Shells for shell-dwellers???

[Gulp]

I am about to pull my hair out finding shells for the brevis I ordered. None of my local grocery stores sell escargot, none of my LFS's sell Neothauma Tanganicensis shells, I can't find any decent shells at the craft stores around here, I swear there is not a French restaurant to call within 50 miles of here (I live in redneckville), the few places I have found that advertise them online either don't have them in stock, or won't return my e-mails to let me know if they have them........AGGHH. The fish will be here in two days and I don't have any homes for them. Any ideas? Does anyone have a good source for the Neothauma shells online? I have a few sea shells here at home that MIGHT work, but I think they are going to be too big.....

I guess I could go with hermit crab shells.........IF I could find any that weren't painted without stupid designs (the only type the stores around here seem to sell.

[Devilishturtles]

Wal-Mart. lol.

Go to the craft section. They have all kinds of shells. I bought a few of these for my sw hermits, and they have worked fine.

good luck.

[lyquidphyre]

Oh i know!

http://www.seashellcity.com/crabs/crabshells1.html

[Gulp]

Originally Posted by Devilishturtles

Wal-Mart. lol.

Go to the craft section. They have all kinds of shells. I bought a few of these for my sw hermits, and they have worked fine.

good luck.

We were just at Walmart tonight looking for shells. The Walmart around here is a Super........but we couldn't find any and it was too busy to find anyone to ask about them. We went there and a local dollar store but the only shells we found at the dollar store were very small. Maybe I'll go back again tomorrow and search a little harder now that I know they should be there.

[Gulp]

Originally Posted by lyquidphyre

Oh i know!

http://www.seashellcity.com/crabs/crabshells1.html

Sweet! Any idea what size opening I should get for brevis? I've read they are very pick and get stressed if they don't have the right size around. I guess I could order 7-8 of various sizes and see what they go for.

[Devilishturtles]

Originally Posted by Gulp

We were just at Walmart tonight looking for shells. The Walmart around here is a Super........but we couldn't find any and it was too busy to find anyone to ask about them. We went there and a local dollar store but the only shells we found at the dollar store were very small. Maybe I'll go back again tomorrow and search a little harder now that I know they should be there.

Definitley. If I'm thinking right, it's in the aisle with all the potpurri and such. There should be boxes of bags of them. At my walmart, the boxes are blue. lol.

good luck with your search.

[Gunnie]

Got this from a shellies forum:

Where do you get those shells?

[Gulp]

Originally Posted by Gunnie

Got this from a shellies forum:

Where do you get those shells?

Thanks for the link. Lots of good info there.

This place ( http://www.exotic-cichlids.com/Stock%20list.htm ) got back to me and they will be shipping me 8 Neothauma shells today. Total cost was $20. If they aren't here before I pick up the fish, I might just throw some PVC elbows in the tank as suggested on another forum.........if I don't find anything at Walmart tonight.

Thanks!

[Menagerie]

I would not use marine shells for FW fish. I'm glad you found the Neothauma Tanganicensis--I didn't realize they exported them. What company is it? The next best thing is to go to the LFS and ask for the dead snails. It's a bit gross, you'll get weird looks, but it's cheap and easy. I buy the dead snails for 25 cents each and then boil them. They are ready to go after that!

[Gulp]

Exotic-cichlids.com e-mailed me to let me know my 8 shells definitely shipped today and should be at my house by Friday. The little guys will just have to hide in rock until they get here for a couple of days (picking the fish up Thursday).