# Mystery Snail Eggs, How to Age?



## AHGoodwin (Aug 21, 2013)

Here's the story. For the past month or so, our female chestnut Mystery Snail, Ebony, has been doing the deed with both a magenta mystery and a golden (not sure if he is mystery or just typical golden apple). We've been waiting and waiting for her to lay but nothing. I made sure to keep the water level 6 inches below the rim and recently turned the heater up one degree (from 76.7 to 77.7). Still nothing, so finally I got sick of the water being so low and raised it. The next day (two days ago) my husband noticed a clutch of eggs. We figured that she must have layed them the previous night because we spend so much time every day and night watching the tank. Now however, Im not so sure. Is it possible we have overlooked the eggs for the 2-4 weeks that it takes them to hatch? I ask because I am looking at a baby mystery snail right now. I used a credit card to remove the clutch and put it in a tupperware container on top of a polishing pad with tank water almost to the top of the pad. Is there any way to age the eggs? how close together do they hatch? If this snail was from this clutch, when should I expect others to emerge?


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## nyxkitten (Jul 24, 2012)

when you see baby snails, it is time to assist with hatching by gently pinching the clutch under water and shake a little and you will see more babies drop. pinch until there is nothing but goo on your fingers and leave in water for the babies to eat.

As for aging the eggs, there has not been a report on any info of aging eggs. So it is hard to tell. 4 weeks is the longest. No babies emerge it is not fertile.

The eggs will lighten in color when hatching. Assistance is not needed depending on how many babies you want.


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## nyxkitten (Jul 24, 2012)

Here is a video of a clutch hatching without assistance.


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## AHGoodwin (Aug 21, 2013)

Thanks. I am now questioning however if it is a mystery snail. My clutch is not light like the one shown in the video, other than a few eggs near the edges, the clutch is still very raspberry colored. I have found more babies, but I am thinking they may just be baby ramshorns. We don't have any, but we did buy a new plant two weeks ago from our LFS that has previously given us hitchhikers. I guess we will see......


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

can you take a picture of the clutch and the golden? If an apple snail you don't want the babies and best to freeze the clutch before it hatches.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

If there is nothing in the tank that would eat baby apple snails it would have been better if you had left the clutch were it was. It has to be kept moist/humid all the way around. If you removed it from the tank it will try out. I removed mine because of the fish in the tank but I put them on a float inside another tank where there were no predators. What you could do is cover the Tupperware with plastic foil but leave a small area where air can enter so it stays humid inside. The pink clutch will turn greyish right before the baby snails hatch. They usually do not need any help hatching.
For an unwanted clutch all you have to do is toss it in the tank. The babies will not develop under water and the adults can reabsorb the calcium by eating it or letting it dissolve in the water. It will not foul the water.


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## Silent7x (Jun 21, 2011)

I know when I had eggs (which were probably around 2 weeks old), I could see the snails developing inside the eggs by holding the clutch up to a light. Just keep the eggs moist and warm and play the fun waiting game haha. I think the eggs can be raspberry color when fresh and then become a creamier color as they age and dry more. Not entirely sure about it though.


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## nyxkitten (Jul 24, 2012)

Egg masses of introduced and native Pomacea spp. in the continental U.S. a) P. haustrum, titan applesnail; b) P. diffusa, spike-topped applesnail; c) P. canaliculata, channeled applesnail; d) P. paludosa, Florida applesnail; e) P. insularum, island applesnail. Scale bar = 5 cm. Photograph by Rawlings et al.

P. diffusa is mystery snails


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## AHGoodwin (Aug 21, 2013)

Kat12 said:


> can you take a picture of the clutch and the golden? If an apple snail you don't want the babies and best to freeze the clutch before it hatches.


The female is not the possible apple, its one of the males that might be so no worries there. The clutch of eggs is 100% mystery snail. If my male golden is an apple then the mating wouldn't be successful and therefore the magenta is the father. 



garfieldnfish said:


> If there is nothing in the tank that would eat baby apple snails it would have been better if you had left the clutch were it was. It has to be kept moist/humid all the way around. If you removed it from the tank it will try out. I removed mine because of the fish in the tank but I put them on a float inside another tank where there were no predators. What you could do is cover the Tupperware with plastic foil but leave a small area where air can enter so it stays humid inside. The pink clutch will turn greyish right before the baby snails hatch. They usually do not need any help hatching.
> For an unwanted clutch all you have to do is toss it in the tank. The babies will not develop under water and the adults can reabsorb the calcium by eating it or letting it dissolve in the water. It will not foul the water.


I do not want tons of baby snails in my main tank where they could overload the bio filter, crash the tank and kill my other snails/shrimp/fish. I am aware they need to be kept moist which is why they are in a closed container (just a few small holes for air) with about an inch of water. Not to mention, the room where the tank is gets cold at night. The heaters keep the water warm, but being as the eggs are above water and the there is no top to keep the heat in, they would be dealing with fluctuations in temp. The room where I put the tupperware is where I keep my reptiles, so the temp is consistently in the mid-high 70's. 



Silent7x said:


> I know when I had eggs (which were probably around 2 weeks old), I could see the snails developing inside the eggs by holding the clutch up to a light. Just keep the eggs moist and warm and play the fun waiting game haha. I think the eggs can be raspberry color when fresh and then become a creamier color as they age and dry more. Not entirely sure about it though.





nyxkitten said:


> Egg masses of introduced and native Pomacea spp. in the continental U.S. a) P. haustrum, titan applesnail; b) P. diffusa, spike-topped applesnail; c) P. canaliculata, channeled applesnail; d) P. paludosa, Florida applesnail; e) P. insularum, island applesnail. Scale bar = 5 cm. Photograph by Rawlings et al.
> 
> P. diffusa is mystery snails


Thanks for the pics. Like I said, definitely mystery snails.


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## Silent7x (Jun 21, 2011)

I suddenly have a craving for grapes...


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

You do realize Mystery snails ARE apple snails. Just Mystery Snails are the only type of apple snails that are not invasive species, and not plant eaters. 

Hatching time is usually 2-4 weeks not always 2 weeks. 

Is your golden snail any bigger than your mystery snails and where did you get it? There is actually not a whole lot known about what apple snails can cross breed since all others are limited access since there is a ban on transporting any apple snails other than mystery snails across state lines so most people do not have other types.


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## AHGoodwin (Aug 21, 2013)

I am aware that mysteries are a type of apple, but I read that other apples could not successfully mate with mysteries. 

At the time, my golden is not any larger than my magenta. I got the golden from my LFS (all others are from aquabid). 

The reason I wonder if he might not be a mystery is because he has been eating perfectly healthy lily pads. He hasn't bothered any other plants but is eating the lily pads like crazy. That paired with knowing that it isnt uncommon for golden apples to be labeled as mysteries has me wondering.


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## nyxkitten (Jul 24, 2012)

if he is not eating other plants, then you have nothing to worry about. Golden apples are not picky about plants and will wipe a tank clean in less then a day. If fed 1 cup of plants. If more then 1 cup it will take a little longer to wipe out a planted tank.

Chances are that the lily pad is not really healthy after all. decaying plants is the mysteries favorite snacks. Along with blanched veggies


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