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What is Coming Out of Our Snail??

7K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  Trishfish 
#1 ·
Ok, these are not eggs. We have a snail in each tank, but this is the only tank that has this. I saw it coming out of the snail, somehow. (I'm not up on my snail anatomy) These are not eggs. The only thing I can think of is this snail is eating the driftwood and this is snail poop full of driftwood? I vacuum it out of the tank and it's back in 2 days or so, and it seems to appear only where the snail goes. PS: Whatever this is it is NOT alive!

 
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#3 ·
For what it's worth, he's a big snail. But OH MY GOD! There is so much of this, I have no idea what the heck it is. I vacuum it up and it's back a few days later. It's in the substrate of the area that the snail always is, in the terracotta pot that the snail hangs out in, and on the plants that the snail goes on. It's got to be from him, but what is it???
 
#5 ·
I don't know, so I guess it's a mystery snail. But it is BIG. Do they eat driftwood? That is when I noticed the brown dot things. I thought it was from our African Dwarf frog(s), but they died (that is also a huge mystery to me). :(
 
#7 ·
Well it looks like the standard snail poo but you are right, holly poop machines!

You also big as in how big? I think, well with what I have read that mystery snails only get about the size of a golfball. Is this one bigger than that? Another possibility is that like most fish, it is emptying its' "GUT" in order to make room for eggs and is getting ready to lay it's eggs.

Do you have a picture of this brute?
 
#9 ·
I did have another thought. Maybe the little lady is simply trying to clean out here system from a bad diet from before. I don't know how long you have had her but when I got my Colombian Ramshrons they did the same thing like a month after I got them. Real mess but when I started to feed them the romaine lettuce they really cleaned up and the poop productin dropped to "normal" levels.
 
#10 ·
I guess it's possible... I'm giving her bottom feeder pellets, and the algae in the tank, and the driftwood. It's basically the same for all my snails (3 in 3 different tanks) but this one is the largest and this tank is the only one with driftwood.

I tried the lettuce thing but it made a mess in the tank!
 
#11 ·
I'm enjoying my new betta/snail tank...yesterday I watched one of my new half-dozen do some major pooping! :shock:

At any rate...try zucchini instead of lettuce...less messy in tanks...
 
#13 ·
Romaine lettuce has never made a mess in my tanks and I leave it in there for well over 48 hours sometimes. I do not blanch it or cook it all and the snails eat it fine. Regular lettuce will make a mess in about 12 hours if it isn't extremely fresh but not Romaine or leaf lettuce. But yes, Zucchini will work as well but get all the seeds out and leave just a little bit of the flesh, about 1/4 inch on the rind. The snails should eat most of it before it turns to mush that way. Fiddle with the size of the piece and you shouldn't have any left over once you get it right after 24 hours.

Thank Trishfish also, she has taught me a lot and is very good with snails, especially breeding and identifying them.
 
#14 ·
Not a lot of seeds in zucchini...are you thinking cucumber?

It was/is a great day! The snails are much more entertaining than I had imagined...er, if I ever imagined snail being entertaining... :lol:
 
#15 ·
Fish4All--I'm glad to hear your snails are eating!

I never remove the seed from zucchini or summer squash. My snails love everything but the rind. I do nuke them for a minute first and in the morning I remove the leftover rings. I'm pretty low maintenance that way! LOL

Susan--one other thought on the lovely mess in your driftwood tank. Are you feeding the snails enough vegetable matter? Perhaps they're just hungry and want more to eat. Mine seem to hoover up all the fishie leftovers first but then start in on the veges. By morning I usually have close to nothing left. See if more food doesn't solve your problem. Mine love zucchini, squash, kale, romaine, peas with the shells off, french cut green beans, apples, split grapes and tons more. Dandelion leaves are also a favorite, well-washed with no pesticides. I remove anything that's not eaten after 12 hours, and a few hours for the juicier things like grapes and those I don't give often.
 
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