Habitat - Indoor :: Inside My Anacharis Tank...

[Dillon]

Snails are reproducing like rabbits.

they are just the brown snail that tags a ride inside the plants you buy at the petstore....They're growing rapidly and theres a couple im thinking about feeding to Zilla....Good or Bad?

Does the snail have the be fairly large? So he could pry it out of the shell maybe? Or are small ones okay for him to inhale hole?

Ive searched around and found people saying they've fed snails to their turtles, im just wondering what size snails you're feeding? And what kind?

Thanks!

[megcornell]

I think you could probably feed a few to Zilla... BUT I would be more concerned with them then taking over his tank too, so I wouldn't do it.
Those tiny snails are almost impossible to get rid of so if you can keep them to the anacharis tank that will probably make your life much easier.
I'd also be very thorough with rinsing the plants before placing them in Zilla's tank so that a few don't hitch a ride over.

[marisa]

I give them to my turtles occasionally. Some remain in the tanks and reproduce in them. If they get to be too much, when I clean the tank I take some out (once they start to live in the tank I've found it difficult to eliminate them totally, and the turtles never seem to get them all, although some of my turts are better at eating them than others).

The small size is fine. You want him to eat the shells for the calcium they contain. The shells on snails that small are really quite soft.

[Spookster]

I have found the best way to get rid of the snails is to clean the filter in very hot water. just let everything in the filter soak in very hot water. Then fill the tank with hot water and scrub down the walls being sure to get all the egg sacks which are nearly invisible. That has gotten rid of my snail problem twice now. They were overrunning my tank both times.

[octpusgirl8]

You could get a few loaches in the plant tank, they eat small snails and eggs. I got some for my plant growing tank and i have hardly any snails anymore. I don't worry about snails in my turtle tank because Turtley hunts them down and eats them so fast.

[kgielda]

I've given Harvey snails and he eats them all right up- I kinda wish they would reproduce in there, but they never have a chance.

[Dillon]

Ok, cool. My main concern was just the shell size affecting the turtles ability to swallow it...Snail population is under control and in the anacharis tank only...Im not worried about them getting into zillas tank too much because hes so voracious in his eating. ANYTHING that hits that water is ate in minute or less...( poor moths that go too close to his MVB sometimes fall in....Last dip they ever take... )

[octpusgirl8]

The shells of those little snails are so thin that i don't think there's any concern of the turtle choking or getting impacted or anything. I might worry a bit about the bigger snails that you can buy, but not the little pest snails.

[FLhaven4strays]

My pond turts eat any snail they can get hold of...small or HUGE. Funny though...when they eat the big ones, they leave the shell intact & somehow get the snail itself out. Even 2" Jimi likes the small snails for an occassional snack.

[turn2dust]

i had snails like that in my 55 gallon tank with my freshwater fish and the best solution i found was to get myself a pair of loaches and they cleaned up my snail problem in no time, other than doing a nice cleaning of my filters as well a few times, but i did not rip apart the tank.

[megcornell]

My pond turts eat any snail they can get hold of...small or HUGE. Funny though...when they eat the big ones, they leave the shell intact & somehow get the snail itself out. Even 2" Jimi likes the small snails for an occassional snack.

I tried adding the larger mystery snails to Leo's tank once or twice. I'm not sure how she does it but she somehow sucked or dug the snail out and left the shells too.

[scripta_elegans]

snails are good for the kids once in awhile, and the shell provides calcium. I was afraid that they might choke on the shells, but the vet said they wouldn't have any problem, and they haven't. The big snails get eaten as fast as the small ones in my tank. i had to set up a second tank to grow snails, because they don't last long enough to breed when they were in with the turtles

[Terryo]

Every Spring, I buy about 60 or so (different variety) of snails and throw them in the pond. By the end of the summer, when I take the turtles in, they are mostly all gone, except the bigger ones which don't really reproduce in the winter. I have been doing this for years, with no problem. I should put in a little pond just for snails to reporduce.....