Rejoice! Mating!

[inky]

Woo! Baffbot and Pickles, another of my snails, are MATING as I type!

So, I woke up, all gross and slimy as I'm sick, and decided to check on my snails. Baffbot and Pickles were just standing there. On closer observation I saw them completely still, but Pickles' left eye was hugely swollen. I looked again and, no, not his eye! I just looked up "helix aspersa mating" on google images, and they certainly are! Alright, I needa ask some questions.

When do the eggs hatch? (IF they hatch)
What do you feed them for calcium? I only have eggshells and powdered limestone, I know powdered is good for injuries but is it the best for babies?
I need names ^_^ post suggestions of snail names!
I am currently sick, but I'll probably need to handle the snails. As they produce a lot of mucus, and if I wash my hands, are they alright with a bit of exposure to human sickness?

Thanks,
Geckonator. (And Pickles, Baffbot and Penelope )

[axoloa]

Dec 17, 2011 21:02:50 GMT inky said:

Woo! Baffbot and Pickles, another of my snails, are MATING as I type! I can't post in "Breeding" so I post here ;D

So, I woke up, all gross and slimy as I'm sick, and decided to check on my snails. Baffbot and Pickles were just standing there. On closer observation I saw them completely still, but Pickles' left eye was hugely swollen. I looked again and, no, not his eye! I just looked up "helix aspersa mating" on google images, and they certainly are! Alright, I needa ask some questions.

When do the eggs hatch? (IF they hatch)
What do you feed them for calcium? I only have eggshells and powdered limestone, I know powdered is good for injuries but is it the best for babies?
I need names ^_^ post suggestions of snail names!
I am currently sick, but I'll probably need to handle the snails. As they produce a lot of mucus, and if I wash my hands, are they alright with a bit of exposure to human sickness?

Thanks,
Geckonator. (And Pickles, Baffbot and Penelope )

haha, well to start, im sorry your sick. I hope you get better soon x
names however, if your snails do lay their eggs you will have allot of baby snails to name lol. Im no expert with Helix Aspersa and different websites surgest different numbers of eggs (so not all information sites are truely relayable). In my personal experience however.. the smallest batch of eggs laid from my Helix aspersa is 43, largest is 137. I may be wrong but I think they can lay allot more. hatching can (apparently) take anywhere between 1 and 4 weeks. Mine have always taken between 14 and 23 days. Because of the fact that babies need their calcium much more than adults they will usualy go for whatever is suplied for them at the start of their life. I always use cuttle fish and that goes down just fine, but as for egg shells or limestone I would definitly powder these because their not exactly soft when left unpowderd I dont beleive that snails can catch human illness to be honest, but again I could be wrong.

[ness]

Congratulations on the eggs, but sorry you're not well.

I've not heard of any human illness that a snail can catch and certainly not colds. Hamsters can catch human colds though (just thought I'd mention it for all you hamster keepers out there... )

Anyway, I'm not sure on numbers either, but mine have had batches of around 60 or so. As for names, well I wouldn;t be able to keep track of them in that number!

I think one of the best names I ever saw for a snail on a forum was Snoggi! Great name and a handsome snail.

[inky]

Thanks guys. I'm probably not gonna keep them all; I only really want a few. I'm gonna move the eggs if there are eggs into a smaller tank, but for my b-day I'm getting a metre long tank. Pickles is very beautiful, and baffbot is good too. I hope it'll make wonderful babies!

I'm going to get the other tank ready for bubbies, baby snails just make me squee! =3

[axoloa]

sounds good glad to see you have it all planned out remember to be extra carefull when moving your eggs. Helix Aspersa eggs do better when left alone realy but if your carfull enough you will be fine

[inky]

Ty axo. Maybe I should just move Baffbot and Pickles until they lay. But I'm not too sure.

[axoloa]

That could work, but Pickles and Baffbot seem pretty happy where they are if their mateing. what I would do is just leave them be and let them lay. When the babies hatch you will have about 4 days before they start leaving their nest, so i would move them as soon as they hatch from their eggs. This can affect some snail species but Helix Aspersa are very hardy once they have hatched, so they will be fine. What I have done with Helix Aspersa eggs in the past is leave them to hatch in the enclosure and then move the whole nest with a spoon when they have started to hatch. Non have ever died on me while doing so and very few eggs did not hatch I also do this with Pleurodonte Isabella because they to have very senstive and soft eggs and stay with the nest for a about a week hope this helps.

[ness]

Agreed. Eggs are generally best moved very soon after they are laid or left. Moving them part way through the embrionic stage can kill some of them, and some species are more vulnerable than others.
If you move them after they hatch make sure you move them as a block, as in the whole thing - snails, egg shells and all. Snails generally eat their egg remains after hatching and this really benefits their health.

[inky]

Thanks,
I've decided not to move them. When they get a little older I'll release most of them.
Now just one more question. Do they... die... after mating? If they do, I'd probably cry for days, which ain't good, because my b-day is in like 1 day! And I haven't cleaned up the house tbh. D:

[axoloa]

Dec 19, 2011 0:04:55 GMT inky said:

Thanks,
I've decided not to move them. When they get a little older I'll release most of them.
Now just one more question. Do they... die... after mating? If they do, I'd probably cry for days, which ain't good, because my b-day is in like 1 day! And I haven't cleaned up the house tbh. D:

I have heard that they "can" die after mateing, usualy if the size of their egg batch highly exeeds their adverage and the layer is unable to regain the lost weight. to be honest though geckonator, I have 25 breeding age adults in my collony and in total I have now had 8 batches of eggs.. I havent lost a single adult since I started the colony and when I look at all the adults individualy I cant tell what so ever wich ones have laid or not. So what I would say to you personaly is to keep an open mind incase the worse does happen but most certainly dont be sat their the whole time thinking OMG my snails are going to die, because the higher percentage is that they will be just fine just make sure their kept well fed, with extra calcium for the breeding process and calcium replacement after the eggs have being laid

[inky]

TY SO MUCH AXOLOA! I am reassured now. =3 I have a tad bit of depression, so I really can't afford to be fretting over snails.

[axoloa]

no problem at all, im glad to help I have PM'd you by the way. Dont feel pressured into replying but it would certainly be nice if you did x