Uggh, mystery snail woes....

[dkpate]

So last night after my weekly pwc on my snail tank, I couldn't find my mystery, and I thought she was inside the cave.
Well today I actually lifted up the cave because I still didn't see her, and she is NOT there! Of course I freaked out....I looked everywhere even pulling the plants up. Well, then I think to look BEHIND the tank, and what do I find? My dang mystery snail stuck between the dresser and the wall!!! She was all sucked up in her shell and had the door closed as tight as possible.
I quickly picked her up and put her back in the water, and sat there for a good hour waiting to see if she would come out of her shell. I saw a little bit of her poking out but no more. I took a nap before work, and when I got up, she was up the wall of the glass hanging out. YAYY!
So anyway, she was out of the water for probably around 14 hours or so, and she is still truckin! I didn't think she would be able to fit through the holes in the lid of the aquarium, but she did, and I have since covered them. Mystery snails are TOUGH!
I hope she is still okay when I get home from work, because she is awesome! (BTW, she has now laid 9 clutches of eggs)

 

[Hovoc]

Glad you found her. Ive never had one sneak out, and recently just lost one of mine. Was about a week or so after purchase. I love snails

 

[dkpate]

I have lost 3 since I got them in December. They were pretty sickly looking (shells) when I got them though.

 

[mgamer20o0]

mine as long as the water line is down a inch or two they havent left the tank for me. i have about 200-300 at any given time maybe 2-3 deaths over the last 1-2 years crawling out.

glad to hear its ok.

 

[dkpate]

The water IS down 2 inches LOL, but she is always up in the lid and above the water line....She is curious I guess.
I still haven't had any eggs hatch though, I am gonna give up here soon.

 

[mgamer20o0]

have i told you how i hatch my eggs? how long have yours been in the tank?

 

[dkpate]

You told me you put yours on a sponge I think. I didn't have any sponges that didn't have that soapy junk in them, so I didn't use one. I did have a clutch get knocked off by momma to make room for a new one, and I scooped those out and put them in a tupperware on a wet paper towel, but I tossed them out because they didn't look too good after being dunked.
There are 3 clutches in the lid, and 3 right above the water line right now.

 

[mgamer20o0]

yea i use a container with lid put water in it with a sponge. i use the aquaclear sponges. i have the water just a tad under the sponge. this way it stays moist. it has worked for me. just give it more time maybe they will still hatch.

 

[dkpate]

Ahhhh, I see now!!! I just happen to have an unused filter sponge laying around! I floated the tupperware to keep the eggs warm, is that okay? Why the lid? The eggs that are still in there are between 1 and 3 weeks old, so I still have hopes.

 

[Jason7894561230]

lol snails are little buggers

 

[BigJim]

Glad you found your snail before it was too late. When my mysteries laid eggs, I just left the on the hood where they were laid. One clutch fell into the tank and didn't hatch, but the other two clutches did hatch. Unfortunately, something in my tank found out baby mystery snails taste good and they all disappeared while I was at work.

 

[dkpate]

I hope they don't eat my babies!

 

[BigJim]

In the future I think I'd try Mgamer's sponge method and separate the eggs from the rest of the tank and put them in my breeder trap or something. My wife was upset when all the snails disappeared. She liked the cute little translucent baby snails almost as much as she likes baby fish.

 

[dkpate]

Well, unless my ramshorn snail eats baby snails, I am not too worried, since there are no fish in there, just snails LOL. It's not a very exciting tank.

 

[Twoapennything]

The other day, when I got home from work, I found my snail, Gary, caught up in the uptake tube of the filter. His body was sucked into the tube, but obviously his shell wouldn't fit. I rescued him and he dropped to the floor of the tank and shut his door for about six hours. We weren't sure if he was dead or not! Then, he started moving around . . . and promptly got caught in the filter again. That time, he shut his door for over twelve hours. Finally, tonight, he was cruising around the tank again. Silly snails!