what to feed babies?

[flutterby]

I bought some snails off ebay (iredalei snails) it said babies on the listing, and when they came oh boy are they babies. They are smaller than a 5 pence piece! Not sure what I expected from babies but did not expect them to be this tiny........ So what do I feed them, they came with some lettuce, not sure what type, I gave them some cucumber and they slimed over it, took a bite and then slimed off it again. I get that you feed them on squishy food that the adults eat but I'm just asking to be on the safe side. So tomato? Romaine and little gem lettuce? What about peppers? not even given them to my older snails yet bt i have some in stock. Wet goldfish flakes?

They have cuttlefish and i've dusted their food with limestone power. They have some substrate and are kept damp just like the adults (just substrate less deep).

Anything else i should provide them with?

I really was not expecting them this small, they're so cute and made me so happy to 1st see them but now im full of worry for them and hoping they're the right species too coz its hard to tell with such tiny babies.

Should i be keeping them warmer than my slightly older snails? (by slightly older i mean around the 6 month mark lol)

[evonnetracey]

i give my babys corgette, lettuce and cucumber and some melon and sweet potato i would just leave it in for today mine went to it eventually and now they dont stop eating lol x

[AlienSnail]

I feed baby snails the same as the aduls, though sometimes the babies appreciate hard food like sweet potato after it's been slightly softend in boiling water. Fishflakes tend to go down well (soggy)
However this advice is for babies in general, I don't keep Iredalei so I don't know if there is anything specific for them.
I keep the babies at the same temperatre as adults. I often place the babies in a tub within the adult's tank and then release them when they are big enough to not get lost in there.

[feebix]

Yeah same food as adults really. Try and offer a good variety too. Fish flakes aswell yes they`ll go down well. Id make the substrate as deep as normal, after all that helps with humidity in a big way and these guys do have a habit of dropping dead. I know of a few other keepers aswell as me that just can`t seem to keep the buggers alive! So humid warm, more humid and warm again lol Try a mango, they love that stuff and it looks lovely in the tank....... ;D

[AlienSnail]

Aug 29, 2010 9:27:41 GMT feebix said:

Yeah same food as adults really. Try and offer a good variety too. Fish flakes aswell yes they`ll go down well. Id make the substrate as deep as normal, after all that helps with humidity in a big way and these guys do have a habit of dropping dead. I know of a few other keepers aswell as me that just can`t seem to keep the buggers alive! So humid warm, more humid and warm again lol Try a mango, they love that stuff and it looks lovely in the tank....... ;D

Yeah that's me too - can't keep Iredalei for some reason, of any age. However if you have had your older ones for a while and they appear to be thriving then keeping your babies in a similar way should work. This works for the majority species.

[flutterby]

I put kitchen roll in under the substrate to help with the dampness which works. Worried now you guys have said yours all died never kept iredalei before, I have retics and rodatzi's, which are both quite hardy I think.

[Alisha]

Aug 29, 2010 20:33:50 GMT flutterby said:

I put kitchen roll in under the substrate to help with the dampness which works. Worried now you guys have said yours all died never kept iredalei before, I have retics and rodatzi's, which are both quite hardy I think.

Have you looked up the needs for this species? Habitat and feeding, and how it gives birth to live young ect?

If you have then you should be fine.
Some people just don't have much luck with certain species.
Me I can't seem to keep Fulica properly, they always seem to have problems ect depsite many people claiming they're the easiest to keep.
I'm finding Tigers quite easy at the moment, but that might change.
It's all just part and parcel of experiance.

[flutterby]

I know they have live young and they don't grow as big, it was them two facts as well their colouring that drew me to them. Im on another forum now too, just collecting more info, but so far all i know is to keep them thesame as any other average GALS. I don't think i'll ever stop hording snail info, creeps people out how much i know about them lol.

And you have tigers!!! I love them snails, their shells are beautiful, i hope to eventually own some. I now have a list of snails i'd like to own lol.

[flutterby]

and AlienSnail, thanks for the tip, they loved softened sweet potato!!!

[Alisha]

Yeah, I'm sort of trying to gather experiance really.
Pick out my fave species and then try and breed them when I get more time.