gardenman Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I've been looking to get some mystery snails for my tanks and was surprised to find many people on e-Bay selling the egg cases. Has anyone bought the egg cases and raised the snails from them? What's the procedure like? I'm waiting for the weather to moderate a bit before placing an order but I'm intrigued by the idea of ordering the egg cases and raising them myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 I've never heard of that. I suppose as long as they stay damp they're fine in the mail. There's tons of resources available online about incubating mystery snail eggs; it usually involves a small tupperware box with air holes drilled in the top you let float in your tank. You line the box with moist paper towels and make sure it doesn't get too wet in there, or else the egg case will mold. They hatch in a few weeks. If you do decide to buy some, make a thread about it, I'd love to see how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 I opted for a safer alternative and ordered eight ivory mystery snails instead. The seller promises two day delivery by Fed-Ex and includes an insulated box and heat packs for safe shipping, so I went ahead and ordered them now. I was intrigued by the egg cases, but they have a hundred eggs (more or less) and were of mixed varieties of mystery snails, so there was no way to know what you were getting. The price was pretty much the same as for the egg cases so I went with the sure option. I don't really need a hundred mystery snails. Eight is a more manageable number. These are already 3/4"-1" so they're a decent size also. I like the idea of ordering the egg cases, but considering the similar costs and uncertainty, I opted for the surer thing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDoc Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 And with 8 mystery snails, you'll be getting your own egg clutches in no time! 😁😂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 hahah, yeah, depending on your tank size, you'll have your hands full with 8. I have 3 in my 36 gallon livebearer tank along with ramshorns and I'm already feeling overstocked (that's also the ramshorns' fault...and the livebearers). But yeah mystery snails can get shockingly large. My biggest, Tentacles (pr. like Hercules), is about an inch and a half long and throws his or her weight around. Even my pregnant platies will be like "it's fine, I didn't even want that sinking algae wafer" when Tentacles comes around. They've laid their first egg clutch and I'm a little terrified of how many snails I'm going to get. Hope local pet stores are ready for me! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 2 hours ago, MDoc said: And with 8 mystery snails, you'll be getting your own egg clutches in no time! 😁😂 I kind of figured that myself. That's another reason I went with the Ivory snails as they may be easier to sell/trade down the road. You don't see them much locally. The more common varieties are pretty regularly available, but the Ivory ones are a bit more rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casual aquatics Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Cant have too many snails anyway!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.K.Luterman Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 If you ever start to feel overwhelmed, you can always discard the egg clusters instead of letting them hatch. Mystery snails are great in that you can control their populations easier than most snails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 3 hours ago, H.K.Luterman said: If you ever start to feel overwhelmed, you can always discard the egg clusters instead of letting them hatch. Mystery snails are great in that you can control their populations easier than most snails. You can also sell the egg clusters on e-Bay these days. I was very tempted to try buying the egg cluster, but the prices were very similar, so I opted for the bigger snails. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GardenStateGoldfish Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 I have heard of people buying/selling the egg cases, but if you don't know what your doing (or don't have a trusted seller) id just buy the snails, If you plan on breeding them, I recommend having a lid that they can climb onto and deposit the eggs, otherwise you will need to keep your tank level lower and you will need to remove the clutch and put it in a moist paper towel and stick it in a homemade incubator (plastic container) to keep it safe for them. If you leave them on a lid, you may yield less then the incubator approach, but its ez maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenman Posted February 15, 2021 Author Share Posted February 15, 2021 My tanks use a homemade cover where there's about eight inches of space between the waterline and the acrylic cover/light. That gives mystery snails lots of space to lay their eggs. Here's a photo of one of my covers. There's plenty of room for the snails to crawl above the waterline and lay some egg cases. It keeps the humidity inside the top very high also. It should be a nearly ideal way to raise mystery snails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S. Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 I didn't realize how long they could store. I got one mystery snail last summer as a single. It just now deposited eggs on the lid of my tank. I am attempting to hatch them as is on the lid. We'll see how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric R Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 On 2/13/2021 at 4:44 PM, Kirsten said: They've laid their first egg clutch and I'm a little terrified of how many snails I'm going to get. Hope local pet stores are ready for me @Kirsten you've got some gorgeous purple snails. I have a gold trio I'm trying to breed. Wondering if I can find the same color as yours at my LFS. If not, maybe you'd be willing to ship some offspring to VT, hmm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 (edited) 56 minutes ago, ererer said: @Kirsten you've got some gorgeous purple snails. I have a gold trio I'm trying to breed. Wondering if I can find the same color as yours at my LFS. If not, maybe you'd be willing to ship some offspring to VT, hmm? 100%. I'll be in touch when some hatch! (edit to say: Sorry, no can do!) Edited February 24, 2021 by Kirsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 16 minutes ago, Kirsten said: 100%. I'll be in touch when some hatch! I always hate being the bearer of bad news when people are just trying to help each other out but...one of the guidelines is: Which means we can't use the forum as an avenue to trade with or give away aquarium related supplies or animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 25 minutes ago, Daniel said: I always hate being the bearer of bad news when people are just trying to help each other out but...one of the guidelines is: Which means we can't use the forum as an avenue to trade with or give away aquarium related supplies or animals. Ah, you're right. Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casual aquatics Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 Just now, Daniel 16 minutes ago, Kirsten said: 100%. I'll be in touch when some hatch! I always hate being the bearer of bad news when people are just trying to help each other out but...one of the guidelines is: Which means we can't use the forum as an avenue to trade with or give away aquarium related supplies or animals. Are you aloud to suggest a different avenue to communicate on about such? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 5 hours ago, Casual aquatics said: Are you aloud to suggest a different avenue to communicate on about such? No, the forum's function is to allow people to talk about fish and related topics and that is very valuable, especially when people can do that in a kind and helpful way. Once the discussion turns to giving, trading or selling, the valuable resource this forum has become is put at risk. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse T Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 (edited) After having some adult mystery snails arrive DOA, I decided to purchase a clutch of purple mystery snail eggs to see if I would have better luck. I placed the eggs on some damp paper towels in a small plastic food container with holes poked in the lid. Floated this container in one of my aquariums and the eggs were hatching within the week! (Note that I do not know how old the eggs were when I received them so ymmv.) Keep in mind if you go this route that you need to have a game plan of what to do with 100+ mystery snails. Edited February 25, 2021 by Jesse T 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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