What are these tiny shells? Babies?

[maklau]

I’ve found a few of these tiny snail shells while cleaning the tank that I’m assuming are babies but I haven’t seen any eggs and all I’ve read said that snails lay eggs in clutches which I haven’t seen. I found these tiny shells attached to the sides of the tank and not near each other. Are these hatched baby snails? I have only one grove snail btw

[Yanni]

Hi Maklau,
Just making sure, are these aquatic snails? And also are these actual snails inside the shells? Because in my dads fish tank there are a lot of tiny snails that came with the plants so they might not be babies.

From Yanni

[maklau]

No it’s a garden land snail, I think the species is Cepaea nemoralis. I’ve had him for about 5 months now and never seen this in his tank before.

[snaileyhammy]

Hi there! It’s possible your snail just fertilized their own eggs and laid them. You may keep the babies if you’d like, but they may not survive for long, etc.

Here is some cool information that might help you bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio210/s2012/benson_sara/reproduction.htm

[maklau]

Thank you! I’ve read some conflicting things online so I thought this species couldn’t/didn’t self fertilize. I’ll probably raise the babies until they’re older and then set them outside in my backyard (I never use any pesticides or herbicides) in the spring/summer.

[snaileyhammy]

Of course! I’m glad I was able to help.
Like I said, I don’t know how healthy the babies will be due to self fertilization, but that’s alright. Just raise them the best you can!
Releasing them isn’t the best idea, as you could disrupt the ecosystem, etc. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal, releasing a few baby snails, but it can be in certain cases. It’s best for nature and for the snails, to just keep them in captivity!