BlackMumba Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 Hey this is for anyone who, loves snails or didn't know.... I was at Big Al's yesterday, of course looking for some ladies for my boys (bettas) at home. I have also fell in love with these Mystery Snails. I was doing research on these beautiful creatures. Only to learn they aren't hermaphroditc. Puzzled I tried to see if I could tell the difference from my four (oh now five) hehehe.... I couldn't Always hopeful someone at the fishy stores that were selling them could, to make me more puzzled, they informed me that they are hermaphroditc snails. I tried to explain to them that I have read they are not. A very helpful and sweet gent working at Big Al's in Edmonton, I thank him muchly looked it up for me! Through his UofA contacts (info) confirmed that they are infact either Male or Female but not both. We did try to find the difference in the tank we think we found the formula. So, if your looking for a fantastic tank cleaner with out the pain of having a million snails I think these guys are great and big too work wonderfully for larger tanks. Although, if you have nippers for fish I wouldn't recommend them for they have long feelers and don't like it when fish nip at them all day long. IF someone who is a fan of these guys and can add a few tips on how to tell the difference I would love to hear from them, for finding someone who knows alot about them is hard to come by. Snails got such a bad rap!!!!! One bad snail, spoiled it for the rest! umm.. where is the spell check oh found it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 .......and the caramilk secret is.......? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 There's some good sexing info and pictures at applesnail.net- look under 'Anatomy'/ 'Reproduction'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapeape Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 LOL , I breed them and cant tell the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted June 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 OH Oops, I forgot to add what the Big Al's guy and I think is the difference, as well as http://www.applesnail.net (with pictures) <-- i like pictures ... hahaha We went into the tank and took out different snails and felt them each (he did not me) and there was a difference in the lip of the snails shell. Assuming this might be one way to tell. It was obvious they had in the tank male and female because of the clutches of eggs on the top of the tank. But the million dollar question is???? which is which... I am still baffled...but I am going to find it out!!!! (note: I am way not a rocket scientist) Still working on becoming smarter then a fifth grader!!!! -roll- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted June 1, 2007 Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 They are fun to keep. I've got a population that is breeding consistently now. Only white bodied ones with all 4 colour variants. I don't bother sexing them.. I let them sort it out themselves lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristarockstar Posted June 3, 2007 Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 I love these snails too and have has fun hatching out a couple of batches of babies. I'm not very good at sexing either but the pictures here help: http://www.thesnailstore.com/index.php?act...oc&docId=28 You basically hold the snail with the trap door vertically towards you and the snail eventually comes out and reaches down to find something to crawl on. The female has a wide open space at the top and the male has a flap going across. They are so fun to watch cruising around the tank, and they are great for fry tanks too. I currently have the following colours: pink, pink stripe, chocolate stripe, gold, blue, jade and purple. And have had batches of chocolate stripe, gold and ivory babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted June 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2007 Oh, Thanks... the diagrams I was seeing didn't really point me into the right direction. Guess what I am gonna be doing, hahah sexing my 5 snails now... I haven't had any clutches, not sure why. Seeing as they are easy to breed. I haven't got any clutches YET .... :boxed: Now armed with this knowledge maybe soon I will have sucess. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristarockstar Posted June 4, 2007 Report Share Posted June 4, 2007 When I first got a few I had two clutches within a month then went months without any. Then recently I had five clutches! (Just hatched out two though) So it seems pretty random though. Some tanks I have had clutches and some none at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristarockstar Posted June 5, 2007 Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 any luck with the sexing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted June 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 Well, good news and bad news.... *sigh* Well the good news is I think I have a combination boys and girls, if I am doing it right! Which is great, bad news is I just lost two of my snails to an unknown source, they were both in different tanks. The only thing I can think of is I gave them lettuce in each tank, although the other 3 snails are fine. I rinsed the lettuce really good I thought .. Dunno what else it could have been. One was inactive before I tried to sex him, the other was still okay ... but I could sex it cause it wouldn't open all the way prob, cause it was ill. So, back to the drawing board. Oh and the age of them I don't think matter they were two different sizes, one large golf ball. The other half that size. It's a mystery !! (pardon the pun).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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