would like to get a baby from someone that breeds rather than Petco again.


----------



## kitkat67

CollegeBettas said:


> I'm crossing my fingers then. I would like to get a baby from someone that breeds rather than Petco again.


I have some pretty babies  But they won't be little for long!


----------



## CollegeBettas

How much are you going to sell them for?


----------



## kitkat67

I don't know yet, but this experimental one is just going to be half the shipping cost. A risk for both me and the buyer to see if I even can ship babies. When they are bigger the nicest will be sold on the forum, price+ $15 shipping. And the rest to the petstore. I will probably sell them on ebay, too.


----------



## Crash

Hey Kit, do you successfully keep any bettas with your snails? I had one of my boys in my snail tank and noticed I had only seen maybe 2 of my 6 rabbits over the passed week. I then saw him trying to bite my biggest snail whenever he came out of his shell after I dropped an algae wafer :/ 

Do you think I should hold him up in a breeder box for now? I was going to get a king betta for this tank at a later date, but now I think that may not be the best idea :lol:


----------



## kitkat67

I keep all my snails with bettas.  I have all my purple snails in with one male now. Until now they were with my fry/sorority. And My ivory snails and rabbits are still with the fry/sorority. I have never had any problems. Maybe your betta is bored or thinks his territory is being threatened. Perhaps a larger tank and some more things for him to play with such as plants. It could also be the personality of the fish. Just because one of your boys is attacking snails, doesn't mean the next one will. My suggestions would be move the snail terrorist out of there, put in lots of plants (if you don't already), maybe a bigger tank if it's only a few gallons.

But yeah, no problems on my end. I have a male in with my newly hatched ivories (mmm, bite-sized!) and he pays them no mind.


----------



## Crash

kitkat67 said:


> I keep all my snails with bettas.  I have all my purple snails in with one male now. Until now they were with my fry/sorority. And My ivory snails and rabbits are still with the fry/sorority. I have never had any problems. Maybe your betta is bored or thinks his territory is being threatened. Perhaps a larger tank and some more things for him to play with such as plants. It could also be the personality of the fish. Just because one of your boys is attacking snails, doesn't mean the next one will. My suggestions would be move the snail terrorist out of there, put in lots of plants (if you don't already), maybe a bigger tank if it's only a few gallons.
> 
> But yeah, no problems on my end. I have a male in with my newly hatched ivories (mmm, bite-sized!) and he pays them no mind.


Eh, maybe he's just a butt then :lol: I'll try again once my plants grow in (just shipped a few more in but they're spindly until they establish themselves) or swap him with one of my other guys and see how they do.

Thanks Kit


----------



## Sadist

I have mixed results with snails and bettas. Some of my bettas attack anything in the tank because of the limited territory (5 gallons) or just general aggression, and others peacefully swim around with guppies and cpo's.


----------



## Crash

Sadist said:


> I have mixed results with snails and bettas. Some of my bettas attack anything in the tank because of the limited territory (5 gallons) or just general aggression, and others peacefully swim around with guppies and cpo's.


Yeah, I'm going to go out and get one of those larger floating breeder boxes for him to stay in until the snails grow a bit larger. I'd swap him out with Fuji but he does this weird thing where he just glass surfs straight down and throws the substrate around, sometimes pulling up plants :| and this tank has a lot of plants.

He's done it in every tank I've ever put him in, no matter what size, I think he's just crazy xD


----------



## kitkat67

I unloaded 55 snails today. I am so happy! No more poop, no more poop!


----------



## Sadist

Wow, that's a lot of poop you don't have to clean any more!


----------



## Aqua Aurora

The peppermint I bought from you appears to be turning purple/loosing the lighter pigment, is this normal?
June 24--------------------------------June 30


june 20


june 30


----------



## kitkat67

Huh, is it still keeping it's white foot? It could be because it's organs are developing more, creating more of a shadow inside the shell, letting less light through.


----------



## NickAu

Oh wow they are nice snails.


----------



## kitkat67

Large clutch last night and another clutch tonight. That makes the ivory clutch count at 8...9?


----------



## MysticSky22301

I can't seem to keep mystery snails alive -_- i love the purple though! I don't know what goes wrong I've only been able to keep them for 6m or less and then I find them dead


----------



## NickAu

Mystic start a post about it and we can discuss it and maybe get to the bottom of it, Normally snails are easy to keep as long as the water is not too soft, And there are easy ways around that.


----------



## MysticSky22301

I will I need to try again, I also need to get another aquarium test kit I ran out of strips


----------



## NickAu

Snails are better pets for kids than fish, and most kids love them, Heck snails make great pets for anybody.


----------



## MysticSky22301

My bladder and ramshorn snails are fine it's just mystery/apple snails a trapdoors


----------



## kitkat67

Really? Because I find mystery snails to be near-indestructible. By 6m do you mean 6 months?


----------



## kitkat67

Feeding my snails this morning I discovered two of my juvies feasting upon the live flesh of one of their comrades. Poor Harold has nasty bites taken out of his foot. It was positively horrid to discover. Harold could not, for whatever reason, draw back into his shell, but with every rasp of their teeth he flinched. I don't understand why. I feed them and there are plants to eat if they get super hungry. Poor Harold was not even dead!


----------



## Sadist

Poor Harold!

NickAu, I was just thinking that a 10 gallon with a mystery snail would be a better classroom pet than what I usually see. That's assuming the teacher takes a few minutes to siphon poo and feed them properly. I recall being so enchanted by watching any of the animals that attach to the glass (snails, chinese algae fish, etc).


----------



## MysticSky22301

Yes 6 months, and that was the longest the last 2 I bought lasted 1 and 2 months respectively it was weird even all of my ghost shrimp vanished :/ I used to have a breeding colony in my community when it was in a 10 gallon something like 30 shrimp o.o now in the 35 I just can't keep them alive either although corys are not a problem ^^


----------



## kitkat67

Everyone is enjoying a new kale-BW recipe I cooked up. And by everyone snails and bettas, alike!

_*KitKat's Kale-BW Snello (fills two flat gallon freezer bags)*

1 large portion of kale, washed
4-6 cubes frozen bloodworms (thawed)
4-6 cubes frozen daphnia (thawed)
8-12 tums or calcium supplements
1/4 cup dried bloodworms (optional, should be blended with kale or it will float)
Additives such as fish flakes, pellets, algae wafers, etc. (Dried krill cause snello to float!)
6 packets of Knox gelatin (I used NutriBullet as my measuring cup, you may need more or less. You can't have too much but you can have too little)

In blender (I used my NutriBullet) stuff kale to fill point. Add 70-90% water required for 4 packets of gelatin. Blend until pureed. Add tums and blend until smooth. Put kale mixture on stove until boiling (should turn a beautiful green and smell like old boot). Set off of heat. 

Take your last bit of water (you only need a half-cup, don't need to use all the water the instructions tell you to) and boil it in the microwave/stovetop. Mix in 6 gelatin packets until a thick pudding forms. Mix gelatin into kale goop. Don't blend gelatin, this makes air bubbles and your snello will float. Cool for 15 minutes on counter. 

In a container your housemates/family won't kill you for contaminating with icky stuff, mix kale mixture with thawed BW and daphnia and all your additives. Pour into old ice cube trays for easy portioning, gallon bags laying flat, or other container that you can make portions from. Freeze until needed. 

*I thaw out a 2"x2" chip (for 10 large mystery snails) from my gallon bag every morning in the fridge and feed at night. (Or thaw overnight, feed in morning.)*

Champagne ice cube trays are great for tiny portions for those of you with few snails._


----------



## Aqua Aurora

kitkat67 said:


> Huh, is it still keeping it's white foot? It could be because it's organs are developing more, creating more of a shadow inside the shell, letting less light through.


Yes it still has the light colored foot, only the shell is changing color. its also a pig for the cucumber and has abandoned its duties to spend all day munching on the veggie.


----------



## kitkat67

Awww, I should feed mine some cukes since they're growing in the garden.


----------



## kitkat67

I've decided to keep only peppermints.


----------



## kitkat67

I had another clutch that did not get sold in time so it hatched! Lots of baby ivories for me to raise! I am willing to ship babies in a bottle if anyone wants them! Total $15 (priority shipping medium box) for as many as you want, pm me.


----------



## kitkat67

Hello from bun...

















guest-starring Blue from http://www.bettafish.com/148-betta-spawn-logs/679745-uglies-spawn-log.html


----------



## kitkat67

Looks like we have a female nerite...

...and a photo-bombing betta teenager.


----------



## kitkat67

Hello, is it me you are looking for?


----------



## kitkat67

Ivory eggs and babies <3


----------



## Aqua Aurora

kitkat67 said:


> I've decided to keep only peppermints.


So are you selling off the blues you got?


----------



## kitkat67

Aqua Aurora said:


> So are you selling off the blues you got?


No! Lol. What I meant was out of the babies, only the peppermints. Selling all the dark purple ones. No, I want to breed the blues.  And then sell them.


----------



## kitkat67

All peppermints (except the ones I'm keeping) have been sold. All but a few darks have been sold. Excellent. Now I can grow up ivory babies and blue juvies!


----------



## kitkat67

Random musings at 4am brought to you by the resident snail lady...

What if you kept pennies (or other copper coins to you non-US residents) in the tank permanently/temporarily to kill off pest snails? I need to experiment but don't have pest snails...


----------



## Sadist

I suppose it's possible, but it could also hurt shrimp. Plus, most pennies are covered in horrible nasties that you wouldn't want in your tank (car oil, tar from the road, lotions, etc).


----------



## kitkat67

Ask for new ones at the bank, I would expect to clean them anyway.


----------



## kitkat67

I am what they call a night owl. I am up until 5 or 6 AM. I have the tank light on during that time so the snails don't really want to lay eggs in the light. Sooo, in order to get more eggs I covered their tank with towel to block out any light. Hours later I check in to find two XL clutches! Woot woot. Three more females were cruising searing for a clutch spot but the sudden light messed up their egg clocks. Will try again tomorrow.

...It's beginning to feel like a snail-mill. But I don't think they're complaining! Not with AYCE wafer buffet and hand-fed bloodworms!


----------



## kitkat67

*Updates*

Purples: I don't know why my purples are not producing any more eggs. They are getting their snail freak on most of the day, every day. I changed their water again, I fed them veggies, I lowered their water. They're less than half a year old and they seem to have exhausted their egg supply. :[

Juvenile Peppermints: sold out except for the ones I am keeping.

Juvenile Purples: a few left

Ivories: bow-chicka-bow-wow. Total # clutches=11. Clutches up for sale on ebay.

Baby Ivories: getting bigger! They are 3 and 1.5 weeks old (two clutches).

Nanny the Nerite: laying eggs, eating, doing normal snail things. Stays above and at the water line 24/7.

Wabbits: I never see them eat or get their snail freak on. Idk if I mentioned, I found an empty shell a few weeks ago so now there are 7...heigh ho, heigh ho....
They like to climb and go "plink" when they fall. No one is missing any antennae so I guess them and the bettas are friends.

Pest Snails: They wouldn't dare invade my tank.

*14 baby posos arriving in a few days!!!*


----------



## MysticSky22301

I'm getting ready to order some bright pink and neon blue rams horn snails they are really pretty and I keep finding babies in my community from the regular rams I need to get brave and some more mystery snails


----------



## Aqua Aurora

My mystery snail (call Very Berry to go with ice cream themed tank names) mis-heard "go with the flow" as "go to the flow", been by the filter outflow twice in the past 2 days.


----------



## MysticSky22301

Haha silly snail!

Oh! How many snails should I keep in my fry tank to keep it clean?


----------



## kitkat67

How many gallons? What type(s) of snails?


----------



## kitkat67

Clutch #12, a jumbo one, is being laid by what looks like my smallest female, atm!


----------



## kitkat67

Cleaned out the rabbits/ivory adult tank and added a thin layer of sand. We have a new species addition to the family...white MTS! 24 of various sizes. In the picture is an ivory snail who floated UP to the surface.

Note: most of the rabbits have not moved since yesterday. Is it possible they hate sand and would prefer something larger?

Note: With the addition of sand I have noticed my ivory snails ****ting clumps of poo and sand. -___-'


----------



## Crash

I hear rabbits are normally lazy during the day, so I wouldn't worry too much. Mine are always out and about but they're young so not sure if that has something to do with it. Could be since they're new they're a bit scared of the fish in the tank, mine were a bit skittish after being moved to a tank with my betta in it, then learned he wouldn't mess with them and are out all the time.

They like to sift around and burrow in the sand so that shouldn't be the problem! I hear it's better for their shells too since they can't get it stuck in any ditches or crevices and break them, or fall off of the glass and crack them on sand like they can on gravel. Not sure about the mating though, maybe they're doing it while you're not looking :lol: you'll probably know in about a month when one of them spits out an egg sack or you see a random baby.


----------



## kitkat67

They no longer give two hoots about the fish. but they had 12 hours of dark and haven't moved in that time. :/


----------



## MysticSky22301

kitkat67 said:


> How many gallons? What type(s) of snails?


10 g half full at the moment I have bladder snails and rams horn I think I've got 8 pink bodied rams in ther right now


----------



## kitkat67

That should be fine.


----------



## kitkat67

Everybody's having fun tonight...


----------



## kitkat67

*SQUEE!!!*

BABY POSOS ARE HERE!!! 

I am working on pics as we speak... I got 15 total, 14+1 extra. I am a little disappointed, most of them are chocolate and I asked them to put in the fewest of their varieties. 3 yellows, not sure if any are "mini." There is one with a brown shell but has speckles so idk if he is still a chocolate or a hybrid or something else.

Also, the ivories are working on clutch #17! (Still interested? PM me or find me on ebay!)


----------



## Crash

...did you buy from bobstropicalplants perchance? Glad to hear your experience with the random babies! I'm not too into the chocolate ones myself either :-? I just don't like the look of their shells and body coloring compared to say, orange or spotted posos.


----------



## kitkat67

Yeah, I know they are assorted and hard to tell, but seriously, chocolates have that _chocolate_ shell and, dude, you gave me like three of one other type.


----------



## kitkat67

Unless if I am wrong but they all have the same squishy black face and brown shell. I am 90-something% sure they are chocolates. I took some crappy pics before setting them free in my 20 gallon, never to be seen again.


----------



## kitkat67

*First Introductions...*


----------



## kitkat67

*Yellows...*


----------



## kitkat67

*Chocolate? (no speckles on face)*

Some have no speckles/spots on antennae and some do, but not on faces.


----------



## kitkat67

*Chocolate? (spotted)*


----------



## kitkat67

I would like to keep these guys' shells in good condition. Does anyone know how to prevent the calcium build-up common to chocolates?


----------



## ThatFishThough

LOL They look like elephants!

No clue about the calcium.


----------



## kitkat67

More rabbit snails from petco today, they had more than usual, so...I got more than usual. Some interesting yellows...pics to come soon!


----------



## fernielou

I have not seen rabbit snails at petco but noticed Amano and red cherry shrimp which I'm very excited about. Gonna try some RCS when I get back from my next trip so I can monitor how it's going l


----------



## kitkat67

*As promised...5 new rabbit snails!*

(forgive my ragged manicure!)

#1 Let's start with this small, but brightly-coloured yellow bun-bun:
















#2 very dark








#3 also very dark








#4 dark with a large black patch...I love the weirdos! 








#5 this guy shows us how they got their other name, "elephant snail"
















the gang (sad-looking shells  )


----------



## MysticSky22301

Awww! My mystery snails are doing great ^^


----------



## Sadist

I love the new snails! If I brought them home, the hubby would say they look like certain male human anatomy instead of elephants. Men.


----------



## kitkat67

Lmao! My best friend and I call them _that_!


----------



## Sadist

Haha! :-D


----------



## kitkat67

Haven't updated in a while but all my clutches sold--yippee! And I now have a waiting list!

I will be getting BLUE rabbit snails in a few days!! BLUE!!


----------



## Sadist

I love blue! I'm sure the babies will sell well.


----------



## fernielou

Kitkat- not sure how you hatch your mysteries but have you ever tried a suction cup soap dish ? Only works if you are using a grow out with flat sides. I am anticipating a clutch when I get back from vacation and I am thinking maybe I will hatch a portion. I would love some more yellows.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## kitkat67

I make my own, but thanks


----------



## Aqua Aurora

So question. How do you deal with algae growing on the shell of a solo snail in a tank?


----------



## kitkat67

0.o I have never had that happen! Do you have high lighting and sparse plants?


----------



## fernielou

the answer is always...get more snails


----------



## Sadist

I love the color of that one!


----------



## Aqua Aurora

kitkat67 said:


> 0.o I have never had that happen! Do you have high lighting and sparse plants?


Well when it naps at the surface that's high light. Lots of plants- the tank is covered in water sprite but Very Berry the snail tend to go up the back wall behind the plants to rest so it gets more direct light.



fernielou said:


> the answer is always...get more snails


 but I don't want snail eggs/babies :c



Sadist said:


> I love the color of that one!


Mine? Thank you ^^ Got it from kitkat as a peppermint but it decided to turn partially purple.


----------



## fernielou

there is a website for sexing them but as many as I have had it is still hard for me to tell. I can only tell the light shell ones because their ovaries are visible through the shell.


----------



## kitkat67

Got four blue rabbit snails (I think they might be volcano actually...) with beautiful shells!


----------



## MysticSky22301

Wow they are pretty!


----------



## Sadist

Awesome! I love the shell coloring, too.


----------



## kitkat67

Most of my big babies decided they wanted a family picture...but some of them did not want to pause their _bow-chicka-wow-wow_.


----------



## fernielou

Hey kitkat-I found a ton of insularum clutches at our county park including a couple hatching. Unfortunately it's illegal to own them here since they are invasive and banned. Would have loved a giant snail baby! Incidentally they are smaller than diffusa hatchlings but there's a lot more tiny eggs per clutch 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Sadist

At least the ones getting it on are off to the side for some privacy. Oh wait, I see some in the group, too. Silly things.


----------



## kitkat67

Sand is literally crawling with 300 MTS. Haven't had toxic air bubbles in a while since they were added.


----------



## kitkat67

*General Update*

blue rabbits: doing great, extremely active

yellow rabbits: had a few casualties over the past month but everyone is doing okay even though I never see them eat anything...

baby rabbits: few casualties but they are growing!

ivories: clutch-making addicts, they are turning eggs out faster than I can sell them!

baby ivories: hatched a few days ago!

blues: one might be on his way out the door but all three have significantly grown since I got them

dark purple adults: one is still alive

purple babies: selling the last of the darks. Peppermints are getting breeding-sized

nerite: laying eggs, eating algae, trying to escape....

MTS: too many, they leave little tracks in the shallow sand so that's fun to see


----------



## fernielou

I always think the blues and ivories are the least hardy and the yellow/dark are the most hardy. I have been reading on applesnail dot net and people seem to think the LSP are genetically weak like a merle dog would be. Your experience seems completely opposite of mine. Would be interesting if it is our water makeup or just different lines .


----------



## ThatFishThough

Are merle dog's lives shorter? I understand the eye problems, but we were looking into a Blue Merle Mini Aussie.


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## fernielou

You aren't supposed to breed merle x Merle and the snail experts were saying don't breed lsp x lsp bc t results in weak offspring 


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## kitkat67

Untreated well water?


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## fernielou

I have treated city water and we have had quite a few boil notices and iffy patches. But ironically I was breeding like crazy and found out about the boil notice so whatever it was didn't bother snails one bit 


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## kitkat67

Not snail-related other than they share a tank...I went to Union Square and got three loaches and a candy-stripe pleco!! Oh, and a male betta with a funky tail. No joke, no flash, these are literally his colors in person!!


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## fernielou

Loaches freak me out but the betta is gorgeous. Don't the loaches eat snails? 


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## Sadist

I love the new betta and the loach!


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## kitkat67

I though this was pretty cool!


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## Sadist

That's too funny!


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## kitkat67

*Holy cannoli my first baby rabbit*

AHHHH!! My first baby rabbit and it's a black/chocolate rabbit!!!!

And I just found another one, too, right next to it but shell is empty


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## fernielou

So cute ! Did you say some petco get these ?


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## MysticSky22301

Cute!


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## kitkat67

Petco only has yellow. I got my chocolates, spotted, and blue online.


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## fernielou

I am going Friday for cherry shrimp- I'm gonna see if they have 1. Do you know the price round about?


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## kitkat67

I don't really like buying from Petco too much even though I do get snails (and now loaches) because in the past they've gotten my other fish sick. I am playing Russian roulette here with fish disease as I am not a fan of quarantining (no patience). $1 sounds fine just don't expect nice quality. Petco is where shrimp and betta culls go.


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## fernielou

Ok thanks! We have a fish store but they kept their betta in a 2 oz solo condiment cup so for me petco is my best option. I'm not giving money to people who keep fish in a container they can't even stretch in. 


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## MysticSky22301

My beautiful boy pokey and black orchid CT girl arura are from Petco, so we're Stella Oscar and Gem the last two being babies some culls aren't really worthy of that label ^^ you really can find stunning fish with minor flaws at chain stores


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## kitkat67

They might be nice to you, but to a breeder they are culls. They keep the best for breeding and sell the second best for higher prices, and sell culls cheap to petstores.


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## fernielou

They didn't have any rabbits at mine which is fine since I read they eat Java fern which I have. I got some cull cherry shrimp though yessiree 


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## kitkat67

After a 24-hour disappearance I finally found Ludvig...

He's still just a baby at only a couple inches long. Some of you may know my issues with plecos...can't keep them alive, but here's to hoping Ludvig survives!


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## Sadist

Aww, what a cutie!


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## kitkat67

Went into the the tank with tweezers to remove what appeared to be a hair and it turned out to be a TWO FOOT LONG MYSTERY SNAIL POOP STRING. I am so disgusted. It was hair-thin and TWO FEET LONG. I wish I had a picture. I am not sure if this is indicative of internal parasites. Also, one of my snails all of a sudden has extreme pitting in one area and under his shell is turning a brown-orange. I may remove him/her. 

...


TWO FEET LONG


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## fernielou

applesnail dot net has lots of anatomy pictures. You can try to figure out if it corresponds to an organ.


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## kitkat67

I euthanized him. Turns out his shell was tissue-paper thin! They have cuttlefish bone and extra calcium...everyone else is fine though!


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## kitkat67

To get more rabbits or not to get more rabbits....blue, orange, white spotted....


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## MysticSky22301

Wow! And aww poor little guy! 

I'm wondering ify mystery snails are getting enough to eat? I have some that have already found out my feeding schedule and ask for food about the time I'm running around doing nightly chores


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## kitkat67

I give them cukes and algae wafers and snello, they always leave a little next day so I know they are getting their fill.

Btw, couldn't resist! 2 more blue faunus and 3 orange volcano faunus--I hope they are more like the blue shells than yellow shells!


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## MysticSky22301

I give them zukini and cucumbers my corys eat the algae wafers before the snails get it. I do give the ones at the top shrimp pellets and algae wafers in the little cup they make with their foot


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## kitkat67

Omg, that little cup is the cutest thing!


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## MysticSky22301

Yes it is ^^ I take it as begging for food 

Oh! I got some floaters this week! Regular water lettuce for my goldfish and dwarf water lettuce, frog bit, red root floaters, giant duck weed, water spangles and fairy moss for my smaller fish


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## fernielou

Mystic - I also have noticed the cories out compete the snails. Nobody will touch the veggies but the snails. I add liquid calcium to the water. The snails here love zucchini. You can also blanch bell peppers (I only use the colored ones so I'm not sure if green would work), carrot chips/sticks. Fruit fouls the water quickly IMO...you can see little nastiness a around it. Ultimate starvation insurance plan: a plant in the tank. If then eat that you're not providing enough.

Excited to see the rabbits kitkat




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## MysticSky22301

I've been hand feeding my snails and providing veggies! ^^ carrots they wait until they get mushy I put a big slice. Cucumber in the other day and it actually helped me clear out a bunch of the annoying little bladder snails. The mystery snails and rams loved it too


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## kitkat67

Mine love their cukes!


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## kitkat67

I got rid of all of my ivory and purple adults, huzzah! I am hoarding their last clutches, two of the four which have already hatched! Someone asked for one of the two I have left, so I am down to one unhatched...I might just keep it, too!


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## kitkat67

Sooooo, went to Petco to pickup algae wafers, walked out with a huge trident java fern and four bettas. FOUR. They were hidden on top of the counter and I was so giddy I felt like a thief. They are four KOI females, listed as VEILTAIL females. Meaning they were each $5. Boom! Crazy how much they charge for males and how little they care for females. These are my new gorgeous gals:


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## ThatFishThough

OMG *jellyfish*


*dies* I've seen some pretty guys on the counter, I've always thought they were reserved for the Employees lol. Now's I won't feel as bad snatching them up!

Breed-them! Breed-them!


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## fernielou

Are they definitely female? If so I would have had a spur of the moment insta sorority !!


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## kitkat67

Ovaries and ovipositors!! Damn, I did not think about them being reserved. Haha. Got to be a mightly upset employee there!


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## fernielou

How can they order koi female for themselves if they don't carry them online even? 


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## Sadist

Wow, what an amazing find! If the employees want to reserve them for themselves, I'm sure they'd put them in the fish room or something. Or a back room. Or display them at the cash register with their names painted on the lids.


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## kitkat67

Either way....MINE


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## fernielou

I looked today at mine and they had a yellow veil tail female (true yellow) and a red spade tail and a couple of Cambodian but no koi. A koi sorority would be beautiful!


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## MysticSky22301

Take them anyway! Legally a store CAN'T reserve stock for its employees. They have to pay and pick up the product before it goes on the shelf. In all reality the ones the employees want stay in the back of the store so they don't loose them


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## astrummortis

kitkat67 said:


> Sooooo, went to Petco to pickup algae wafers, walked out with a huge trident java fern and four bettas. FOUR. They were hidden on top of the counter and I was so giddy I felt like a thief. They are four KOI females, listed as VEILTAIL females. Meaning they were each $5. Boom! Crazy how much they charge for males and how little they care for females. These are my new gorgeous gals:


These fish are BEAUTIFUL

I also just got a koi plakat from petco and he's a beauty, too, but he is definitely male LOL


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## Crash

kitkat67 said:


> Sooooo, went to Petco to pickup algae wafers, walked out with a huge trident java fern and four bettas. FOUR. They were hidden on top of the counter and I was so giddy I felt like a thief. They are four KOI females, listed as VEILTAIL females. Meaning they were each $5. Boom! Crazy how much they charge for males and how little they care for females. These are my new gorgeous gals:


That's insane, you paid $20 for all 4 together when normally they would be $20+ for just one. Talk about lucky! :O They're all insanely adorable too!


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## kitkat67

Planning on breeding tiniest red koi to Moo, the "blue koi" Spawn will begin likely on one of my breaks, Oct/Nov/Dec.


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## kitkat67

Baby rabbits popping out left and right...


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## MysticSky22301

My mystery snails have been breeding will it hurt them not to lay the eggs?


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## fernielou

MysticSky they can get egg bound but they will lay on your lid or try to get out of your tank to lay if they want to lay. If you want to keep the water level high you can, just reeeeallly check for eggs everywhere. 


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## Aqua Aurora

I've updated in your journal more than my own >.>''
Very Berry is doing well, getting bigger!
photos from yesterday:

















back in june









S/He's rooming with a very grumpy Xerxes now (doesn't like having a room mate again after 2 years solo, but he's just pouting not attacking). Snail is taking a nap by the surface atm.


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## Aqua Aurora

1 more shot, s/he came over to say hi after their nap


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## astrummortis

Snails are awesome because they're so ugly and pretty simultaneously, haha.


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## fernielou

Astrummortis I have a feeling you are gonna become a total snail freak when you get one 


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## MysticSky22301

Mine got moved to the temporary sorority/ qt because the heater was acting up in the community tank x.x they didn't like it


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## kitkat67

Down to one tank now...In one 20gal long I have ~50 bettas left, a handful of adult mystery snails, 400-500 ivory mystery snails (probably more), a dozen adult rabbit and faunus snails, dozen baby rabbits, 300-400 MTS, 40 painted RCS culls, 3 or 4 loaches, 2 nerites and a candy stripe pleco. Haven't changed the water since God knows when...one month? Two??? Ammonia is a very light yellow-green (yellow=0ppm). I think I'm doing good considering ivories are growing like mad and rabbits are breeding like...rabbits! The loaches are fat and sassy but I have not seen the pleco in a few weekends...hopefully he is just hiding?









MTS









New Girl (One of the 4 fm kois I recently purchased)









Bonus: Some of my new orchid purchases
funky purple 3-way hybrid








ugly/pretty pink phal with yellow throat








pretty rare fragrant phal


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## MysticSky22301

Woah o.o no pics of the last babies? That's a TON of little snails! The orchids are lovely ^^

Some times if you set the tank up right you really don't need many water changes ^^ I had one set up that I just refilled as needed

Hey have you seen the new additions I have?


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## Sadist

I love the flowers!


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## kitkat67

Been on hiatus, focusing on academics. I come to you with a snaily update! I have more MTS than I know what to do with! The rabbit snails are breeding like rabbits and I have a huge order of 30+ orange spotted rabbit snails coming in this Wednesday! Woohoo! I have pink ramshorns breeding in a 2 gallon pickle jar, my baby purple solid/purple striped mysteries from aquabid are starting to lay teeny tiny clutches. I have three new nerites in a 40G, a zebra, tiger, and batiki. The zebra has COVERED the front glass in almost 300 eggs -__- and my ivories are being sold to people and LFSs slowly but surely! That's it in a snailshell!


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## MysticSky22301

I'm down to 2 adults, not sure what happened Both purples though. I've actually raised 2 to quarter size! They are from my first tiny clutch that only gave me about 20 snails- they were my crash course x.x I found so many dead at first 

Somehow I created pink striped mystery snails whoo! I'm trying to pick my favorites out of all of the babies and figure out what to do with the rest o.o I'm tempted to drop the few Brown ones in my community tank or the sorority just for giggles. 

Saving as much money as possible to make orders after all the holidays ^^ plants snails and fish equipment here I come!


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## kitkat67

I totally just booped a young female that came out to lay eggs with pink nail polish XD


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## MysticSky22301

Lol bet that was a shock! I'm hoping one of my two larger adolescents is a female ^^ Both are really pretty dark purple


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## kitkat67

Nah, she just continued laying. I want to see what my ratio is.


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## ThatFishThough

Lol Kit,Kat, you should color-code all the snails.


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