Hardest snails to look after?

[sam]

Hi all
I currently have spare tanks and looking to get more snails but i want to know which snails need experienced keepers? I don't want to be getting any snails that I can;t look after properly yet as I am new to snail keeping. And which are the easiest ones? thanks

[ian]

From what people say Lignus are the hardest but they are so beautiful.
I love my immaculata (two tones) but i wouldnt recommend them unless you find someone with strong stock, they can be a bit hit and miss as the whether they thrive or not.
margies are similar to fulica but maybe less active on average.
Iredalei are my favourites, mine have both had wierd growth issuses but i think generally not many people have problems. The only worry is the fact that they give birth to live young so keeping adults together may not be practical in the long term.

[sezzy5889]

smithii are a good one, Lotta has some babies

[Val]

Strangely, I have found my fulica to be the hardest, if you can keep these guys going I would think you would be fine with any of the others. Lignus I believe can be a bit tricky to feed.

Val

[sonicsnail]

I agree, I believe that fulica are the easyest to keep. They can live in a variety of different environments. Some prefer dryer conditions while other like more wet conditions. They seem to be much more tolerable of certain things such as temperature. Fulica can live happily at a variety of temperatures and humidity levels. This is much unlike some other snails such as tigers. Tigers seem to more sensitive to temperature change and types of conditions.

There are a number of snails which can be suitable for you, these are just some suggestions. Many people think that fulica are hard to keep, I disagree.

Sonic

[sezzy5889]

Strangely, I have found my fulica to be the hardest, if you can keep these guys going I would think you would be fine with any of the others. Lignus I believe can be a bit tricky to feed.

yeah i find my fulica the hardest too, thats why i had to wittle my collection down, now i have 10, they used to take up all my time, getting ill and god knows what, they just can't seem to stand a little dirt everything has to be cleaned and cleaned thoroughly, yeesh, who would have thought it

anyway so yeah i'd say Smithii and reticulata are good snails to have although reti's get mahoosive, they still lovely, and i have no idea why i'm naming good ones when we are supposed to be naming the hardest to look after

[section8angel]

sam said:

And which ar eth eeasiest ones? thanks

That's why lol

I agree with smithii, mine have been great. Never given me any trouble, they always eat what's given and they're shells are gorgeous ;D
My fulica are easy, and now Freddie has a friend his own size he's easy too. Easy but lazy lol

[sezzy5889]

My panthera were the easiest and quickest to raise, but it's not always the case so i can't really say

[LisaLQ]

I agree about tricky fulicas, but then again I've got easy ones too *lol* Sam's very sensitive, but Cooper's easily pleased.

Hardest snails are my two tones. It's so hard to get the balance right, any change can set them off into their hide and dont eat routine. My big margies were quite hard at first, any change and they sulk for a bit, but they're fine now.

Monty the retic is easily pleased, he prefers it drier so he lives with the fulicas, he eats like a pig, grows well, and also has the stickiest body ever *lol* Like a suction cup!

[felix93]

sonicsnail said:

There are a number of snails which can be suitable for you, these are just some suggestions. Many people think that fulica are hard to keep, I disagree.

I agree, fulicas are the easiest. I have 34 fulicas in total, none of them has died on me yet although one has retratced very far back inside for a couple of days, but I was told it was due to her characters. She's okay now and comes out whenever I open the lid. I have no problems with fulicas and they lay eggs almost every week (which can be a pain to me). I clean their tanks out almost every other day though. I found tigers are hard to look after as they are so laid back, I rarely see them coming out at all but they are growing.

I also find my 2 tones are easy, but then I might have some very strong healthy one as other members' 2 tones do not grow much. Mine keeps growing every single week and all I do is just to spray and feed them, nothing else. I noticed they have mated again day before yesterday. Looks like it's either the weather is getting warmer or just my luck. So I don't know.

I cannot really say a lot as I don't have thousands of species to compare. I only keep the "common" species that most members have.

[sezzy5889]

are you going to keep the next batch of eggs as the first are infertile?

[Deleted]

Lignus are definitely the hardest out of the african snails (in my experience)

immaculata are also quite difficult but some people manage. my little one is doing ok but not growing.

I'd say the easiest to keep are fulica and margies. Probably why they're the 2 most popular Smithii are nice pets too.

[felix93]

sezzy5889 said:

are you going to keep the next batch of eggs as the first are infertile?

If you are talking to me, I have got some babies from the first batch, not every egg hatch, but I think there are enough for everybody who wants 2 tones babies. I doubt I will keep every eggs as I really don't have time to nurse all the babies (it's tiring to work full time and also have the family to deal with after work.)

[sezzy5889]

I didn't realise somehad already hatched, lol

you could send some eggs to me with my 4 babies, i'll pay extra, i love two-tones they are one of my fav :-)

[felix93]

sezzy5889 said:

I didn't realise somehad already hatched, lol

you could send some eggs to me with my 4 babies, i'll pay extra, i love two-tones they are one of my fav :-)

Yes, there are some eggs hatched when I was so busy last week. I leave them where they are right now as the tank is big and has only the 2 tones adults in, they have not done any harm to them, so just let it be for now.

I will send you the eggs (no need to pay extra, just the postage will be fine) when they laid the eggs. Will let you know (porbably PM you). ;D

[sezzy5889]

cool thanks, let me know how much it will all come to too

and don't forget pics of the little darlings ;D

[felix93]

sezzy5889 said:

cool thanks, let me know how much it will all come to too

and don't forget pics of the little darlings ;D

The little babies are so tiny right now, just hope they survive. But I can't see why not as long as I don't touch them but feed them. I noticed there are tones of holes on the lettuce leaf. I will try to take some pics these weekend.

[sezzy5889]

apparently they are very easy to keep alive Beth hatched 1 batch last year and 1 batch this year and both had a great hatch rate and all done very well :-)

[felix93]

I noticed the corner where most of the babies are in is a real mess, I really need to clean that part out sometimes these few days. The adults have not been around there (as far as I know) because I did not see any greeny whity poo there.

There are still some eggs have not hatched. Not too sure if I should take them out now or wait. I will count how many babies I have got later this evening when I feed them.

[sezzy5889]

it depend when they started hatching, i would leave the unhatched eggs for a week after and then dispose of them

[section8angel]

I thought you did tell us Felix, 'cause I said what I'd be calling mine.
*A quick look later lol* Ok good I'm not going mad
petsnails.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&n=1&thread=1143882952&page=2#1143924648
lol *huge sigh of relief!*

Back to the easy or hard snails, I don't find retis hard either, but mine seem to grow slowely like the two-tones. They eat well though.

My panthera has grown quickly but now slowed down at about 8/9cm. He eats well too though.