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Post by cherryred on Jan 31, 2011 11:16:44 GMT
Hi snail bods,
Newbie snail owner-to-be here. I joined another forum and hopea has been very kindly giving me advice about GALS. ;D Including directing me here.
At the moment I am discussing obtaining two jades from a forum member (on the other forum) and have my set up on order. So I'm gathering info before they get here.
I've some questions if I may. As they are "how not to breed" issues i wasn't sure if this should go in the breeding section or general, so please feel free for a mod to move it if need be.
Is it true that if you give the snails less depth of substrate to burrow in, they're less likely to lay eggs ?
How big can the egg clutch be ?
How often do you check for eggs, and how do you check ? Stir the substrate around, or what ?
Are the eggs light coloured always ? (The pics I've seen of them seem to say yes.)
I am not looking to breed (snails ! nor indeed from me, lol) and have promised my fiance that I will faithfully seek out the eggs and deal with them, so my questions at the moment are all about eggs really. I'm sure I will think of more though.
Thanks !
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Post by SnailsPace on Jan 31, 2011 15:45:27 GMT
Hiya and welcome to the forum! I've not got Jades myself but there's a topic on here called 'whats this, funny colour snails?' (if you click new topics it'll come up) and that says they are of the fulica family so there can be a couple of hundred eggs! Anyone disagree? I have heard that about giving them less substrate but surely if they bonk there will be eggs, I've heard of them still laying in shallow, in fact I got some unwanted fulica a few weeks ago who I know are always laying eggs and they just had a thin thin layer of bark chippings. When it's all lovely and warm you need to be checking every few days as the sooner you get them crushed/frozen the better. They seem to like laying near the edges so you may be able to see them through the glass, or give it a gentle stir through. I turn my coir over every few days anyway to make it all fresh and keep the wet coir evenly distributed. There are a couple of peole on here that have had the odd illuminous green egg but mostly they are white/off white, def easy to spot in the soil. When ae you getting your snails? If they are tiny babies you'll have a good few months before they start anyway. Look forward to more of your questions!  |
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Post by hopea2 on Jan 31, 2011 18:16:40 GMT
Hey, i have heard of snails being put off by a shallow level of soil, but as for experience the level of soil doesnt seem to matter as long as the other conditions are right, iv had the odd full clutch of eggs being layed at the shallow end of my tank (i slope my soil). The only sure fire way to ensure your snails never breed is to get young snails and keep them on their own. Even if you got an adult there is a chance it mated prior to it coming to you, and a couple of months later you find eggs, snails can store sperm till they want to lay. Its easy enough to dispose of the egss anyway and as long as you check every couple of days there wont be any accidental births. Again as Snailspace has said i have heard of green eggs, but personally all my eggs have been white and easy to spot. Fulica can lay 100-400 eggs per clutch and they can lay several a year!! Have you got the snail for the guy on the forum?
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Post by cherryred on Feb 2, 2011 10:51:49 GMT
Hi guys,
Thanks for the replies.
I am getting two jades from the other reptile forum member I mentioned (Ged). They are four and 3.5 inch shells so I'm guessing that's adult ? Or at least not babies. I've got my setup about to be dispatched from viovet and he's holding them for me until it gets here. I am going to keep them together - I am of the opinion that no creature likes to be alone.
Ok so - check for eggs every couple of days. Do they usually lay all together, as in, if I find one clutch (or really, two, as there will be two snails) would that be it for that egg cycle ? Or is it advisable to look for more in case they've spread them about abit ? Heh heh !
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Post by cherryred on Feb 2, 2011 11:22:06 GMT
And I have another question -- about poop !
Is it good to remove poop more frequently than the tank is totally cleaned out, as in, a substrate change ? And how often should I do a whole substrate change ? I've seen different recommendations, once a week, once a month, etc. I suppose it depends on how many snails you have I guess.
And finally, a weird one, do snails have sensitive hearing ? Both me and my fiance are musicians. He's a noisy guitarist and I'm a singer. I plan to keep the snails in my spare room where we have all our gear, including himself's guitar amps and my mac / garageband setup, because that's where I spend most of my time when I'm at home. The dogs don't seem to mind - they'll happily sit there when there's alot of noise going on so it's not deafeningly loud or anything. But are snails upset by loud noises ?
Thanks again !
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Post by hopea2 on Feb 2, 2011 13:09:33 GMT
hey, glad you got the snails, i noticed they were on hold but wasnt sure if you were the one to get them  when it comes to cleaning the tank you should clean it, emmm for your size of tank and number of snails, maybe every 2 to 4 weeks, depending whether you put the food in a dish or scatter it, if its in a dish you take most of the old food out so its not rotting, so you dont need to clean as much. I clean mine out every 3 to 4 weeks. You shouldnt clean it too much as the snails need the bacteria that comes from their poo and their food starting to break down. When it comes to eggs the snails might lay at the same time, but its only a coincidence, most of the time they lay whenever they please (my personal experience) when i find eggs (in my fulica tank) its usually one clutch and iv got 5 sexually mature snails in there. the eggs are usually all layed in one spot, iv only heard of snails scattering eggs never experienced it myself, after i check for eggs i give the soil a mix, which loosens the soil up and moves some of the poo around, i do it but dont know if its right or not, but it doesnt seem to affect the snails in anyway. The snails will be fine with the noise, they wont bother. |
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Post by SnailsPace on Feb 2, 2011 15:55:58 GMT
Snails have no ears so they'll be fine I change mine about once a month but every week I wipe inside the glass, take out most the poo and turn the soil over, it does depend on how many snails in the tank but you'll see when it needs doing. I feed mine on a little plastic plate so stop the food getting dirty |
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Post by cherryred on Feb 2, 2011 17:23:50 GMT
Oh man - no ears ? Poor old snails. So no moshing to Deep Purple for them then (showing my age now !)  I think I'll feed them on a plate or dish, I'll know where the food is then. Thanks for the advice guys. |
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Post by hopea2 on Feb 4, 2011 19:45:20 GMT
Just thought i would let you know i just found some eggs in my margie tank, which i found in the most shallow soil area in the tank. I have my soil on a slope so there is a really deap part for the snails to lay their eggs but for some reason the snail who layed the eggs under the flower pot which has less than 1cm of soil instead of the 6 inch deep end  |
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when it comes to cleaning the tank you should clean it, emmm for your size of tank and number of snails, maybe every 2 to 4 weeks, depending whether you put the food in a dish or scatter it, if its in a dish you take most of the old food out so its not rotting, so you dont need to clean as much. I clean mine out every 3 to 4 weeks. You shouldnt clean it too much as the snails need the bacteria that comes from their poo and their food starting to break down. When it comes to eggs the snails might lay at the same time, but its only a coincidence, most of the time they lay whenever they please (my personal experience) when i find eggs (in my fulica tank) its usually one clutch and iv got 5 sexually mature snails in there. the eggs are usually all layed in one spot, iv only heard of snails scattering eggs never experienced it myself, after i check for eggs i give the soil a mix, which loosens the soil up and moves some of the poo around, i do it but dont know if its right or not, but it doesnt seem to affect the snails in anyway. The snails will be fine with the noise, they wont bother.
