One egg??

[missjamielouise]

Hello everyone.

My albino snails seem to be mating all the time they are active, last night they were 'at it' for so long they didn't eat the cucumber which is their favorite food so I was shocked.

Today while de-pooping I found one white egg on top of the substrate. Instantly I was excited and worried as it wasn't buried so Ive moved it into a pot with some soil surrounding it and I'm keeping it warm.

Do snails usually do this?

Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you in advance, Jamie-Louise. ;D

[shaydeesnail]

I've read that some younger snails that have never laid before sometimes to a "test egg" when they first become sexually active before they start laying full clutches. My snails never bothered with the test egg and went straight to laying hundreds of eggs, is there a possibility you may have missed a clutch if it was part of one? I often still do haha

[missjamielouise]

Hello, thank you for the reply.

I searched around and dug a little but didn't find anymore eggs.
I'm looking forward to getting a clutch of eggs so I check often. The thing is I'm unsure of what to do when I do finally get a clutch of eggs. Is it best to leave them with parents or to remove them? Thanks.

[pinkunicorn]

There's no one answer to that, I've found out by testing. Sometimes better to leave them in, sometimes better to take out.

But a few things to ask about any batch of eggs that I've found helpful when deciding on this, for example:
How big will the newborn be and how difficult will their presence make it for you to maintain the parents' tank?
How easily might they escape from vent holes parents cannot get through?
Are the eggs in danger of getting moldy/already starting to show signs of going bad? Will a change save them?
Do the newly hatched/other occupants eat eggs they encounter?