I was cleaning my snail tank which contains my 2 snails, one a huge 2.5 year old golden apple snail and the other a recently purchased black mystery (?) snail when I noticed what definitely looks like a clump of eggs. They are in a weird place - on the underside of the tank lid and not immersed in the water. I never thought the snails could actually get up there

What should I do? Is there a chance that they can really develop into little snail babies? How exciting

If you don't want them to hatch just take some tissue and get them off of the tank lid. If you do want to try to hatch them out check out the research section of the forums. I wrote up a paper on hatching out apple snail eggs. Let me know what you decide to do.

Oh, I would like to try to hatch them out . I just read your research paper - it is excellent and exactly what is happening with my eggs! They are in a snail only tank so I will leave everything the way it is for a while and just monitor things. Is it possible to leave the babies in this tank if/when they hatch (would the adult snails bother them?)? I don't have anything else right now unless I can piece something together.

Do you have two apple snails? If you only have one, the eggs may not be fertilised, unless you only recenlty purchased the apple snail and maybe she mated before you purchased her.

I'm not sure but I have heard that once an apple snail has mated it can produce fertilsed eggs a long time after.....does any here know if that's true

Yes, a female can lay a fertile clutch up to six months after mating sucessfully.

If they hatch out, then you can leave them in the tank. The only thing that might bother them is the filter. Use a fine mesh (think pantyhose) and put it over the intake so that it cannot suck the babies up.

The eggs are not there anymore

I assume something must have happened to them but I don't know what Any ideas? I do not see anything in the tank that looks like eggs or baby snails so I am stumped. I did notice moma snail going up to the underside of the tank lid a few times yesterday - do you think she "knows" that they were her babies and are not there anymore? It's kinda sad.

They probably fell off and dissolved in the water. It happens. I am sure that she will lay another clutch for you.

You are so right another HUGE clutch is now on the hood of the tank. We'll have to see what happens with this one!

How are things going so far?

They were originally in one big glob about 2in x 1 in in size. Part of it broke off and was in the water for a while but I didn't see any baby snails - could the big snails have eaten the eggs and/or the babies? The other part is still stuck to the tank lid. I am still hoping for babies!

The part that broke off probably dissolved. The part that is still on the lid will probably hatch, if it is fertile. You will not see the babies for a while, they are teensy tiny!

Well, she has laid several clutches of eggs during this past month but I have not seen any babies . One small clutch went thru all the stages in the research paper - but still I do not see anything. I have mesh over the filter intake so I think the tank should be safe. Any ideas on what could have happened or what else I can try next time? Thanks.

Hi!
There are a number of factors that can affect your clutches when they're left in the tank, all of which can lead to hatching problems. The main problems are too much or too little moisture and incorrect temperature. I usually remove my clutches to a seperate hatchery (a three-gallon rubbermaid container) and float them on a piece of styrofoam. In cooler temperatures I often have to mist them lightly to keep them from drying out, but generally the lid of the container usually keeps the correct humidity. The warmer the clutches are the faster they'll hatch, I've had success hatching in anywhere from 72 to 80 degrees, but 72 took up to three weeks to hatch. There is still the possibility she's laying duds, but keep trying

Yup. My huge Esmerelda lays eggs all the time. But it's so long since she's had a boyfriend they're never going to hatch!!

Thanks for your comments. She has laid at least a half dozen huge clutches all within the past 2 months. I have had her almost 3 years (she is huge now) and prior to a couple months ago there were never any eggs. Is there any way to identify if they are "duds"? The reason I ask is that while I would love to have babies if it won't happen I would prefer to get the eggs off the hood before they fall into the tank. They are so messy and really gunk up the tank once they fall in. For now I guess I will keep hoping (there is another clutch there now) and hope for the best .

I've always just kept them in the hatcher for a week, then if they haven't turned kind of a paper-grey yet I'll break one egg and smell it. Dead snails at all stages have a very distinct smell...by then you should know beyond a doubt if they're duds! If you don't smell anything the first time wait another four to five days then try again. Also remember, one clutch can have up to 300 babies in it so unless you have a ton of snailie tanks you probably won't want to hatch more than one.

She just laid another clutch - this is like the 10th one in 3 months and yet none of them seem to hatch. Some have gotten to the paper gray stage and I don't smell anything weird but still no luck . Should I assume they are duds after all this time or is there something else to try?

Are the eggs where any babies would go into an isolation net like you were talking about? New hatchlings are TINY, I know I wouldn't be able to see them in a community aquarium. Other than that, they may just be unfertilized, in which case nothing but getting a male will do any good.

I am beginning to think they must be unfertilized since this has been going on for 3+ months. It is weird though because there was nothing for 2.5 years and now so many clutches! The tank is a small 3 gal snail only tank. I would think that I would see something at least from the cutches laid a couple months ago - how long to you think it would take them to grow to visible size? Do you know how they get from being late-stage eggs (drier-greyer?) on the tank hood to the snails being relaeased ? Do the eggs fall into the tank and then the babies come out or do the snails babies break out and then drop in?

Yay!

After 4 months and at least 20 clutches I actually see some very tiny snail babies. They are so tiny and so cute - I hope that they make it. The only thing is that they appear to be dark in color and my mama snail is golden in color. Is that typical that the babies are darker? Do they change in color as they get older?

They are in a snail only tank and I put foam over the intake to protect them from getting sucked up. Is there anything else I should be doing - any special food or anything like that?

It is so exciting after all this time

congrats! I know you have been waiting forever, but all that patience finally payed off. That is wonderful news! Could you possibly show us some pics?

Its great that it finally worked.

I wonder why it worked this time, but not the other times?

Lots of times, an animal's ability to produce viable offspring changes with age (and practice? lol). Lots of animals have duds the first few times they produce, for instance, like the snails. Their reproductive system is not fully matured and things just don't work out very smoothly at first. This is usually with animals that have large amounts of babies. Also, new parents often don't know what they are supposed to do and neglect the babies, which is why there are so many orphaned babies at zoos and such. It's a maturity level thing I think.

Thanks! I seem to be able to count 3 tiny guys at one time (pix will have to wait as I can barely see them!). There may be more but they are so tiny that I might be missing some others. They still seem more brown in color than the moma snail though. I have left them in the main tank but had put foam over the filter intake so I think they are safe. I am just feeding the regular stuff - I assume this should be ok for the little guys.

And guess what? There is another clutch of eggs as well

Let them eat the casings they were in sea, its full of calcium and really good for them.