so i bought a driftwood from petco, for one reason or another didn't want it but couldn't return it, and there was a little snail guy attached to it. i've been reading around and i'm almost dead sure it's a baby pond snail, he's about 3 mm long. right now he's chilling with the hunk of driftwood in his own quart sized container, and i felt way too bad to flush him. he crawls around and looks fine.

how much should i feed the little guy? should i scrape some algae off the goldfish tank and dump it in his water? i don't really know what to do with him, but i can't just kill him or feed him to my goldie (or can i? :X) i guess i have a pet snail? when will i need to get a bigger tank/when will he grow? thanks for your advice.

Well some snails eat plants, vege's and others prefer fish food so you could try feeding him a bit of both.

If he stays really small then he is a pest snail that just multiply and take over a tank, infiltrating the gravel and filter. They become almost impossible to get rid of. If he grows to be big then you have an apple snail, mystery snail, ramhorn or possibly other type of snail commonly kept in aquariums. When it gets bigger it will be easier to identify and you can find out what to feed it.

Some goldies will pester even large snails by nipping them so he may need a tank of his own, at least 5 gallons.

thanks for the info, i'll try dropping some fish food and veggies in there.

i think it laid eggs?? there is a small, jelly like mass with white dots, a little smaller than the snail, on the driftwood. should i just get rid of this snail? (how? :X) i'm pretty sure it isn't an apple or ramhorn, it doesn't have the ramhorn or apple shell.

I think those are eggs. Sounds like it to me. I think you would be better off the get rid of the snail if it is just one of those pesky kind that will wreak havoc all over the tank. it is a good thing you have it seperated from your tank! LOL! How to get rid of it? I don't know. Maybe someone else will have an idea on that.