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Post by eibhlin on Jun 30, 2016 5:34:38 GMT
Ok so i lost a snail for 2 days. A week ago this happened a well and i found out that this snail was laying eggs. This morning i started digging to find the little fella. After almost emptying half of my tank i finally found him! He was in my fern and same as last time, laying/laid eggs between the roots. I placed the snail somewhere safe and scooped out the eggs. Looked carefully to see if i had them all. Now, the first eggs that i found, i placed them outside. I watched them closely but it seems none of them hatched. I'm a bit worried that i didn't burry them right or something. So now i'm planning on keeping the eggs inside in a small container and let them hatch there. Then i'll probably pick one or 2 that i'll keep and the other can joy my huge garden colony. It will be hard to let them go but i feel bad about the eggs that didn't hatch. So i want to give these a better chance maybe. I saw on here that it can take about a week for them to hatch? I'm going to get a small container today and put them in there in some soil from the big tank.
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Post by Borini. on Jun 30, 2016 19:46:01 GMT
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Post by eibhlin on Jun 30, 2016 19:57:03 GMT
Hmm ok i'll watch them closely. Is it ok to put them in the soil next to the plastic so i can see what is going on? Or do they need complete coverage? So far no hatching yet. They are in the big spare tank now because the small ones were sold out. They get a new delivery tomorrow so i'm going to get one then. I prefer them in something small so i can watch them closely. When they grow bigger i'll add them in the bigger tank and after a while i keep a few and they go with the rest.
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Post by Borini. on Jun 30, 2016 20:17:04 GMT
I tend to not touch my eggs (unless I'm freezing) and leave them subdued in moss (or wherever the snail deems best to lay). If you are delicate they should be fine, though. Try and scoop up the dirt rather than touch the egg individually. You'll be fine to move the babies to a smaller tank once they've hatched. Placing a bit of food near them which they'll crawl on makes transporting them easier.
That said, they will be fine with the adults from birth, too, especially in a large tank (if you want to avoid moving). But, you'll be to keep a much better eye on them in a smaller tank - especially making sure they're eating.
True, they are very fragile, especially at the mercy of our fingers, but at the same time remain both vigilant and resilient when faced with larger snails. My babies (reticulata) do sometimes agitate achatina achatina in my mixed tank, though. I'm not sure if you'll be mixing species/tanks but its food for thought.
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Post by eibhlin on Jun 30, 2016 20:56:22 GMT
I scooped them out with a spoon. I removed some of the dirt they were in but they were against the roots of the plant. I don't want to keep them in my big tank because of the gap between the glass sliding doors. They can possibly slip trough it (or get squished if i don't notice them). So i'll keep them separate in a plastic tank. They are in a small glass in the soil of my big spare tank for now. This way i don't have to scoop them out again when i have a suitable final tank to put them in. I can just move the eggs and soil gently into the soil in the small tank and then leave them be. A bit of moving around unfortunately but i try to be as gentle as i can be. Usually they have a ton of these small plastic containers and exactly today they were sold out How deep should i put them into the soil? Some eggs were almost at the bottom of my plant pot but other were rather on the surface. They were kinda spread out all over the plant roots.
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Post by Borini. on Jun 30, 2016 21:17:08 GMT
Depth-wise, I am not sure. I'd guess my recent batch were at 8 inches, but they're a different species to your snail. It should really come down to the incubation and moisture in the substrate. I can't cater it to C. nemoralis as I've never kept or bred them. As an indicator for you, with achatina reticulata, I'd ideally be getting a temperature (checked with a probe inserted into the substrate) of around 23-30 degrees Celsius (73-86 Fahrenheit) in a moist substrate (I use coir and live moss) to allow for embryonic development.
Has the snail just became sexually active? Sporadic egg laying may suggest they are infertile and the snail is exploring this new natural phenomenon. If they are fertile and you need to move them for safety I can only suggest you try and mimic the conditions in which the snail laid them. I've found the less interference, the more chance of success. If you mimic the snails natural habitat in terms of temperature, humidity, day/night - nature should really take care of the rest when it comes to breeding.
I'm sorry I can't be much help. I'm sure they'll be people logging in over the coming days with far more knowledge of C. nemoralis. Please keep me updated though.
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Post by eibhlin on Jun 30, 2016 21:24:02 GMT
They come from my garden so the mimicking of the environment isn't hard. It's actually a nicer temp in here than it is outside. It is supposed to be summer... not so much... I don't really know if she is fertile. I have some snails from my garden and i don't have them that long. They are all mature as far as i can tell (belly button thing check). Chances are that she maybe mated outside or something before i took them in. I haven't seen them breeding so far. And i have been watching them a lot, they are next to my couch. I think, if she mated in the tank, then there would be 2 snails laying eggs; That wasn't the case. I only have 3 cepaea and they have plenty of room so i think changes are smaller for them to bread? They mostly just go their own way. Sometimes they sit next to each other but more often they don't.
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Post by Borini. on Jun 30, 2016 21:32:19 GMT
If there's great difference in size the larger snail will normally carry the eggs, but the yes there is a chance all three could mate and become pregnant.
I think they'll be fine in a large tank, and will definitely appreciate the space. Snails will roam in the wild, and I imagine pheromones in the slime will attract them all together to mate. That is their purpose in life, after all. ;-)
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Post by eibhlin on Jul 1, 2016 14:28:14 GMT
Ok so i moved them to my smaller box. I placed them a bit near the side so i can see what happens. I've seen a lot of snails putting their eggs on the side so it's probably fine. I did place the box against my wall so there isn't direct light on them the whole time. I hope i didn't damage them. I used a plastic spoon to be as safe as possible.
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Post by Borini. on Jul 1, 2016 17:30:05 GMT
They should be fine. I do like your terrarium and cabinet set up.
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Post by eibhlin on Jul 1, 2016 18:12:47 GMT
They should be fine. I do like your terrarium and cabinet set up. Thanks It looks like there is a mountain of food in it when i look at the pic haha.
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Post by eibhlin on Jul 3, 2016 8:34:01 GMT
Sooo... I discovered this morning that my Helix Aspersum also laid a batch of eggs. I'm going to be an expert on snail behavior i guess haha. I somehow always know it when, who and where there are eggs. The snails had been sitting all quiet all day yesterday and didn't come to eat. That kinda triggered my gut feeling. So today i took the plant out where she had been. And yep... eggs. Wow those are big compared with the cepaea ones! I took them out and placed them in the box with the other eggs. Buuuuut. Now i wonder, if both batched hatch. Wouldn't the box be a bit overcrowded?
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Post by Borini. on Jul 4, 2016 19:24:30 GMT
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Post by eibhlin on Jul 4, 2016 20:46:46 GMT
No progress yet. They are still little eggies. I'm only going to keep 2 of the cepaea i think... if they hatch. But i have a big spare box the seize of the one you linked.
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Post by eibhlin on Jul 11, 2016 22:41:09 GMT
Ommggg, The eggs started to turn lucid and i can see tiny thingies in them. I think they will hatch soon. Only the cepaea batch doesn't have all the eggs that way, some are still solid white. Im a bit scared that the snails will be so tiny they could escape the container? Hope not.
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