Feeding and Nutrition :: New to the snail thing?

[PaperFeathers]

I bought two Ramshorn snails at PetCo a few hours ago. They're pretty and such, but they look...dead. I know they're not, but they won't come out of their shell. Yes, I acclamated them for 30 minutes.

Currently I have them on top of the basking dock in a vertical position (the light is being pointed away...the turtles are entertaining themselves with the minnows.) with a leaf of some aquatic plants I also bought under them. They still haven't come out of their shell, and even if I tickle them with the leaves, they don't withdraw or slink out.

Googling some information on them was interesting, but according to the articles I read they seem more...lively.

I can't place them inbetween the plants 'cause one of my turtles attacks both of them immediately. I'm giving them a while to just get comfortable in the environment without any threat. For now.

Is this like, normal? They look dead. (I know they're not. They're very much alive with the elasticity they have in their shell.) Not active, not hungry, nothing.

Also, I got two aquatic plants I don't know of at PetCo. I didn't know my turtles would eat it when I put it in there, but they love it. They seem to even like it more then the Anacharis. Is there any particular plant that's bad for turtles? Could this be one of them, if so? They're just really long-stemmed and leafy. Healthy little things.

Thanks!

[ellman605]

yes its normal, if you smell them, and they dont smell like crap filled rotten eggs, then they arent dead.

[Turtleboy]

did u get a ramshorn or an applesnail? the reason i asked because ive never known you would or could buy em (ramshorn) as they are "pest snails"... you could basically walts into any fish store and ask to take some off their hands, applesnails are way bigger and commonly are yellowish-golden (there are a ton of other colors) those are the ones that petstores sell... anyhow if you got an applesnail you should really give them a day or two in the water to adjust themselves, putting them on land won't help much.. but anything in your turtle's tank is fair game for food so if u wanna keep it alive, would it be possible to keep it somewhere else? in another tank perhaps?

[PaperFeathers]

I got a Ramshorn snail. They were selling them for 99 cents at PetCo. They just had them in a tank, and they were all just there inactive and on their side. No eggs, no nothing. There were about ten or so.

These are the Columbian ones...they're black and cream striped.
They were selling a few other snails, but these were the least expensive. Anyway, the other ones were too beautiful. Exotic colours and shell shape. Not Applesnails though, I asked.

Which is actually rather weird, 'cause I live in Florida, and Applesnails are native to the Everglades. Very, very abundant in there, too. You could pick them off the trees over the swamps by the dozens.

Anyway, my turtle ate one of them already...it was kind of out of its shell a little, and now I looked in the shell and it's dead empty. The other one is so deep into its shell I can barely see it.
I'm going to leave the other Ramshorn on the dock. I don't want to see it get eaten. If I put them in another tank and tend to them too much, I know I'll get attatched to it. I rather just leave it in the turtle tank.

[Turtleboy]

in that case if you really want to multiply them, stick them in a small container of water and get some java moss in there.. throw in a piece of lettuce or cucumber (or even fish flake) and make sure the temperature isn't too cold (the warmer it is the more active it is) and within a few days you should have eggs, within a few weeks you should have MANY small ramshorn snaill... i had 4 throw in a heavily java mossed guppy tank (guppies couldn't care less for the snails) and within 3 months i had over 50 small ones half the size of a pencil eraser and about 10 pencil eraser tip size... good luck with ur snails!

[missibsu]

I've been breeding my snails for a little over a month now. I started with 6 and just recently gave away about 100 of them...with plenty left over. It save ever having to buy the things again if you have the resources for breeding. I too threw them in with the guppies (that I also breed) and they have been very successful. I think it's worth it, but that's just me.

[PaperFeathers]

Woah! That's a lot of snails! I don't think I'd want that damn many...I only have one now anyway. But I might just look into it...as well as the guppy breeding. I have a spare 10 gallon tank, so that just might be good enough, hopefully.

Where do you get Java Moss? Never heard of it.

I'm just afraid of overbreeding, though...I don't have anyone I'd know to give them away to, and I wouldn't want to squish them or anything like that. : / I'm really weak hearted. Maybe I'll look into it soon, though. Especially the guppy breeding.

[missibsu]

I joined my local freecycle.org group and I offered them to anyone who wanted them. It was actually a way to connect with other people in my area who have RES, because when they discovered what I used them for, the wanted some. Of course I also passed along the link to this site, I don't know where I'd be without it. Felt like I was doing community service, lol.

[Turtleboy]

java moss is an aqua plant that can be found commonly in fish stores that have a plant area... if not you could always buy it on ebay real cheap ( it doesnt require that much lighting so as long as there is some kind of light it will thrive) or you can cruise around fish forums and they usually have members selling them to you for a small price! keep in mind though, im not saying snails wont breed without it, i just found that they breed more rapidly and numerous with it!

snails help eat uneaten food and algae so if you get more than ur turtles can eat you could always let them slug around and do their stuff, clark loves hunting them down though.. i had about 20 snails in my tank when clark first moved into the tank and within 2 days the tank was snail free!

also, if you do plan on guppy breeding i'd suggest you get some plant or some kind of shelter for them when they hatch, alot of people has had success without it (don't ask me how, im still dumbfounded) but most of the time once the fry hatches the mother will try to eat them.. good luck!