# Golden Mystery Snail mystery!!



## WaterPanda (May 23, 2012)

OK so i have a fairly good sized golden mystery snail and tonight i saw that it had laid eggs!!! The mystery behind this is that she is the only snail in the tank and from what i understand is her species has to have a mate no matter what. now the only thing i am thinking is that maybe this breed of snail is kinda like chickens where they lay eggs that are unfertilized from time to time... how its a 30g tank and the clutch is at the back so i cant see the eggs well so i cant tel if there is anything in the eggs so ya does anyone know about apple snails? cuz i dont know a lot but just that she has to have a mate and can not change sex like other snail breeds can. so idk and if they are fertilized do i have to worry about the clutch drying out since they lay eggs out of the water? i do want more snails but idk how to start from eggs so advice would be nice...


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Yes, Mystery snails can lay clutches of sterile eggs.

How long have you had the snail for? Maybe she came into your tank already pregnant?

If you want to see if she came already pregnant and the eggs may be fertile, float them on a piece of styrofoam and mist them with tank water a few times a day. Babies will eventually hatch and crawl off into the water. What I do is cut the center out of a styrofoam saucer (so it's small), and anchor it to a corner of the tank that's out of the light so the eggs don't dry out and so that the plate doesn't float under the filter water fall and knock the eggs off. Then, I either mist the eggs, or quickly dip them in the tank water a few times a day. (I do have baby Mystery Snails, so it does work.) Susankat on this site told me how to hatch the eggs.  It can take a few weeks, so don't toss the eggs out before they hatch.

Oh, and make sure you get them floating and misted before they dry out completely. Yes, Mystery Snail eggs are hard, but if you break the clutch open (don't do this if you are going to try and hatch them,) they will be gooey. If you wait too long and don't get them floating and misted, they will be dry even deep inside and any baby snails inside will die.


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## Subaru4wd (May 6, 2011)

Also after they hatch, you might not see them for a week or so. They are TINY but will grow pretty quick.


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## jbrown5217 (Nov 9, 2011)

I had a female mystery snail named Gary that would lay unfertilized eggs from time to time, so that is my guess.


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