Breeding A Snail Colony?

[bareass]

i'm not sure what your winters are like, i think i would have to dig a bit to get to soft enough ground. i think i'll wait to the spring, unless i find some in a potted plant we brought in for the winter. I'm going to try growing a shoot of it, its a fig tree and would be cool if i can grow it like a banzi out of one. it -10 celsius here so its pretty cold to go looking for bugs right now outside!

[DazzleDiscus]

haha oh wow- yes that does seem a bit cold to be bug hunting

[froggsong]

Actually, it's best to look for isopods in DAMP areas. Like I said, they are crustaceans and breathe with modified gills.

[bareass]

ya i've heard that before, and i usually look in my mom's garden. we don't use pesticides so i'm pretty safe with that, and i won't be feeding them right away.
i'm still going to wait until the spring, i'm using the tank i'll be putting them in right now for a crested. and don't like the cold!

[Emperornibble]

In an aged tank with lots of algae and good lights, you could keep tons of them. Just make sure there are plenty of plants, snails like to lay their eggs in them. Plus the dying leaves help feed the algae which feeds the snails, which feed your critters. Add fish food as needed to keep the algae growing.

[thomasw_lrd]

Originally Posted by DazzleDiscus

water snails would be very easy to breed- and can be found moving around in ponds during the cold months. One thing that must be done if you do decide to harvest some during the winter is to defrost them. Leave them in a bucket of pond water in a cool part of your house or garage, and slowly bring them into warmer areas. Otherwise (talking from experience) they will die of shock. haha- I guess if you move slowly then it takes longer to adjust to changing temperatures :P

I caught a couple of water snails a few weeks ago, and I ended up with hundreds in about a week.