Painting Mystery Snails!?

I just found these videos on YouTube...

(this one is for land snails, though; I included it because it mentions that nail polish is harmful while acrylic paint is supposedly not?

I'll be getting a mystery snail or two for my tank soon and came across the idea of painting their shells to make them look all pretty. I really liked the idea in theory, but I had a few reservations.
. The girl in the first video used nail polish to paint her snails. Wouldn't that weaken their shells? (I was just thinking that because it can cause girls' nails to turn yellow due to not breathing if you leave nail polish on too long in humans.)

. Even if the nail polish didn't hurt the snails, wouldn't it leach into the water and hurt my fish? I love Shy Guy and wouldn't want anything to happen to him.

. I've heard of others on the Internet doing this to tell their snails apart, but they don't paint nearly as much of the snail's shell as these people do in the videos and they have larger tanks. (Heck, even the girl in the first video has a tank large enough to house over 6 snails and a lot of fish!) Maybe I could do that (not paint as much), but I'm still concerned that in such a small water volume (5 gallons) any toxicity from paint/polish would build up very quickly.


Sorry for the lengthy post. I was just wondering if this idea is anything that I could use, or if it's really something to be ditched.
Thanks!

EDIT: Google Search "painting mystery/apple snails"

 

Nail polish is harmful. It contains volatile chemicals that can leach through the shells or into the water. It's oil-based. That's why you need acetone to remove it once it's dried!

Acrylic is water based and is often used by children because it's non-toxic. However, because it's water-based it's easily washed off so can't be used on aquatic snails.

 

Nail polish is harmful. It contains volatile chemicals that can leach through the shells or into the water. It's oil-based. That's why you need acetone to remove it once it's dried!
Acrylic is water based and is often used by children because it's non-toxic. However, because it's water-based it's easily washed off so can't be used on aquatic snails.

So I'm guessing that's a no-no to using either on the snails I'll be getting! Thanks!
EDIT: So I'm guessing you also couldn't use something like a Sharpie?

 

To do this to an aquatic snail you would paint the shell with acrylic paint, let it dry, then cover that with cyanoacrylate aka super glue. Lt that dry, amd then back in the tankbthe snail goes. Super glue is the exact same stuff they sell as 'aquarium plant cement/glue' at pet stores for gluing things like java fern to rocks. Once dry it doesn't leech chemicals, and it will protect the acrylic paint under it. Just be aware it may haze a bit.

Personally I don't paint my snails, but we used to do this when we needed to paint numbers onto the shells of sea turtles we had recovering at rehab facilities to tell them apart so we knew which ones to release back at different locations, what meds they were on, how long they had been there etc if it works on turtle shells I'm fairly confident it will work on snail shells.

 

Interesting Nataku ! Won't the super glue coating cause the exact same issue with the shell not "breathing" though? It's not just a small spot to cover a number.

 

I personally wouldn't risk it. Mystery snails come in a variety of colors so there are pretty ones to choose from... no paint needed