Apple Snails

Hi All

This morning while doing a water change I have foung Apple Snail eggs on the canopy of my aquarium :bigsmile: . Does anyone have information on how to hatch these to feeding the little ones and creating the right environment for them. Any information will be appreciated.

TIA
Peter

 

After the eggs are deposited, they are soft and have a rather milky, pink colour. After a few hours, they harden and get their definitive colour (from pale pink to raspberry-red or even greenish depending of the species). It might happen that the eggs at the surface dry out, on which they get a lighter colour.

The size of the eggs varies from 2.2 to 3.5 mm / 0.01 to 0.14 inch each (in case of Pomacea canaliculata), whereas Pomacea paludosa and Pila globosa for example lay eggs with a diameter of 4 to 7 mm / 0.16 to 0.28 inch. The eggs at the surface probably won't deliver you many little snails when the air humidity is not optimal, but often the eggs deeper inside the clutch thrive well.

It's no problem to transfer the egg clutch to another location, as long as you are careful not cause too much damage. A damages clutch is more prone to infections and evaporation. The best way to move the eggs is by wetting the clutch, wait a few hours and then carefully move the clutch over the surface until it comes off. Obviously this method is of most successful on glass or other smooth surfaces.

It's important to keep the eggs in a moist, but not wet environment.

Never keep these eggs under water (this will drown the embryos)! Keep the temperature between 18 and 28°C. The higher the temperature, the faster the snails will hatch.

Note!: Not all apple snails from the genus Pomacea lay their eggs above the waterline in a clutch. Pomacea urceus lays about 50 to 200 orange eggs at the inside of the shell near the aperture.
The eggs are brooded in this incubation chamber, closed off with the mother's operculum (shell-door), while the snail aestivates in the dry mud during the dry season.
The young snails hatch during this period and crawl around under the female's shell until the rainy season starts. A side effect of this reproduction method is visible as eggscars on the mother's shell at the place where the eggs were attached.

How can I see if a have a male or a female apple snail?
A relative easy (?) way to determine the sex of an apple snail is by taking the snail out of the water, keep it on it's back and wait until the animal comes out of its shell.
At that moment you have to take a look at the upper part of the right mantle cavity. Close to the edge of the shell, you can see the penis sheath starting .
Some experience might be needed for this, but once you have seen the difference between the male and the female snail you'll find it less difficult to determine the sex of an apple in the future.

Another option is to wait until the snail copulate. When they're mating, the male snail creeps on the shell of the female and puts his penis in her. At that point you know that the one on top is the male and the other is the female.

The third way to differentiate the sexes is based on the fact that male snail have a rounder shell opening (aperture). In the case you are the lucky owner of several apple snails, you can compare the aperture height/width to determine the sexes of your snails.

There also is a fourth way: killing the animal and having a look at the inside.
But I guess you prefer to keep your snails alive.:bigsmile:

 

You can also search the web: just applesnails.com.

 

Lol.

As Slojo did

 

I thought this thread would be about the new iSnail...

 

Yes and copy and paste it in a word document for yourself for future references.:bigsmile: