Rabbit Snail Information & Experience

Rabbit snails, I do love them. However, they eat a bit more than I was expecting. While researching before i got mine, I read that they leave most plants alone, except Java fern, I read that they love that one. Now that I have them, they've sampled everything and I've had to remove several plants.

1. Dwarf Lilly. Yum. They ate mine like it was their last meal. I had to relocate to another tank.
2. Curly Val. Also yum. This plant was a favorite.
3. Bucephalandra. I was surprised with this one, they've munched on several new leaves, and existing leaves. Not as big as a favorite as others, so I left this in thier tank, but when i see one munching I remove it and place it on a veggie I'll put in there.
4. Anubias. Really surprising. They go right for the big leaves. Why? I thought this plant was safe, nope, they eat it similar to the buce. Not as serious as the other plants, so i left this one in too, and redirect them to veggies if I see them eating this one.
5. Anacharis. I usually have this floating, but when they can find a chunk they eat all the leaves, but leave the stem.

So cute as can be, but can be little buggers eating my pretty plants. Does anyone else have these issues?

 

Rabbit snails, I do love them. However, they eat a bit more than I was expecting. While researching before i got mine, I read that they leave most plants alone, except Java fern, I read that they love that one. Now that I have them, they've sampled everything and I've had to remove several plants.

1. Dwarf Lilly. Yum. They ate mine like it was their last meal. I had to relocate to another tank.
2. Curly Val. Also yum. This plant was a favorite.
3. Bucephalandra. I was surprised with this one, they've munched on several new leaves, and existing leaves. Not as big as a favorite as others, so I left this in thier tank, but when i see one munching I remove it and place it on a veggie I'll put in there.
4. Anubias. Really surprising. They go right for the big leaves. Why? I thought this plant was safe, nope, they eat it similar to the buce. Not as serious as the other plants, so i left this one in too, and redirect them to veggies if I see them eating this one.
5. Anacharis. I usually have this floating, but when they can find a chunk they eat all the leaves, but leave the stem.

So cute as can be, but can be little buggers eating my pretty plants. Does anyone else have these issues?

Mine leave all my plants alone unless they’re already dying. What do you normally feed your rabbits? When snails start eating plants that usually means they aren’t getting fed enough/not getting what they need.

My are fed once or twice a day, sinking pellets, wafers, veggies and most recently gel foods. They also love chewing up the leaf litter and acorn caps.

 

Rabbit snails, I do love them. However, they eat a bit more than I was expecting. While researching before i got mine, I read that they leave most plants alone, except Java fern, I read that they love that one. Now that I have them, they've sampled everything and I've had to remove several plants.

1. Dwarf Lilly. Yum. They ate mine like it was their last meal. I had to relocate to another tank.
2. Curly Val. Also yum. This plant was a favorite.
3. Bucephalandra. I was surprised with this one, they've munched on several new leaves, and existing leaves. Not as big as a favorite as others, so I left this in thier tank, but when i see one munching I remove it and place it on a veggie I'll put in there.
4. Anubias. Really surprising. They go right for the big leaves. Why? I thought this plant was safe, nope, they eat it similar to the buce. Not as serious as the other plants, so i left this one in too, and redirect them to veggies if I see them eating this one.
5. Anacharis. I usually have this floating, but when they can find a chunk they eat all the leaves, but leave the stem.

So cute as can be, but can be little buggers eating my pretty plants. Does anyone else have these issues?

Yep. I have a single baby yellow rabbit and he went ham on my amazon sword.

 

Mine leave all my plants alone unless they’re already dying. What do you normally feed your rabbits? When snails start eating plants that usually means they aren’t getting fed enough/not getting what they need.

My are fed once or twice a day, sinking pellets, wafers, veggies and most recently gel foods. They also love chewing up the leaf litter and acorn caps.

TRIED IT ALL!! Kale, zucchini, cucumber, carrot, broccoli, sinking shrimp pellets, sinking algae wafers, made my own snello. I pick up and place ON TOP of every food I try. They sometimes nibble, but then go straight outta there. I keep trying, and keep placing the snails on/near the food source, and have been feeding in the same spot, actually looking to get a feeding dish in there to make it easier to clean up, I have sand so I suck up a bit of sand each time, but, eh. I have not tried leaf litter, or acorn caps? I'll have to buy those, as everything in my area will be covered in toxins.

 

TRIED IT ALL!! Kale, zucchini, cucumber, carrot, broccoli, sinking shrimp pellets, sinking algae wafers, made my own snello. I pick up and place ON TOP of every food I try. They sometimes nibble, but then go straight outta there. I keep trying, and keep placing the snails on/near the food source, and have been feeding in the same spot, actually looking to get a feeding dish in there to make it easier to clean up, I have sand so I suck up a bit of sand each time, but, eh. I have not tried leaf litter, or acorn caps? I'll have to buy those, as everything in my area will be covered in toxins.

That’s pretty strange then, I have crypts, anubias and some wimpy swords that my snails leave alone. Crypts are pretty fool proof so if you don’t have any then try them, nothings seems to eat them and they grow even in terrible LED lighting. Maybe the bit of roughage from leaf litter, wood etc. will curb their appetite.

 

While cleaning the tank today I grabbed all the rabbits that were in plain sight to take a few pics.


Yellows, the 5 babies I bought are growing pretty fast!


Orange, these ones are definitely the biggest.


Gold, very dark shells and so far no babies have different colors either.


Chocolate, one original and two of their first babies. Their shell colors stump me.

 

My red betta in the background.

There are white spotted and yellow spotted rabbits. I wanted to buy some a while ago. May be a white spotted rabbit.
At least thats what the online store said. I can't remember the name of the store now.

 

I saw two pairs of rabbits getting frisky last night. I’ve never caught them breeding before so I find it interesting that not one but two couples were getting down to business at the same time. Both the males are babies I raised and the one with the big orange females is a gold male.




I’m just glad to see the oldest babies are finally at breeding age

 

Haven’t seen any baby snails in a few weeks now. I keep waiting to see one or two more as I know there should be some soon.

I bought 2 more adult rabbits, these were sold as “blue elephant snails”. Not blue at all but cute regardless. They’re in a 7.5gal raimbow fry/black shrimp tank.

 

I’ve started moving some snails to other tanks, all the chocolates and some oranges are now in a different 36gal.

I had 2 babies die from unknown causes in the same 7.4gal fry tank. I’ve removed all other baby rabbits just in case. Also saw two new babies in the main tank, only got a picture of this one.


The original orange that is likely my favorite. It was having a hard time getting over a small crypt as it had a nerite on its shell!

 

Adorable. My instincts are telling me that my babies that die are dying because the temperature is too low. Seems like adults are okay at lower temps like 76F, but babies really need a lot warmer. More like 80F. I keep learning as I go on this. I'm going to buy a second heater for my 20 gallon. I've got like 50 snails in there, now. Winter makes it hard to keep the temp up and I go away a lot right now. So far, babies are fine, but it got to 74F while I was away.

 

What does the perfect rabbit snail tank look like?
I have 4 in a shrimp tank, but I'm thinking of a snail only tank. I have the heat at 80 for the rabbits, but the shrimp seem better at lower temps. So I want to set up something just for the rabbits.

Plus... I want more rabbits. I have had these for 6 months now, they have grown so much, but still no babies. I'd like to buy more somewhere. If any of you guys have any to spare after Christmas I'd definitely buy.

 

Hi, beautiful snails! I've actually recently taken an interest in rabbit snails, specifically those orange ones, they're adorable. My bad if this has already been mentioned, but where did you buy your snails? Thanks

 

What does the perfect rabbit snail tank look like?
I have 4 in a shrimp tank, but I'm thinking of a snail only tank. I have the heat at 80 for the rabbits, but the shrimp seem better at lower temps. So I want to set up something just for the rabbits.

Plus... I want more rabbits. I have had these for 6 months now, they have grown so much, but still no babies. I'd like to buy more somewhere. If any of you guys have any to spare after Christmas I'd definitely buy.

I feel you. Sadly I've not seen any babies either. I got my first rabbits well over a year ago. Never got babies. I thought maybe I had all males or all females. I got 6 from Demeter about 6 months ago. Still no babies. I must be doing something wrong I would think they are old enough. My biggest ones are at least 1.5 inches long.

I need to tear my 55 down to get all the assassins out of there. I hate having to uproot all the plants in there but am willing to do so it it would help my rabbits. Once I get them out the rabbits are going in there. Hopefully giving them lots of space will get them comfortable enough to start breeding.

I just noticed the temp in the tank they are in right now had dropped down to 72 so I turned the heater up. Winter time has set in for us. It gets down in the mid 60's at night in here so the heater needed to be turned up a notch or two. Tank is sitting right inside a north facing window so gets pretty cool there.

I don't know that the cooler temps are the reason for no babies though. During the Summer it wasn't unusual for the temp to hold up to about 80.

 

What does the perfect rabbit snail tank look like?
I have 4 in a shrimp tank, but I'm thinking of a snail only tank. I have the heat at 80 for the rabbits, but the shrimp seem better at lower temps. So I want to set up something just for the rabbits.

Plus... I want more rabbits. I have had these for 6 months now, they have grown so much, but still no babies. I'd like to buy more somewhere. If any of you guys have any to spare after Christmas I'd definitely buy.

For a good tank setup go for the most natural. Sand or fine gravel would be best (I'd probably go for a darker substrate), planted but with plenty of open area on the bottom. Some wood that they like to chew on, perhaps a few big flat rocks like slated stacked up to provide shaded caves that they like to rest under. Add some leaf litter and other organics that they will also eat, mine seem to really like acorn caps.

Hi, beautiful snails! I've actually recently taken an interest in rabbit snails, specifically those orange ones, they're adorable. My bad if this has already been mentioned, but where did you buy your snails? Thanks

I bought my groups (orange/gold, yellow and chocolate) off aquabid. Many sellers are holding off shipping till warmer months due to the terrible covid delays. I've sold several groups of young snails but I'm also holding off at least after the holidays. I don't even know how many or what colors I have for extra babies, I really need to try harder to keep track or start putting all the babies in one tank for growing and selling.

For all who are having trouble getting babies, not sure what to say. Maybe bump the temps up and feed them more? I feel like I see more babies after giving them lots of food. I probably don't feed mine as often/much as I should, I've gotten lazy and simply toss in sinking pellets/wafers at night. It doesn't help that the pink and blue rams likely outcompete them a bit when they snailpede and cover the food.

 

Demeter had good suggestions. I feed them like crazy and have tons of babies constantly. Give them cooked greens like kale. Dandelion greens. Mine eat soaked raisins, Stinging Nettle, Almond leaves, mulberry leaves and tons of other veggies. I have to clean the bottom a lot but it's not terrible, even with 50 snails. My shrimp are fine with my snails in the high temps. I get decent breeding. I have one 80F and one 65F for cullshrimp. Breeding is much more at warm temps. Mine are on regular black gravel in a 20 gallon.

I want to sell a bunch of snails after winter, just have never shipped live. I was hoping someone local would buy. Probably mostly yellow or gold colored.

 

Yes, I'll be a buyer after Christmas!! I wruv thier little faces and want more!!

I have a 5.5 or a 10 gallon that I can use for rabbits only. Both have sand and nicely planted. Mine are currently in the 10 with the shrimp, but I might move the shrimp to the 5.5, and give the rabbits the 10. I'll ponder on that one.

 

A few more babies, some are smaller than usual so I think the orange juveniles I raised are starting to breed.


One of the yellows stretched out.



A couple of said oranges but in a different tank. I love the one with a lighter tip, that one always stood out since it was a new born. Haven’t found any babies in this tank yet.

 

Adorable. Exceptionally nice shells. Same thing is happening to me. Tons of very tiny babies. Bee bee sized. My tiniest showed up today. I have lots of half growns that I think are breeding. My water temp is higher in winter since I've been running 2 heaters in my 20.gallon. They give birth earlier in higher temps Imo.

One side has 16 yellows. I literally had 11 babies in 11 days. Mr tiny is number 12.

I probably have 100 snails. God knows how much breeding on the larger side.

Got a girl at the lfs who wants some shrimp and snails. I need to get some out of there. I think it's overcrowded. Affects their shells because there aren't enough minerals in the water.
Here are 2 tiny babies. See the 2 dots on the glass? So cute!

That adult rabbit below was a purchased snail. Did not have a good shell and now has green hue from algae I believe. I had trapdoors with this green on the white part of their shell. They were quite beautiful. Looked antiqued.
Something I wanted to add. Babies really need it warmer. 80/82F
Adults can take a little cooler or fluctuating some with no issues. I have never lost an adult snail since I lost one of the 6 orange sent to me by mail. They were not in good condition shellwise. That was 1.5 years ago. Actual I probably have never lost a snail bigger than 1/2". I have lost about 20 babies. It's likely I have about 75 babies in my tank. I lost count so that's not bad, but it was my lack of knowledge on temperature most likely.

 

I think I have 14 babies, 3 of which I might keep for myself due to shell/body color. Some where listed on ebay and some others will probably be sold here soon enough.



This is one baby I grew out in a separate 10gal. It was moved to the 36gal colony today and seems quite happy. This is one of the “two toned” babies but it ended up being solid tan. Very cute and would look fantastic in a dark substrate.

 

I love the gold/orange with the green shell. Still no babies for me. I have to think it may be the size tank they are in. I really want to move them over to my 55 but I still occasionally find an assassin in there and don't want to take a chance on my rabbits getting hurt.

 

I love the gold/orange with the green shell. Still no babies for me. I have to think it may be the size tank they are in. I really want to move them over to my 55 but I still occasionally find an assassin in there and don't want to take a chance on my rabbits getting hurt.

Still none? That's pretty odd, the ones I sent to you should be about breeding size now. Well if it makes you feel any better, the ones I have in another 36gal are not producing any babies either.

 

What are you charging with shipping?
I'm still really wanting a few more!

 

Still none? That's pretty odd, the ones I sent to you should be about breeding size now. Well if it makes you feel any better, the ones I have in another 36gal are not producing any babies either.

I have to think they are plenty old enough to be making babies. The two biggest ones (a chocolate and a gold) are close to 2 inches long and the two light colored ones are about 1 1/2 inches long. The others are at least an inch maybe a tad longer.

I feel sure I am feeding them well. They get their fresh veggies 2 or 3 times a week along with mulberry leaves, algae wafers, veggie rounds and then about once a week I add a bit of Bacter AE. The only thing I can think of preventing them from reproducing is the tank size. Do you think that could be it? If not then I am at a loss. I do love my little guys so even if I never get any babies I will enjoy the ones I am fortunate to have.

 

What are you charging with shipping?
I'm still really wanting a few more!

It’ll depend on where you live. Shoot me a private message with your zip code and how many you want.

I have to think they are plenty old enough to be making babies. The two biggest ones (a chocolate and a gold) are close to 2 inches long and the two light colored ones are about 1 1/2 inches long. The others are at least an inch maybe a tad longer.

I feel sure I am feeding them well. They get their fresh veggies 2 or 3 times a week along with mulberry leaves, algae wafers, veggie rounds and then about once a week I add a bit of Bacter AE. The only thing I can think of preventing them from reproducing is the tank size. Do you think that could be it? If not then I am at a loss. I do love my little guys so even if I never get any babies I will enjoy the ones I am fortunate to have.

I’ve had them give birth in a 10gal so it shouldn’t be a tank size thing. I really have no idea why they don’t want to breed.

 

I forgot to mention my new rabbit snails, dwarf blacks! They are unimpressive IMO but they were only 17$ free shipping and I was curious. All 6 are alive and seemingly well despite no heat pack and minimal insulation.





They basically look like slightly larger, black shelled and goldish dusted bodied MTS. I’d like to find some spotted bodied rabbits next.

 

2 regular sized newborn babies and a micro newborn baby.
I literally average 2 or more babies born every day as my tanks are warm right now.
Just found these today.
So cool your dwarf black.
Glad to know they ship well.
I've got 100+ snails and need to learn to ship them. Crowding isn't good for their shells/health.

Any pointers?

 

2 regular sized newborn babies and a micro newborn baby.
I literally average 2 or more babies born every day as my tanks are warm right now.
Just found these today.
So cool your dwarf black.
Glad to know they ship well.
I've got 100+ snails and need to learn to ship them. Crowding isn't good for their shells/health.

Any pointers?

I ship them just like I ship fish, double bagged, drop of Prime and bag 3/4 full of O2, styrofoam insulated box with heat pack as needed. Get boxes from USPS for free, styrofoam from a hardware store along with O2 tank and reverse threat adapter/hose. Poly bags off aquabid. It’s pretty easy once you figure it out. For me the O2 tank and reverse thread thing were the hardest to get ahold of.

 

Thanks
You don't mess around. I bet your customers are quite happy

 

Thanks
You don't mess around. I bet your customers are quite happy

For the most part, everything arrives on good shape except those delayed for more than a few days. Snails ship really well when shipped in water. Some seller will ship them in wet paper towels, this can save on shipping cost (weight) but it’s not nearly as safe IMO. The only advantage to shipping in paper towels is they don’t get tossed around and their shells stay in tact. I find that small snails are less likely to have chipped shells, plus they cling just fine to the bag though adding some sponge or plants can help keep them from being tossed.

 

Hey!!! Is this a rabbit snails egg -soon-to-be-baby??? This wouldbe my first so I don't know. But me thinks it's an egg. I hope so!

 

I have about 100 baby rabbit snails and I've never seen that. They are live born. The egg I have seen is clearer. Usually a baby is inside, already on the go. Nice snail, though. Hmmmmm....what is that?

 

The only egg I've seen was when I first got my rabbits and a chocolate rabbit had one egg shortly after I placed them in their new home. It was completely white and round, when I poked it gently a bunch of white fluid leaked out of it and a very little snail was the result. You can see the egg in the second post of this thread.

 

So weird that I have never seen this. I have yellows and oranges. Literally 100 babies have been born in my tank and I have never seen an opaque white egg. Wonder why. I have super tiny babies too. A baby is born every day now, actually. I'm selling them. I have way too many. I haven't seen one being born either. I watch my tank all the time. I guess I'm very unlucky in that way;/

 

I wonder if anyone knows why these eggs sometimes appear. I saw a rabbit snail being born on Youtube and no egg, just the baby. I rarely see any remnant of eggs in my tank let alone a full white egg. Could it be premature birth from the shock of a change in environment? I mean I'm a rabbit snail nerd. I have to know?!

 

Well I'm just as curious! I had to go grocery shopping, and when i returned, the snail was moved. I carefully pulled the jelly blob, it was empty, but looked torn open. So if there was indeed a baby snail it must have burrowed into the sand? I haven't seen anything yet, I'll keep looking. The babies I bought from Demeter are bigger then that blob so if there is a new baby I should be able to tell from size.

 

Well I'm just as curious! I had to go grocery shopping, and when i returned, the snail was moved. I carefully pulled the jelly blob, it was empty, but looked torn open. So if there was indeed a baby snail it must have burrowed into the sand? I haven't seen anything yet, I'll keep looking. The babies I bought from Demeter are bigger then that blob so if there is a new baby I should be able to tell from size.

Mine spend a lot of time buried when small, only coming out to eat, so that’s probably where yours is.

 

Well I'm just as curious! I had to go grocery shopping, and when i returned, the snail was moved. I carefully pulled the jelly blob, it was empty, but looked torn open. So if there was indeed a baby snail it must have burrowed into the sand? I haven't seen anything yet, I'll keep looking. The babies I bought from Demeter are bigger then that blob so if there is a new baby I should be able to tell from size.

Mine usually eventually crawl up the side of the tank. They can be very tiny or fairly large. I know because I have one tank for adults only. When a baby shows up, it's brand new. Tiny or larger. When they crawl up the sides, I move them to a warmer tank. I think most newborns never stop moving. I move them to the other tank and they come out immediately and go. I think it's a survival mechanism. They have to eat to grow big enough to survive. I wouldn't think they would burrow under and rest until they are a bit bigger. Just an educated guess, but they certainly can disappear in a large tank for a while. I saw one the first day and then couldn't find him for 3 days.
Demeter says the opposite, but substrate could be the difference with mine. Mine is gravel. I'm always surprised how my tiny babies are such troopers. They always restart right where they left off, when I move them. NO FEAR lol

 

I’ve started moving my breeding adults into different tanks as of late. In the 36gal community they’ve become very inactive. After watching the tank for a long while I noticed the young female guppies were pecking at them constantly. They peck at their bodies soon as they come out and continue to pester them even when they are completely inside the shell. I couldn’t move the guppies so some snails were moved into a 29gal and another 36gal. They are back to their usual behaviors now. Here’s a couple yellows.



Only found one little baby, the first in a while.


A few of the young ones I’m keeping for their shell colors.

 

Collected babies during a water change. 5 news ones brings me to 24 babies, 13 of which are spoken for.


Update photos of the 5 adults I’ve bought and their many offspring I raised up for breeding stock. These are only the orange and golds.