SunnShadow

Ok.... I have what I was told are 2 "Black Mystery Snails".......... How can I tell if these are really mystery snails or Pomacea Haustrum?? I definately have one male and one female, as I read up on how to sex them. The male is BIG...... his shell is about 1 inch by 1 inch. They both have orange spots on their feet and orange eyes.
Also..... it looks like the males shell is deteriorating slightly. What can I do about this??

S.

Butterfly

Here is a good place to ID your snails. http://www.applesnail.net/
Carol

SunnShadow

ok......... Schultz might be a "Pomacea bridgesii"......... but I've only ever seen a really short siphon on Elana. Also, both of them appear to only have one set of tentacles (or antenna). I'll look more closely when they emerge again. I bought them both from Walmart, since it is now "illegal" for pet stores to sell snails, since they are so invasive (??). Who knows where Walmart gets them from? For all we know, someone could be catching snails in Lake Michigan and calling them Mystery Snails.......
Oh well. Regardless of what type they are, I love both my snails. I was just curious.

S.

Butterfly

Really.... I didn't realize it was illegal for pet stores to sell snails. Petsmart and Petco has mystery snails all the time. Maybe its a state law thing.
Carol

SunnShadow

I'm in Ohio, and plan on calling around to other stores in the state to see what they say about this. I went to PetSmart in Indiana, and they were all out of Mystery Snails (a pity, since they usually carry the blue ones...), and I was told they were having trouble getting them delivered.
I had put Elana in the nursery tank to help clean up, but the fry started picking at her mercilessly. So I had to put her back in with Schultz. If they mate and have babies, maybe I will give them to others who want snails but can't find them due to this "law".....

S.

Boxermom

*sigh* So much misinformation being disseminated. Its not illegal to sell snails in the US. Its not illegal to transport most snails across state lines (with the possible exception of apple snails). It is, however, now being regulated and one needs to get a permit to do so. Some LFS/LPSes don't want to bother with the permits, so they are telling their customers that its now illegal for them to do so. I've researched it on the government websites and this is the information I got. And yes, its because they are invasive and idiots have been releasing them in the wild where they, particularly apple snails, have become a serious nuisance issue.