Hi, I'm not exactly new to ponding but, I still have much to learn!...Over the past summer, While in another state, I visited a plant nursery which also had water gardens and was amongst other things selling 'pond snails' ...I bought a few and put them in my pond and they are doing fine....I don't know what kind they are and I was wonderng if I should bring them in and put them in a aquarium for the winter or can I leave them out in the pond for the winter??... I have a bird-bath heater that I use in the pond for the winter...It keeps the ice open and the bottom of the pond don't freeze ~ I have kept fish out there all winter that way for 3 or 4 yrs. now and have never lost one .... Don't know about the snails though ....Can anyone help me
out on this???
Pond Snails
Iris,
I have had pond snails for 2 years now. Mine are the Japanese Black snails. They burrow into the muck in the bottom of the pond. Seem to winter over just fine. In fact, mine are there now. I am always finding tiny babies every year too! Hope this helps you.
Lorie
Iris, leave them in the pond, they'll do fine. One of mine survived the winter in the lava rock I use in the filter ( out of doors) they are tough.
Annabelle15
Thankyou Lorie and Annabelle15!
Do you have to buy snails or do they just sort of "show up." We have the terrestrial snails in abundance here that eat plants.
woodspirit, not the same. You can buy good snails for your pond from www.lilypon.com. they won't eat your plants and will clean your pond.
I bought mine at a pet store here in town.
tiG left out the d in lilypond.com I was cutting and pastings a few times before I decited to think just want to let other brain dead gardners know.....lol
actually I left off the s it's http://www.lilypons.com
great place
talk about braindead garnders I was on the wrong web site looking for snails wondering where they were.....LOL
I found a bunch of pinkish eggs up high out of the water on a plant. Could this be a pond snail that laid the eggs? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks. Buttoneer
My golden apple snails use to do that,lay the eggs up out of the water in a pink cluster.I brought some in and floated them on a "Raft" in the aquarium till they hatched...it was too cool....I miss them now.......The fish ate the babies and my parent snail's eventually died.....
If anyone has any extra BIG snails let me know...I'll find something to trade for them.....
OPPPs,can they be mailed??????
So I can bring the egg cluster in & hatch it in an aquarium? Right? Do these snails eat fish food? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
I floated mine on a plastic lid,and there was plenty of algae on the sides of the aquarium for them to eat...but they were small enough for my fish to eat.If they are in a aquarium by them selves you can put Romaine lettuce in there...they love it.My large ones would eat the lettuce and I could actually HEAR them munching!
I'm not sure what my snails are, but they've made lots of babies, with no help from me. They lay their eggs in a small jelly-like mass on the undersides of water lily leaves, and what happens after that I don't know, but there are many smaller snails in the pond now from parents that have been there for three years. In the winter they disappear, and when the water warms up,they're out there eating the pond algae. From what I can see, algae, eaten off other plants and from the pond rocks, is their only food. My pond has quite a few plants, and I think baby snails and baby fish hide there, especially in the oxygenators.
I put a block of wood in the water & put the snail eggs on it. Will these snails stay in the water or live on land? Thanks for the info. Buttoneer
If they are pond (water) snails, they'll stay in the water.
Thought you might like to know this little tidbit....if you decide to trade for snails they can actually be shipped in a blown up plastic bag with damp newspaper. They are able to "breath" either way and sending them through the mail doesn't seem to bother them at all. :O) OH! I almost forgot.......when I bring in my apple snails in the fall, I feed them algea discs made for bottom feeders. The kids love it. You throw them in, give them about two minutes and they swarm all over the food. FUN! lol
Take care all!
Lonna
Lonna, you live in Williamsport, PA. I live in Carlisle, PA. Do you mean I have to bring the apple snails indoors for the winter? They're not hardy? The eggs are still floating on a block of wood in an aquarium in the greenhouse but haven't hatched yet. Still waiting.