Breeding A Snail Colony?

bareass · #1 11-09-2009, 03:55 PM

i was going to put this in my last post. but i thought a new post would make it easier to search for future people.

does anyone here keep snails? or know information on how/if i could breed them?
i thought of making them a feeder for my cresties/me

froggsong · #2 11-09-2009, 11:47 PM

I don't intentionally breed snails, yet. Have you ever fed your cresties snails?

My CWD (the beardie too) LOVES snails and slugs. She just goes wild for them. I'm thinking of breeding slugs instead of snails, just because I won't have to break them open first.

I do recall coming across some snail breeding info not too long ago, but I can't find the link.

Epiphile · #3 11-10-2009, 06:35 AM

Heck, I'll send you the ones I oull out of my orchids tanks- they have a taste for new growth, and they're the bane of my existence. Put two of them together and I'm sure you won't have a problem getting them to have at it.

bareass · #4 11-10-2009, 08:18 AM

i threw a couple in the tank when my crested was younger. ya she went nuts for it, but was too small, or the snail was too big for her to break the shell. never thought about breaking the shell befor hand.
i just think snails would be the best to breed. little chance of the escaping, slow enough to catch, and if i get too much, into the pot they go!

bareass · #5 11-26-2009, 09:50 AM

anyone else?

froggsong · #6 12-17-2009, 11:20 PM

Have you decided to try it yet? I'm interested to hear how it goes for you if you do.

bareass · #7 12-18-2009, 09:20 AM

due to the snowfall, i will b waiting until the spring to gather and try!
i'm also, at the same time, going to try starting a pillbug colony to throw in to my tanks little by little, to help out with the soil.as well as a red wiggler or 2 per tank.
i'll report back when i start out in the spring

froggsong · #8 12-18-2009, 04:23 PM

I've found that a good medium for the isopods (pillbugs) is wet cardboard. I wet it and then peel it apart and put it in a bin (no air holes on mine, that way the humidity stays up, these guys breathe with modified gills). The easiest way to catch them in to put some cardboard outside. You should even be able to collect them in the winter. At least go ahead and put the cardboard out, that way they have time to find it and you'll get tons of them when you're ready to harvest.

DazzleDiscus · #9 12-18-2009, 04:55 PM

Yes, you can catch isopods/pillbugs/rolliepollies in the winter. During the night if I go out to the chicken house/run I can find dozens and dozens of them eating the spilt chicken feed. I don't use those however because of their walking on chicken droppings, but by all means they are out and about in the winter. Try checking a dry area such as a wood shed or other place.

we have a chicken-feed bin in the wood shed that when you move it, you can find a whole lot of critters living underneath - living on spilt chicken food :P
I've found isopods, earthworms, wolf spiders, and even a few yellow ring-neck snakes.
You may want to try leaving some dog/cat/chicken food under some cardboard in a dryish place for a few days. You'll probably find a nice helping of critters

Good luck!

DazzleDiscus · #10 12-18-2009, 04:59 PM

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