I have 4 snails in my tank with my goldies.
One ramhorn
2 apple
and one black round one (don't know the name)

Well I just looked into my tank and saw the black snail sucking on the shell of the apple snail (which is a bit smaller than the black one) -- it looked as if he were gonna suck his shell off... I moved them to other sides of the tank.

I have never seen this behavior. Just curious.

Yuck! I know from experience that a snail will suck the body of a dead snail right out of its shell.

I don't think however, that a live snail would let another snail eat it while its alive.

I may be wrong though, but I really do not think so because I have seen my snails look like they are cleaning the shell of another and the one having it shell cleaned will pull into the shell.

I see this often!

Some larger snails may try to eat the small "pest" snails. Most of the time when you see one munching on the others shell, they are eating algae off of it. Thats very common and not a problem at all.

lol it scared the mess out of me because the one he was sucking on was sooo much small than him and looked as if it were trying to get away.

Thanks for the info :-)

I thought the same thing about the algae and all, just wanted to check.

Snail breeding behavior? I would bet that your black one is an apple snail, too. Got pics? Also if you could get a pic of this activity (if it is breeding, they will do it again) it would help. Thanks!

I am not sure what kind he is. He looks like this This is what it looks like (I found this on some site)

I thought when snails mate they send a sharp barb into each other and it is painful, yet they do it alot. I always see a couple of my snails sitting next to each other with ones butt kinda up in the water and they are rubbing their slim together, as if they were cuddling.. it is funny. I also have 2 purple snails in my tropical tank that do that alot. I thought they were just playing.

I do not know much about breeding, just what I heard, and that was the first time I had ever seen the black snail (black mystery? snail) or any snail suck on anothers back. I assumed it was feeding on the algae until I saw the apple snail under him looking a little distressed...

hmmmm... such odd little creatures.. I love how their slime has that metallic look to them and they ooze all over the decorations.... so much more fun then a pleco. :-)

He's an apple snail, too. If the snail on the bottom was looking distressed and trying tho shake him off, they were mating. Sometimes tho the female will continue to cruise the tank with this going on. I think as they mature and mate more and more she stops trying to shake him off and just goes on about her business I have seen that happen in my tanks. The male will be on top of the female and sorta off to the side, very close to the shell opening. I will check later to find a link for you providing pics and more info.

I have tanks of Apple Snails,and it's a very normal pattern for them.Those boys are always practising,no matter how old they are,or who it is.

oooh my goodness.. I just pulled him off when I saw it. lol

Is it true they shoot barbs into each other? How do they mate exactly? I know they are A sexual so if one gets pregnant, the other does? (this is what I have heard)

Apple Snails are either male or female,they are not both. I've never really heard the shooting barbs phrase,so I'm not sure about that. Only the female will lay eggs.

I was told they were A sexual and that snails mate by shooting a barb type thing out and that both the snails can get pregnant. Ooooh it's time to go0gle!

Snails are hermaphrodites(say: her-maf-row-dites). This means that each snail has a female part which lays eggs and a male part which makes sperm.

When two snails mate, each snail presses the front part of its foot against the foot of the other snail. The snails shoot a hard dart into each other, which makes sperm pass between them. The sperm will make the eggs each snail lays, grow into baby snails.

About two weeks after mating, the snail scrapes a hole in the soil and lays its eggs there. A snail lays between 20 and 50 eggs at a time.

The eggs are covered up and they hatch after about four weeks.

The Rest Of the Article

Now I've Found This on Apple Snails

I'm CONFUSED!!! Which is which?!?! I have a ramhorn are they A Sexual? I also have 2 violets in my tropical tank, what are they?! Wow this is confusing.

Apple Snails are either male or female. Most Apple Snails lay their eggs Above water,but a few like Marissa's(Also called Columbian Ramshorn)and Asolene Spixi's lay below water level.
There are also Snails from the Planorbid family called Ramshorns.They are considered pest snails and are one of the snails that are A sexual. They lay their tiny little eggs below water.Do you know what kind of Ramshorn you have? As for the Violet's,They sound like Apple Snails-Pomacea bridgesii-Brigs for short. Your best bet on learning the facts on Apple Snails is to actually visitApplesnail.net
I think the article that you were reading was about Land Snails.

I am actually working on a research papaer for this site about Apple Snails. I'm so excited!! I have never done anything that benefits many people before, and I am sure a paper for this site will. I hope it will answer many of the common questions about them.

So the moronic lady at the pet store was giving me advice on land snails when I was buying aquatic? UGHHHHHHHHHHHH... I was thinking the same thing after I read both articles. I haven't seen any egg's but I do know how to tell their sex now. HOW INTERESTING! -- The Ramshorn is columbian.. I just looked at a site.



That's what he looks like.

So all the other snails are just diff. breeds of apple snails? Interesting.

p.s. Lady Docdegon I CANT WAIT TO READ YOUR PAPER! HELPPPPP!

Unfortunately,there are alot of pet Store employee's who have not a clue.One thing that I will tell you about Columbian Ramshorns,is that they will eat any of your live plants,and they'll also eat any of the babies that your Brigs may have. They also tend to love laying big globs of eggs constantly ,so you'll have to keep an eye out if you don't plan on keeping tons of those.

I only have one of them, It hasn't laid eggs yet, and I do not have live plants. He LOVES the zucchinni and lettuce.. he/she/IT always finds it before any of the others..

I just saw my ramshorn on my apple snail and it appeared they were mating... Do they mate and then have eggs? -- If they do mate, what does it look like? It look like.. well almost a mini man part touching under the other shell. I took pics and will post them in the morning!!! I am just sooo curious and want to learn as much as possible. My BF thinks I am OBSESSED. lol Everytime we go out of town I spend 20 min in a fish store, even though I know I cant get anymore fish... lol

Thanks for all your help, and I haven't seen any eggs in the tank of any sort.. My poor goldfish is still being bothered by the 2 males and its been 3 weeks. I think I am going to get a tank seperator soon for that so she can have a rest.

possible mating? lol - I am so CLUELESS! I haven't seen any eggs.... How long after they mate does it take for them to lay eggs?