The Puffer Forum

Any suggestion on what i should do since i can not find any "pond snails" the only ones i can find are mystry snails that are the size or dimes is that to large? my GSB is about 3-4" please help lol i dont know what else i can do i called every where and the only size is dime sizes.

Hi. I'm assuming you have a GSP? not a GSB? I get my snails from e-bay, although they come in a range of sizes, so sometimes I just crush the larger ones.

Ha yea that was a typo GSP lol so its okay to get sum what of larger ones just crush them you say? because i can get the larger snails for a dollar. So can i crush tem and freez them? then just thawe them out?

You can breed the mystery snails and feed your puffers the babies.

It can help if you feed the puffer shrimps with the shell on. It won't keep the teeth growth in check, but it will at least help a little.

My question is can i crush them some what feed what he will eat then freez the other? or keep a few and breed them and do what you say with the babies.

LilGreenPuffer wrote:You can breed the mystery snails and feed your puffers the babies.

Oh, I didn't see the dime-sized bit. For your GSP's size, I think that would be fine. I was thinking about the giant mystery snail I used to have.

You don't have a Petsmart or Petco near you that has tanks crawling with pond snails???

Yes i have a petsmart but for some reason they keep there tanks really clean so no luck even there i called like eight places lol trust me i looked around.

I'd pick up some from Aquabid, Ebay, or the classifieds on one of the forums (Aquaria Central usually has some) and breed your own in a 5 or 10g. It's really, really easy. Basically, you just add water and snails to a tank and let them have at. Well, you do have to feed them 3 times a week and provide a heater to keep temps between 78-80F and a filter and do weekly water changes of 50% like any other tank, but that's really it.

Foods should include algae wafers, snail jello (make your own, if you want I can find the link), cucumber slices, other veggies, etc. If you have soft water, you can add a bag of crushed coral to the filter or near the filter output to help keep their shells hard.

Just don't get MTS since they are too hard.

my question still is how do i get him to eat the snails i just bought? the dime size should i crush them half way? no one has answered me at all with any advice how do i get him to eat the snails?

Just offer them to him as they are. If he has trouble, then crush them a bit. Only crush one at a time - don't crush a second until he's already eaten the first. If he decides he doesn't like them, you'll have crushed, dying snails on your hands. Ew and ow.

Look in the Classefieds here, I believe there is a link to an online supplier.

If they are larger than his eye, then I would crush them. Mine just waited until he could see the snail's body and then grabbed than and ripped it out without ever crunching on the shell. When I fed smaller ones, he couldn't do that. If you crush the larger ones, that will make him at least scrape his teeth on shell fragments.

I agree with LilGreenPuffer to only offer 1 at a time, even with live ones unless he's shown himself to be a snail hunter.

Im not offering one after another i only tried one that was crushed half way because it was kind of large he doesnt like snails im guessing and doesnt want to take the time to try to like them just like he doesnt like blood worms i dont know i have a picky one i guess.