snails?

[Shdwdrgn]

Yay the snails arrived today! Very nice shipments - most are well over the size of a quarter, but there's a mix of some smaller ones too. The timing was perfect as we had a lot of sun the past couple days, and my water temp finally hit 60 today. I'll be releasing them here shortly, then just have to wait for them to come out of their shells and start moving around.

I was surprised they were shipped dry, with just some wet paper. I bet that sure saves on shipping costs though!

 

[taherrmann4]

shdwdrgn where did you get yours from?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

http://www.pondkoi.com/trapdoor_snails.htm
50 snails for $92. This time of year, you can get away with regular shipping (which they offer for free).

Surprisingly, some of them already have their eye-stalks out and are slowly emerging. I guess by tomorrow I should be seeing a lot of them crawling around. I decided to drop them in the lower pond, and let them work their way upstream. They should be well acclimated by the time they meet up with any of the fish.

 

[sissy]

I'm surprised they were shipped like that because trapdoors can not breathe out of water

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Well THAT's not good! On the other hand, it doesn't seem to have been a problem for them because quite a few are coming out already, and at least one large one has already cruised half way to the bottom of the pond.

 

[addy1]

Mine were shipped with just some damp papers, did not loose any. Styrofoam box with a plastic bag in it.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Well its been a full week, and I'm happy to report that out of 50+ snails, I have only found 2 dead ones. The rest been crawling all around the lower pond. I can't say that they've made any progress on the algae (I know somebody was going to ask) as the water temp has been closer to 50 most of the week, but I'm sure they'll do their part in balancing the whole pond.

Oh I forgot to mention... I saw one of my weather loaches last week! I only know of one for certain that was still alive last Fall, but it appears he had no problems surviving the Winter. Since the pond has had more chance to get established now, it should improve their odds of survival, so I'm going to be looking for more to add after the water warms up.

 

[addy1]

neat shdwdrgn, I can sometimes see the trails they leave as they munch along.

Glad you saw your loach!

 

[j.w]

That's not bad..........2 out of 50 and I'm sure you will have more babies and cool on seeing your weather loach. Do they give you an accurate report day to day on weather lol?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

j.w - honestly the ones I've had in the pond have always been really shy. I don't know why, they seemed just fine in the aquarium, but once they were brought outside they disappeared and I only spotted them occasionally by accident. The info I'd read about others having them in ponds suggested they were extremely friendly and always curious, so what I've seen has been very disappointing.

 

[j.w]

Well maybe they are just not used to the wide open space they now have. Did the other people have them in aquariums first or did they just plop them in a pond when they first got them? Maybe it makes a difference. Maybe they felt secure in their smaller home in the house? Seems like food would bring them around eventually. It does me

 

[Shdwdrgn]

You know, I would think he'd be coming out for the nightly feedings, but I never see him. He's obviously eating *something* I just can't figure out what or when. And I can't do much about the comfort in aquariums, because I buy them from the fish stores.

 

[j.w]

Guess you'll just have to be patient and take them as they are and maybe someday they'll come around.