Suggestions on Snails??

[angelfish6]

Hi. I’m going to be moving soon and want to have a pet, but I won’t have much room or an abundance of time. I’m looking for a pet that will be comfortable in a five gallon or less. In the past, I’ve had mystery snails (at first I thought they would just tidy up in my 40 gal. but I soon discovered they were so fun to watch, almost like they have little personalities). This time around, I won’t really be able to have a heater and filter and be able to constantly monitor the levels in a tank, so I’m leaning toward getting a terrestrial snail. Problem is, I would ideally only like to have one. I know that most snails (terrestrial) reproduce on their own, is there a type of terrestrial snail that does not do this? A garden snail would be neat, but I’m not keen on the idea of crushing the eggs before they hatch. If I do decide to get a garden snail, would I be able to place the ‘babies’ outside and they would be fine once they’re big enough? I’m assuming I wouldn’t be able to do this during the winter though. I’ve heard you can sometimes prevent a snail from laying eggs by lowering temperature, etc. but wouldn’t that make the snail uncomfortable? Any suggestions? TIA!

Also, would a snail be fine on its own for two to three days if I leave plenty of food and mist it well before leaving?

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

I can't offer advice on different types of land snails because I step on them. I also step on most aquatic snails.

Also, would a snail be fine on its own for two to three days if I leave plenty of food and mist it well before leaving?

Terrestrial snails will be fine for a few days without any supervision. If the environment gets too dry, they simply close up and wait for the rain.

Have you thought about ramshorn snails in water. They don't need a filter and you could grow live aquatic plant sin the tank. Let the algae grow on the back of the tank and you won't have to feed them very often, maybe once a week with a bit of flake food.

 

[Rocky998]

Hi. I’m going to be moving soon and want to have a pet, but I won’t have much room or an abundance of time. I’m looking for a pet that will be comfortable in a five gallon or less. In the past, I’ve had mystery snails (at first I thought they would just tidy up in my 40 gal. but I soon discovered they were so fun to watch, almost like they have little personalities). This time around, I won’t really be able to have a heater and filter and be able to constantly monitor the levels in a tank, so I’m leaning toward getting a terrestrial snail. Problem is, I would ideally only like to have one. I know that most snails (terrestrial) reproduce on their own, is there a type of terrestrial snail that does not do this? A garden snail would be neat, but I’m not keen on the idea of crushing the eggs before they hatch. If I do decide to get a garden snail, would I be able to place the ‘babies’ outside and they would be fine once they’re big enough? I’m assuming I wouldn’t be able to do this during the winter though. I’ve heard you can sometimes prevent a snail from laying eggs by lowering temperature, etc. but wouldn’t that make the snail uncomfortable? Any suggestions? TIA!

Also, would a snail be fine on its own for two to three days if I leave plenty of food and mist it well before leaving?

Are you talking about terrestrial snails or aquatic snails? Are you looking at only doing snails or would you want something else?

 

[FishHobby99]

I would only buy Nerite snails at this point. They do not reproduce in your average tank. I bought several red ram horns on eBay and all they do is multiply. Buying them without understanding this was a mistake.