How to encourage snails to breed

[ilovesnimals]

I have adopted a garden / land snail called Dan. I've had him for a a few days now and would like him or her to have babies. I have only one snail and no other for him or her to breed with. Can snails have babies without a mate? How can I encourage this?

[cepaeahelix]

Jun 4, 2017 12:13:07 GMT ilovesnimals said:

I have adopted a garden / land snail called Dan. I've had him for a a few days now and would like him or her to have babies. I have only one snail and no other for him or her to breed with. Can snails have babies without a mate? How can I encourage this?

The best you could do if try to find another snail. Sometimes snails mate in the wild and then will self fertilize by themselves. They can do that by storing the sperm cells of another snail.

[jroberts]

"Garden snail" will have a different meaning to different people depending on where they live (country and city/state).

If they are Helix aspersa or aspersa maxima then they wont need any special treatment to promote breeding activity, just keep their conditions adequate (damp coir/compost substrate). They will readily bread at any temperature between 12 and 26 celsius, but for optimal results around the 16 margin is ideal.

But even then, your location will affect this statistic. If you live in say Finland, your optimal breeding temperature would be lower. In say Mexico, it would be much higher. Years of wild colonisation amongst the species will affect their preferences according to their blood line.

[jroberts]

Jun 4, 2017 12:13:07 GMT ilovesnimals said:

I have adopted a garden / land snail called Dan. I've had him for a a few days now and would like him or her to have babies. I have only one snail and no other for him or her to breed with. Can snails have babies without a mate? How can I encourage this?

Sorry, somehow missed the second line. 
Snails require a mate to breed (subulina octona being the one exception).

[wolf]

Hi all,
some snail species can do self-fertilization [Lymnaea stagnalis, Arianta arbustorum and so on, see f.e. Xiaofeng Chen (1994): Self-fertilization and cross-fertilization in the land snail Arianta arbustorum (Mollusca, Pulmonata: Helicidae) Journal of Zoology 232 (3) 465-471].
Cornu aspersum (= Helix aspersa) is said to be capable of self-fertilization, but I don't have a paper here to confirm this thesis.
In all cases of self-fertilization only a small number of eggs develop. In Arianta arbustorum, self-fertilization occurs mostly in the second and third year after maturation.
Sorry, I dont't know about factors which could enhance the rate of self-fertilization.
cepaeahelix: you wrote: "Sometimes snails mate in the wild and then will self fertilize by themselves. They can do that by storing the sperm cells of another snail." That won't be true self-fertilization. In self-fertilization the egg and the sperm cell are produced by the same individual.
Kind regards: wolf

[jroberts]

Jun 4, 2017 14:58:42 GMT wolf said:

Hi all,
some snail species can do self-fertilization [Lymnaea stagnalis, Arianta arbustorum and so on, see f.e. Xiaofeng Chen (1994): Self-fertilization and cross-fertilization in the land snail Arianta arbustorum (Mollusca, Pulmonata: Helicidae) Journal of Zoology 232 (3) 465-471].
Cornu aspersum (= Helix aspersa) is said to be capable of self-fertilization, but I don't have a paper here to confirm this thesis.
In all cases of self-fertilization only a small number of eggs develop. In Arianta arbustorum, self-fertilization occurs mostly in the second and third year after maturation.
Sorry, I dont't know about factors which could enhance the rate of self-fertilization.
cepaeahelix : you wrote: "Sometimes snails mate in the wild and then will self fertilize by themselves. They can do that by storing the sperm cells of another snail." That won't be true self-fertilization. In self-fertilization the egg and the sperm cell are produced by the same individual.
Kind regards: wolf

Nice research/knowledge. 
Its interesting to know that Arianta arbustorum are capable of self fertilization - first iv ever heard of that. I'm going to try that as an experiment.

Just a quick note to inexperienced readers; Lymnaea Stagnalis is a Native British "pond snail" (fresh water, aquatic, not a land snail).

[tilliesnail]

I don’t know?? Is there a way? If so I would love to know how.