Trekker1125
- #1
I have baby mystery snails!! I also have questions! (And pictures of course)
My mystery snails finally started mating a couple months ago when I introduced a new one to my tank. I had gotten 3 pea-sized magentas a while back. I expected them to mate once they matured enough, but it never happened... and then I brought home a new blue one a couple months ago. Apparently, I had all females before, because this new guy instantly started mating with the 3 others. Within a couple weeks I had a small clutch (about 50 eggs), and then came a larger clutch (about 100). I now have 13 little mystery snails from the smaller clutch, and although they are only 5-8 days old, they are already showing colors! It appears that I have a good mix of blue, purple, magenta, and even ivory snails.
Question: With it being over a week since the first snails emerged and several days since the last, should I be expecting the rest of the clutch to hatch still or is it done? I have a mesh lid, so it doesn't stay as humid as other tanks with lids... is it likely that the rest of the eggs in that clutch dried up? I have the clutch sitting on the top of a breeder/isolation box with slots in the top, so they go down into the box after hatching (easier to feed them and keep track of them this way, while also making sure they aren't snacks for other tank inhabitants). There is condensation on the underside of the lid that the clutches are resting on, but not on the underside of the tank lid. I could place a very small plastic container with holes over the clutches to help maintain moisture, but would that result in mold growing on the clutches also?
Second question: I have been feeding them crushed up "snail snacks", algae wafers, calcium wafers, and small bits of snello. They have grown a bit and all that hatched are alive and well. Is there anything else I should be adding or doing instead as far as feeding?
Now for some pictures of snail babies, clutches, and one of the mama snails (click images for larger/clearer picture).
Blue baby:
Magenta Baby:
Magenta, Ivory, Purple babies:
Mama magenta:
Clutches- The one on the right is partially hatched, it started off all pink and slowly changed to some blue and some pink eggs (and now looks like cotton candy dippin' dots). The clutch on left is the newest, still all pink:
My mystery snails finally started mating a couple months ago when I introduced a new one to my tank. I had gotten 3 pea-sized magentas a while back. I expected them to mate once they matured enough, but it never happened... and then I brought home a new blue one a couple months ago. Apparently, I had all females before, because this new guy instantly started mating with the 3 others. Within a couple weeks I had a small clutch (about 50 eggs), and then came a larger clutch (about 100). I now have 13 little mystery snails from the smaller clutch, and although they are only 5-8 days old, they are already showing colors! It appears that I have a good mix of blue, purple, magenta, and even ivory snails.
Question: With it being over a week since the first snails emerged and several days since the last, should I be expecting the rest of the clutch to hatch still or is it done? I have a mesh lid, so it doesn't stay as humid as other tanks with lids... is it likely that the rest of the eggs in that clutch dried up? I have the clutch sitting on the top of a breeder/isolation box with slots in the top, so they go down into the box after hatching (easier to feed them and keep track of them this way, while also making sure they aren't snacks for other tank inhabitants). There is condensation on the underside of the lid that the clutches are resting on, but not on the underside of the tank lid. I could place a very small plastic container with holes over the clutches to help maintain moisture, but would that result in mold growing on the clutches also?
Second question: I have been feeding them crushed up "snail snacks", algae wafers, calcium wafers, and small bits of snello. They have grown a bit and all that hatched are alive and well. Is there anything else I should be adding or doing instead as far as feeding?
Now for some pictures of snail babies, clutches, and one of the mama snails (click images for larger/clearer picture).
Blue baby:
Magenta Baby:
Magenta, Ivory, Purple babies:
Mama magenta:
Clutches- The one on the right is partially hatched, it started off all pink and slowly changed to some blue and some pink eggs (and now looks like cotton candy dippin' dots). The clutch on left is the newest, still all pink:
