So I ordered a dark purple mystery snail from rainbowsnails and he finally came in today.

At first I thought he was dead because it's Las Vegas and it's already tank top weather (like, sweaty tank top weather, not cool-breeze tank top weather) and he was all clammed up and there was hardly any water left in the bag.

But I smelled him and he wasn't a stinker so I stuck in some more water and crossed my fingers. Lo and behold, LIFE!

Overall I'm very happy, although I wish his shell was a little stronger looking. I ordered calcium too so I already added that to my tank and hopefully that will help him grow a nice strong shell. He was all clammed up for a few hours, finally came out and zoomed up 15 inches up my tank, and now he's tucked in there. I think the current up there is too strong for him, maybe? I have a Penguin 200, a Whisper 10, and a bubbler so there's a lot of movement up top. Maybe this will prevent him from escaping?

When I first let him out of the bag my oranda was knocking him about but totally left him alone when he came out of his shell. Hopefully that trend will continue...

Anyway, here is snailie, not named yet. I already love watching him, he's a little alien.




The alien freak is finally out! You can see his deepest...crack? white line thingy?


Zooming up the walls, more little cracks on the newest part of his shell.


Toro was unhappy to find out that he couldn't eat the snail.


Family photo.

Awwww I just got another snail today they are so fun to watch. Yours is very pretty! Where did you get it from?

Yeah I'm totally loving it so far!

I watched him unfold out of his shell and it was -so- cool. Very neat.

I got him from rainbowsnails.com. They have a whole bunch of fun colors (like pink, blue, and purple). I've never seen such colors on snails before and I think it's very impressive. If I wasn't worried about breeding I might be tempted to get a pink one

Are the bright colors natural on the snails or are they painted?

Beautiful snailie! I just got 2 asolene spixis from Rainbow Snails.

Kusackiad, the colors are natural.

lol! tha'ts a perfect name for him snailie the snail

They lay eggs out of water and from what I've read can be wiped off with a tissue. I'm on the fence about it at the moment too, I'd like a few pinks and blues but so far I just have 2 golden apple snails in 2 different tanks.

Yeah you'll easily see the egg clutch above the water surface. They come off fairly easy.

Again lost all self control and am getting a blue, magenta, light pink and ivories next week. Out comes the 29 gallon rubbermaid!

Pretty looking snail. It's so neat to watch them. What a neat addition to your tank. J

Nice snail . No need to worry about the line on his shell, it's just a growth line that can be caused by slight fluctuations in the water temperature, a change of diet, or a small change in water params (getting a truly perfect shell is TOUGH!). They are extremely addicting critters though, I raised fish for years before discovering the joy of snails; now I have five snail-only tanks and all but a couple of my fishy tanks have a liberal share of snails. My baby tank is finally full again with some pretty magentas and dark-footed purples, I should have a great batch to sell this summer