Part 5: Safety!


Part 5: Safety!
How to safely handle your snails without causing them injury:

         Normally I wouldn't think much about this section, but after a few bad experiences I decided that this part was a must. I have ended up with severely injured snails simply because I didn't know any better. So here is the how to's of handling your snails.
1. Be gentle. If their shell is clear it means it is new growth and is EXTREMELY delicate! If you break even a small chip in the shell it could result in a very large crack later on.
2. If the snail is latched onto the side of the glass and you need to remove it. Gently poke or pry the snail on its left side. Get your nail or finger under the edge of the foot and put pressure until the snail defensively begins to close into its shell. DO NOT TWIST THE SNAIL! It is automatic to try and twist the snail off the glass, but this can result in mantle separation which is FATAL! It is alright to gently slide the snail back and forth along the glass from side to side as long as you do not twist. Usually they just stay pretty stuck though.




          
                 When you have them out of the water, basically make sure they do not fall. They will just roll or crawl right off of your hand or a table. If you have carpet for them to fall on and the snails shell isn't transparent with new growth then the fall shouldn't hurt it.




               Here is an example of a shell with new growth. Basically the shell is growing so rapidly that it isn't thickening and hardening as quickly as it grows. This is normal when snails grow quickly in a short amount of time. The new shell will thicken, harden, and develop mantle as the snail grows and moves forward in its shell. At this time the snail is in a very delicate condition. This very weak new growth can be chipped VERY easily. Unless absolutely necessary don't handle your snail until its shell fully hardens. Even one small chip can result in a very large crack later on. If this newly forming shell is chipped, then as the snail grows that small break becomes larger and larger and the poor creature is living in pain and even dying very, very, slowly.


Here is an illustration of how a chip can form into a crack as the snail grows. (Just ignore my mutant looking snails and pay attention to how the chip grows larger into a crack.)


                      Ok, I know it is a crappy illustration, but it gets the point across. (I am terrible at drawing in paint lol.) As the snail grows they often can't repair the chip. Especially if they grow rapidly. The chip becomes a large crack that will shorten their life, eventually killing them, and all the while causing them quite a bit of pain. If your snail ends up with a crack it can be repaired using a piece of a deceased snails shell. You break off a piece large enough to overlap both sides of the crack. Take the injured snail out and dry off its shell with a paper towel. When dry use super glue to glue the new piece of shell over the crack. MAKE SURE THE GLUE DOES NOT COME IN CONTACT WITH THE SNAILS SKIN! Make certain that the piece your using to repair is overly large as to overlap so you can apply the glue to the snails shell and not its skin.



One day I am going to have to take pictures of the actual procedure myself. Then I can take down these goofy drawings. For now though your going to have to suffer through it. lol



                 And last but not least for the safety portion, a note on snail and other animal compatibility.  Make sure you properly research before keeping your snails with any other fish or invertebrate. Even certain other species of snails, such as the Assassin Snail are dangerous to mystery snails. Loaches are very proficient snail eaters so be careful with those. Crabs, lobsters, and aggressive fish like Cichlids, readily eat mystery snails. Oh and NO GOLDFISH. These fish love snails.
               Now there are exceptions. Each fish is different. I am successfully keeping large mystery snails with Clown Loaches. Notorious snail eaters. Loaches aren't aggressive, so as long as my snails are too large to fit in the Loaches mouths they leave them alone. They are well fed on a variety of foods that both the snails and loaches enjoy together. The clown loaches don't peck or chew on the snails. They pretty much live together in harmony. I merely have to keep my young snails in a separate tank until they reach large enough size. It actually works quite well.
              If you do your research and you find that you shouldn't keep your snail with your fish, you can follow a very simple rule that works in most situations. If the snail is too large to fit in a fishes mouth then it should be safe as long as your fish isn't an aggressive or relentless type of fish that pecks and pecks. Snails can have bits and pieces eaten off of them. They are very soft and delectable. Even a small crab will eat them piece by piece. First it loses an antenna, then an eye, then a piece of the foot is gone, etc, until the snail finally dies. Some fish have jaws strong enough to crush and break snail shells, like goldfish or certain types of loaches, and most cichlids. In these cases snail size doesn't always make a difference. They can crush it up and eat it anyway.
              If you aren't sure how they will do together you can place your snail in the tank and observe carefully for an hour or two. If in that time the fish constantly peck at the snail so it won't even come out of the shell, then it is simply too dangerous for your snail. You can try again in a couple of days and see if your fish leave the snail alone. It is a good idea to feed the fish right after you place your snail in the tank. This distracts them and allows the snail time to come out of its shell without being harassed. Just use good judgement.


Next Page: Part 6: Just Four






14 comments:

  1. hi i love your blog! I just started an aquarium and got 3 golden apple snails and want to breed them i hav had them for two days but i am having trouble telling the boys from the girls. I have tried to take them out of the tank but they just close up and won't come out. I wait for a while and just left it next to the tank on a desk and waited a while but it still doesn't come out please help!

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    1. Thank you! I am glad you enjoy it! Well first of all it actually takes the snails a good 2 to 3 weeks to "get comfortable" After this time they will be more "open" to being handled and exploring outside the tank. But if I were you I wouldn't bother to take them out at all. The best time to catch a "peek under the hood", so to speak, is during feeding time or while they are cruising around the tank. All you need is for them to lift up for just a moment so you can see under their shell. You actually probably have seen the goods already though you may not know it. Take a look at the very first picture on Part four: Anatomy. The blue snail escargo gives you a perfect shot of what your looking for. See how she is facing to the left and has her shell lifted? There is nothing but empty space behind her head, hence she is a girl. And again further down that same page are two pictures, one with bully the black snail and another with one of my gold snails. You can clearly see the penis sheath behind their heads as they cruise. They aren't doing anything special. Just cruising looking for food and it actually gives you a perfect view! I find that just looking closely while they are moving around is the easiest method. Males are the easiest to identify because as soon as they mature they mount any other snails in the tank. Just be a little patient and take a few minutes to sit and watch. Maybe snap a few pictures when the snails are in the right position, (moving along the tank towards your left). I find that looking at the picture later reveals what your looking for. I hope this helps! If you have anymore questions don't hesitate to ask! :)

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    2. thanks I found that I have two girls (one died) and I want to get a boy snail and is there a way to tell right away what gender it is because I don't want to go to a pet store and just stare at snails for like ten minutes trying to see its parts

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    3. No there is absolutely no way to find out immediately. If there were you can bet I would have made a point of saying so. Otherwise what would be the point of going through the long process of explaining how to tell gender on here? And unfortunately the store attendants will be of no help what so ever. Most believe it is impossible to tell. That is why most experienced breeders suggest you get 4 to 6 of them in one go, that way you are almost always guaranteed to get one of each sex. And the ones sold in stores are usually young and still sexually immature which makes it even harder to tell. So sorry your out of luck in this situation. :( I wish there were an easier way, but there isn't. I personally don't even bother to sex them anymore, unless I am giving away a pair for breeding to someone. I just throw a bunch of one color together and collect the egg sacs. I would go with the wisdom of the experienced and get 5 more of the color you want to breed. Then you will be guaranteed to get at least one male. Hope you succeed and get your babies!

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    4. I read that snails are both male and female... Hope that helps!!! :)

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    5. What your referring to Sara Jane is called "Hermaphrodite" where one single snail possesses both male and female reproductive organs. Which these particular snails do not. These snails are not hermaphrodites, but like humans are born either male OR female, NOT BOTH. That is actually one of my most favorite things about these snails, the gender difference really adds to your pets personality. Check out my anatomy section of this blog where I describe the differences including size and shape of the shells between males and females and also show several breeding and mothers laying eggs! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you had fun learning about these wonderful beauties!

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  2. Do you sell them? or maybe give the younger ones away? i have one and she seems Quite lonley :( mine came with the used fish tank i bought and she was in the rocks! im suprised she lived >.> ive grown quite attached to her named her cheyenne. and im looking for 3 more. i dont have a pet shop Anywhere near me. do you ship them by any chance? if so let me know!

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  3. Unfortunately I do not have more than two snails at the moment. I moved and am unable to keep up the breeding hobby until I get a bigger place. Before I moved I just gave all of them away and was planning on selling a few. Until I get a more suitable place with room for tanks, I will not have any. You can look on ebay though. That is how I got my baby clams and there are plenty of snails for sale as well. I wish you luck Jonathan and thanks so much for taking an interest in my blog! :-)

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  4. I found a mated pair by buying a pair that was mating at the time I chose them. It was very convenient. :-) Also - odd question. The shells you have used to repair shells. You say you got them from deceased snails? how do you go about cleaning those shells and removing the bodies? I'm fairly squeamish - I'll be honest.

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  5. Well I went about it one of two ways. I either soaked them in peroxide overnight or a day or two then pulled the remains out with tweezers, or I just ripped the remains out with tweezers. After which I vigorously rinsed and washed out with dish soap until it was clean. If I couldn't get it clean I would soak it in peroxide over night and repeat the process until clean. It is pretty nasty so you might not be able to handle it. It is hard for me to do. As for you "mated pair" a little heads up and warning. The two golds you see in my blog? Apollo and Ingot? They were "mating" when I bought them and I thought I had a mated pair. Turns out both were males. I mentioned this in my blog and you might of missed it. Just because you see two snails appear to be mating doesn't mean you have a male and a female. Males WILL mount other males. The only snail you can positively identify is the one on top mounting the other. THAT one you can be sure is male, the other isn't necessarily female. Hope they are though, that would be awesome. Thanks so much for your interest in my blog! Happy Snailing!

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  6. That's funny that yours turned out to both be males! I am lucky in that mine did turn out to be male and female. I have passed the instructions on cleaning the shells on to my husband and next time we have one pass on, we're going to go for it. None of our three teenage sons will be willing, unfortunately. Your site is incredibly information - I have been trying to hatch mystery snail eggs for a bit with very little luck. I also made the mistake of using a jar that was too small and the water was filthy. I have a little hatchery now though and hopefully it will work. When you start up again, I hope you continue to post what you learn! Thank you. :-)

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    1. Awesome! I am glad. I was so bummed when I ended up with two males. Nice that you got a pair your first try! Yeah the cleaning gets very nasty so if hubby is willing to help with that one then awesome all the way around lol. Thanks so much for your comments. I really wanted to put this blog out so I can have a ton of info in one spot for all those curious about these snails. I hope I will be able to start back up again soon, I can't wait! Keep me posted on your babies! Let me know when you get them to hatch!

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  7. Question: I have 2 males that have split shells, that runs along the coil of the shell. I do not have a dead snail shell to clip and glue onto these guys. They seem to be alright though, constantly crawling all over, getting down the the "feeding" dish for their daily calcium jello cube. It doesn't slow them down at all, and they are mating like they are "normal" shelled snails...lol... should I be more concerned about this? There isn't much I can do about helping to repair the shell for them. Guess let nature take over, huh? Good blog!

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    1. Correct there isn't much you can do, although, finding an empty shell out in the garden from a plain old garden snail could do the trick.... :-) The cracks won't affect them much until (or if) they grow larger in size. Then they get extremely painful and slowly kill them. For now though small cracks shouldn't be a problem. Thanks so much for visiting!

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