How big are trapdoor snails when they're "born?

[Mmathis]

Has anyone seen any brand new baby trapdoor snails? I added a bunch of TD's to the pond last summer, and I know they've had babies 'cause I'll occasionally find one that is smaller than the ones I put in. The smallest one I've found was about the size of the end of my pinkie finger.

But just wondering how big [or maybe I should say, how small?] they are when they start their lives....

 

[addy1]

the smallest I have seen is around a grain of sand, tiny

 

[sissy]

yep tiny tiny.When I got mine they were having babies in shipment but koi I found love to eat them

 

[Mmathis]

Oooh, that small, huh? I'll have to watch more closely!

 

[sissy]

The little ones were white little tiny BB looking things when the momma gives birth

 

[Dave's pond Indiana]

Are they invasive?

 

[sissy]

They say they can be but are OK cleaners of the pond .They give birth to live babies but fund even small goldfish like them also ,the small new snails are the ones the goldies liked

 

[Mmathis]

Are they invasive?

I don't think so. Since they are live bearers, they don't have as many babies as you'd find with an egg layer.

 

[addy1]

I put in a 100 of them in the big pond, the only place I see lots is in the fishless ponds. There they makes lots of kids. The big pond has them in, quite a few but not at invasive levels. Some are quite large 3 inches or so, I am very careful if I do scoop out muck to make sure they are not tossed away.

 

[jmajid]

this might be a silly question, but do the fish eat the babies whole? or do you find the shells afterwards?

 

[addy1]

They are so tiny off and on I find a small empty shell, not very often.

 

[sissy]

Thing is if you net the bottom of your pond to get poo and stuff out you have to look for snails in it

 

[Mmathis]

I did a web search about this, but didn't find much scientific info -- mostly just forum posts, that kinda stuff. Some people said they actually witnessed the births of babies. One person said the "mom" TD snail used her antennae to pull the birth membranes off the babies. Not gonna dispute that, but.....

Also read some on how you can tell the males & females apart -- has to do with the size & shape of the antennae, apparently. All the bigger ones in my tank look about the same -- one curled antennae, which is supposed to indicate it's a boy.

So now when I toss muck, gonna have to look more closely for baby, TEENY baby, snails!

 

[sissy]

I watched mine give birth .I put the snails in a fish tank and saw the babies fall down the glass .By the next morning I saw 22 babies born and missed some .It was interesting to watch could not get good pics since the babies were so smal The mommas would climb the glass

 

[addy1]

Neat sissy! I just find babies