# SNAILS



## Guest (Apr 8, 2006)

I've noticed a lot of snails in my tank the last couple of weeks, they are all about 3-6cm , never any bigger than that. I take out all of the ones that I see, but there must be plenty more of them in there. Is there any safe way to get rid of them besides just trying to pull them all out by hand?


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## c'est ma (Sep 11, 2004)

I hope you get a response to this (better than this one, that is!  ).

I, too, have snails--I'd been ignoring them, as they seemed to be mainly eating the algae films on the leaves, sides, etc.--but then I found one that seemed to be grazing on a frog egg!

So I've been hand-picking, too...

--Diane


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

KC Smith said:


> I've noticed a lot of snails in my tank the last couple of weeks, they are all about 3-6cm , never any bigger than that. I take out all of the ones that I see, but there must be plenty more of them in there. Is there any safe way to get rid of them besides just trying to pull them all out by hand?


Did you mean 3-6 millimeters as opposed to centimeters? At 3-6 cm, you are talking about 1 to 2.5 inch snails and if you have a lot of them....hmmmm.

Oh yeah, the little guys will attack frog eggs :? 

Bill


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Marty's CO2 pest elimination method possible? I know jack about snails so this is just a guess.


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## Guest (Apr 8, 2006)

1. Yes, sorry, 3-6mm not cm, I had a feeling that was wrong. 

2. I read the dry ice CO2 method, and I've been testing it out. I put a couple of the snails in the cup climbing on the sides above water level, I dropped some dry ice in and covered the top of the cup, I let it fill up with CO2 for about 12 minutes until the dry ice ran out, the snails still had not died. I'm going to try again for a longer period of time later today.

still if anyone else has a different method let me know, thank you!


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## Darren Meyer (May 22, 2004)

The only 2 things that I have found to work is 1 tear the whole tank apart and throw it all out (works everytime) but you loose all of your nice plants ! 2nd method CONTROLL !! I place a piece of fruit sprinkeled w/ calicum powder (think they like the cal. for shell growth) placed on a petri dish , snail gather on it to feast while the lights are out , I just reach in and pull it out dump and replace periodicly when #'s increase . 
I have also heard of using beer, have never tryed this method (don't drink) hear it works well though . Just think you should try that one during lights out also .....think beer would be a bad thing for a frog to soak in :lol: 
Happy frogging , 
Darren Meyer


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I have snails and if they did not multiply like mad I might put them in my other thanks. They are all over that tank, which is next on the list to be replaced.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> I let it fill up with CO2 for about 12 minutes until the dry ice ran out, the snails still had not died. I'm going to try again for a longer period of time later today.


Try it overnight with the cup completely sealed. Some organisims survive very well in oxygen deprived environments. I don't know if snails can, but it's a possibility. 

You could also try this. If you have a metal container that can make an air tight seal, put a lit candle in it with some snails and seal it up. The candle will use up all of the oxygen in the container and you'll get an environment you can test the snails in without using dry ice.


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## dustin_grey (Mar 8, 2006)

I did a little research, and a lot of people recommend the beer.



> Snails love BEER ! Place a shallow dish of beer near the plants and they will drown themselves.
> Annie


Also:


> A % solution of anything means 'part of 100' so if you want to make a 10% solution in water you put 10 parts of coffee, or whatever the liquid is, and 90 parts of water. It can be 10mls coffee and 90 mls water or 10 teaspoons coffee and 90 teaspoons water. If you want a smaller amount 1 teaspoon of coffee and 9 teaspoons of is the same concentration.
> 
> 30% solution would be 30 units of coffee and 70 units of water, and so on.
> 
> ...


Apparently some use coffee?

If youre trying to attract them to one spot:


> These pests love lettuce and fish foods which can be cut in slices to gather and trap the snails...





Maybe you might have to trash the viv though? Im glad I havent added them to mine yet.


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## Dancing frogs (Feb 20, 2004)

I have much better uses for both beer and coffee!


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

You could try firefly larvae, or one of the numerous snail-specialist carabid beetles.


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## c'est ma (Sep 11, 2004)

Afemoralis said:


> You could try firefly larvae, or one of the numerous snail-specialist carabid beetles.


Have these sorts of tactics ever been tried by anyone? Any reports on success or failure? 

--Diane


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## froglet (May 18, 2005)

Well i too have the same problem and have lost a few eggs to them, they sure love them. I am not breeding for millions so im ok with a few in there... but lets hope it doesnt become a huge problem. Wish the frogs would eat them 8)


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## Tadpole4 (Mar 16, 2006)

My female azureus was fecinated by something one day , she just stared at one spot and would cock her head over to one side everynow and then. I wanted to see what she was watching so intensly and that is how I found aslug in the viv. I took it out and I haven't seen any since. Are they a problem?


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

c'est ma said:


> Afemoralis said:
> 
> 
> > You could try firefly larvae, or one of the numerous snail-specialist carabid beetles.
> ...



I certainly didn't run a full experiment, but I did have firefly larvae (Photurus) in a 'mander tank a few years back, and sure enough they ate the small landsnails.

The carabids are just an idea. Some, like Scaphinotus, are very much snail specialists. Others are much more general predators and could potentially take a froglet or thumbnail. Be careful with what you put in your tank, but I think the idea is worth trying if you are facing a mollusk plague.

Cheers,

Afemoralis


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2006)

Does anyone know where to get dryice? And is it cheap?


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## dustin_grey (Mar 8, 2006)

I know that SOME supermarkets sell it, Ive got one in a town close to mine that sells it but Im not exactly sure for how much.


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

> Does anyone know where to get dryice? And is it cheap?


Look in your phone book for welding supply stores. It's very inexpensive. 

You can also make CO2 by mixing vinegar and baking soda. It's a messy reaction, lots of foam, but plumbing the gas into a viv would be pretty easy.


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## c'est ma (Sep 11, 2004)

Afemoralis said:


> I certainly didn't run a full experiment, but I did have firefly larvae (Photurus) in a 'mander tank a few years back, and sure enough they ate the small landsnails.
> 
> The carabids are just an idea. Some, like Scaphinotus, are very much snail specialists. Others are much more general predators and could potentially take a froglet or thumbnail. Be careful with what you put in your tank, but I think the idea is worth trying if you are facing a mollusk plague.
> 
> ...


How did you obtain your _Photurus_ larvae? Do they live within/on the substrate or range farther? Would pdfs eat them? Will they (the larvae) eat other things besides the snails? I like the idea of firefly larvae as it would be pretty easy to make sure they didn't become established in the viv by just removing any adults that morph out (if the frogs didn't eat them first--but I would think fireflies would be too large for thumbs to eat).

--Diane


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

Fireflies are know to be deadly to animals that are not native to their area. This is a biggy in the bearded dragon hobby because beardies will eat anything.


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

I found the Photurus larvae outside. Other folks have cultured them though. Snails were the only thing I saw them eating- though the 'web-lit' suggests they eat other things as well (but we all know how trust worthy the web can be in these matters).

Exactly as you pointed out, they metamorphosed and I released the adults. Fun experience overall. 

I don't know about the toxicity of the group- I've had several frogs and toad over the years eat them with no obvious ill-effects. Seems like it would be worth looking into if there are dragon-deaths associated with them.

Cheers,

Afemoralis


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2006)

defaced said:


> > Does anyone know where to get dryice? And is it cheap?
> 
> 
> Look in your phone book for welding supply stores. It's very inexpensive.
> ...


How much baking soda and vinegar would you need though?


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## Tony Kim (Apr 26, 2005)

You could also use snail bait. Put one pellet on a petri dish or some flat surface in the tank and it will attract the snails to eat it. Then you can watch them slowly die. It works. Just don't do any misting when your doing this, you don't want the pellet to breakdown.

Tony


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

safest way is dump some vit/calc powder on a leaf and go in after lights out and remove rinse and repeat. as we`ve seen in nature it`s not always good to introduce something to get rid of something. in a small space like that i`d trap em out.


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