Apple Snails Egg Questions

[MarkN]

Not sure if this is the right forum but they are breeding and I have a few questions. Anyone on here have experience with apple snails and their eggs? I have three cluthes of eggs and I am curious what people on here have done to hatch them? I took mine off the glass with razor blade and put them into a "tupperware like" container with some damp paper towel and put them in a relativley warm spot to keep them warm and humid. Am I doing things right? Any ideas on length of term? I have read 2-4 weeks but I am looking for some personal accounts? Also what to feed babies if they do hatch.

Thanks for your help Mark

Oh yeah are they seasonal breeders or could I expect this all the time?

[Wingin' It]

I waited too long and mine died trying to get out. I wait a full 4 weeks, but after about 2 weeks I started seeing snails and that's probably when I should have dropped them in the tank.

[timbruun]

I've heard of doing the tupperware with paper towel and keeping it moist. Then just keep it on your tank lights. Shoudl have enough heat. Sounds like you're doing things right to me.

[BettaFishMommy]

i've bred and raised about 7 generations of apples. they are not seasonal breeders, they'll create snail porn, lol, whenever they please as long as the food is plentiful and the water is to their liking.

best thing to do with the clutches when they are laid under the rim of the tank is to just leave them alone and let them hatch. warning! each clutch could yield a potential of 200 babies! if you have 3 clutches you might want to consider only letting one of them hatch, to keep the population of babies under control. the other clutches you can just put in a ziploc, freeze, and toss in the garbage. if clutches are laid near a light or somewhere where the babies aren't able to easily get into the water then you definitely want to set up something to help them out.

when the babies hatch the first thing they need to do is get into the water. that is why the clutches are best left alone, since the momma snail usually picks what she feels is the best place for the clutch to hatch. my females are notorious for laying clutches behind the output of hob filters where the air moisture in the tank is highest.

one thing i did last summer that worked really well is use a pop cup lid (like the ones at mcdonalds). punch out the straw area to make a hole. float the lid on one of those floating feeder rings that attaches to the side of the tank with a suction cup on an arm. make sure you set this contraption up where the water is calm or else the current will make the lid come off the feeder ring.

4 weeks is generally the max time for hatching out. it all depends on the conditions and humidity. Wingin, your clutch probably didn't make it because it was too dry and the husks of the eggs too hard for the snails to hatch out. sometimes you might want to mist the clutch with a little water if it seems dry or brittle.

here's a couple shots of my set up (note, this was before i punched the hole in the middle of the pop lid):

Edited February 12, 2010 by BettaFishMommy