HELP... where are my pond snails?

[TeePee]

I guess my trap-door snails normally hang-out over winter at the bottom of the pond in a dormant state & kick into action once the water temperature rises in the spring. I do normally add some additional snails as well. This year, however, I've not seen a single snail & we've had quite a few warmish (New Jersey) days. I'm sure I normally see them by now... & there's work to be done !! (A winter's worth of fish poop to clean up ;-) Also, even the new snails I added 10 days ago seem to have vanished w/o a trace. Help, please, anyone got any thoughts about where my snails might be?

Thnx,

TeePee

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

If your pond is not deep, raccoons love them for a snack, koi eat them. How big is your pond? They do a good job hiding, I find tons when I net the bottom of the pond, way more than I see.

They also get algae on their back, makes them disappear even more.

 

[TeePee]

Thnx. I accept all your points, but I know I usually see some snails "in action" by now & this year... nothing. It's a small pond, maybe 7 ft. long by 5 ft. wide by 2 ft. deep in middle, so not that hard to see what's going on in there. We have comets, not koi -- & I don't think we get anything other than the occasional raccoon visit; I did see a small snake yesterday, however, which I need to find a way of dealing with (surely they don't eat snails?) But I am right, yes? Snails normally over-winter, whether mild (like last year) or colder (like this one just past)?

Thnx again,

TeePee

 

[sissy]

any fish will eat smaller snails .Trapdoors also give birth to live babies so you may have little ones hopefully .The bigs may have been sucked out of there shells but hopefully they had babies .

 

[sarah walter]

Hi Sissy, I didn't know fish sucked out snails from their shells, that explains why I found 2 innards floating on the top of my pond last summer, I stupidly thought the pump may have done it! Sarah in Surrey UK

 

[sissy]

I felt bad for the snails I put in my pond as I gave them a death sentence and did not know it .

 

[sarah walter]

Hi Sissy I know how you feel, I thought I had rescued a goldfish in an empty drying out pond only to put it in my mothers big pond and it promptly got eaten by a heron! Sarah

 

[sissy]

we all make mistakes that we did not know we were making

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

I felt bad for the snails I put in my pond as I gave them a death sentence and did not know it .

I did the same thing......except I bought 50 off EBay...... They made it pretty good until the water warmed up and the Koi got a taste..... By August they were all gone

 

[Tula]

I've never had snails, but didn't realize koi ate them !

 

[addy1]

My goldies leave them alone. They do eat them up if I accidently step on one. Hate hearing/feeling that crunch. I have tons of trap door snails.
But the fish love it.

 

[sarah walter]

I did the same thing......except I bought 50 off EBay...... They made it pretty good until the water warmed up and the Koi got a taste..... By August they were all gone

Hi Jimmy, sarah from Farnham, surrey in England here. I am or may not buy some pond snails from ebay. what temperatures does it get up to in august your side of the pond?

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Hi Jimmy, sarah from Farnham, surrey in England here. I am or may not buy some pond snails from ebay. what temperatures does it get up to in august your side of the pond?

Hi Sarah, since I am in the south August is our hottest month, the highest my pond got this year was 86 degrees. The problem with Trapdoor snails when you have Koi, one swipe of their tails will turn them over on their back. Then they have to extend their whole body out of the shell to turn themselves over, that leaves them wide open for a hungry Koi