Need help with snails please

[Psychobunny]

Well, I have had 3 land snails for a few months now, and it's high time to clean
the terrarium, it's pretty nasty in there! slime and poop everywhere
I will have to remove them for the cleaning, and dump the dirt, put in clean dirt!
I see a few spots where they dug, and I don't want to toss any eggs, if any.

So, what should I be looking for? what do the eggs look like?

If I could carefully remove the dirt where eggs may be, I could transfer them
to something else, but I don't see anything

Any suggestions?

 

[MelissaB]

You'll know them when you see them. There's pics on the forum, I'll look for in a minute. They're the size of BBs, and white like little translucent pearls. They should all be together in a clump.

ETA:
Here's a link to Sandra's blog on snails. There is a picture of snail eggs down towards the bottom. It's the photo posted by Pigglett:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/133-snails.html

 

[Psychobunny]

Okay, I will look for little snail caviar
Thanks, this is not a job I look forward too
I hope it's worth it in the end!

 

[MelissaB]

I wish you luck on your treasure hunt. I use an old spoon, and just start gently digging.

 

[LLGabriel]

Clean up is a TON easier if you let everything dry out before you clean it. I just transfer my snails to another small tank. Put a light fan breeze on the tank that needs to be cleaned and in a short time everything will be dried up in there.

Of course, that's AFTER you do your snail baby hunting. Haha. You definitely can't miss the babies. They are pretty white, kind of translucent. They are clumped together so if you have gentle hands, you should be able to get the whole clump out together. I don't have the best steady hands so a few of mine have broke apart. Still all good. Just takes a little longer to gather.

 

[Psychobunny]

Okay, that makes sense, I will remove the snails, go hunting for eggs, and
let it dry out and clean it.
So, if I do find eggs, I just put them in a separate container, do I need to put
a layer of dirt down?
Do the eggs need to incubate at a certain temp?

 

[LLGabriel]

Just pull the egg clumps out and put them in a container with your non adults... that's what I do. I line up the clumps in the front of the tank and bury them in the soil so I can watch them morph ( or whatever you call it lol ). It's so cool.

Here are a few pics of mine. I'm sorry for the picture quality. Thanks to Rachelle.. pigglett79.. I have learned the ways of the snail keeping.. haha!

I keep the eggs the same way I keep the others as far as temps go.

 

[deadhd5]

You will definitely want to transfer the eggs to another "rearing tank" before they hatch in order to avoid parasite transmission to the babies. Also, avoid moving dirt from the adult tank into the rearing tank as the dirt will carry parasites.

I always wash the eggs in pure water before I bury them in the rearing tank.

Also, I change the dirt about once every month to avoid fungus gnats. The snails really seem to love when there is new dirt. I can tell because they all start exploring and having sex after they get a new bed of dirt.

The real fun begins when you have to start cleaning the rearing tank.

 

[LLGabriel]

^ Haha agreed! It's a pain.. but I would say, somewhat therapeutic for me! They DO love that fresh dirt!

 

[pigglett79]

I usually let the tank dry out for the day. Then I remove all snails and put them in a container with a little water and a lid. I then use a plastic spoon to gently dig through the dirt starting at one end and moving to the other. I scoop out all egg clusters and put them in a bowl. Once the tank if empty of snails and eggs I dump it, scrub it with soap and water and put in fresh substrate.

I then clean and rinse off large snails and any other items that are going back in and mist it real good. Put the snail back in and burry the eggs in the dirt.

 

[Psychobunny]

I usually let the tank dry out for the day. Then I remove all snails and put them in a container with a little water and a lid. I then use a plastic spoon to gently dig through the dirt starting at one end and moving to the other. I scoop out all egg clusters and put them in a bowl. Once the tank if empty of snails and eggs I dump it, scrub it with soap and water and put in fresh substrate.

I then clean and rinse off large snails and any other items that are going back in and mist it real good. Put the snail back in and burry the eggs in the dirt.

Okay, that sounds like the easiest plan.
When I look at how gross their tank is, I dread doing this job!

I asked the guy at snainsinthemail about parasites, and the separating thing,
and he told me you never need to separate the babies because he gets his
snail from a organic snail farm in Calif. and no parasites.
He said the baby snails ride around on the bigger snail's backs!!

So his advise would be; remove adults and eggs, dump old dirt and clean tank,
put in fresh dirt, return adults to tank and put eggs back in the fresh dirt!