Pass out the cigars?

[tlk]

has anyone seen how snails act when they have little snails? I have this one turbo snail who has been acting goofy all day long (Kind of like my wife when she had our last kid). Wont come out of the shell, not eating, nothing. It is alive because when I get near it, it retracts all the way into its shell. It has been acting this way since late last night. Around 20 min ago, I notice this little baby snail on the glass (or at least I think its a snail) and am just wondering if I should start saving for college.

 

[justinx]

I am pretty sure that snails reproduce via eggs. I bet that the little snail is something that you just never noticed and that the big snail is dying.

 

[bang guy]

Astrea are broadcast spawners. They have been known to reproduce in a captive environment. How long have you had them?

 

[justinx]

I think he said it was a turbo . . I might have missed the astrea reference though.
What is "broadcast spawning"?

 

[tlk]

I bought them on 5/24. I doubt that it is just something that I missed. After my last tank crash, I did a complete overhaul of the tank. Have spent almost an hour a day looking at it from all angles and never noticed it. Interstingly enough, when I got home this evening, the big turbo has nowalmost completely attatched itself to the glass again. Just very odd behavior.

 

[jlem]

I had those snails in my tank for about 6 months and then one evening out of the blue I noticed litteraly 50 or 60 tiny snails. They are getting bigger and new ones are popping up all of the time.

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by JustinX
I think he said it was a turbo . . I might have missed the astrea reference though.
What is "broadcast spawning"?
Broadcast spawning is where the snail (or other critter) releases sperm or eggs into the water column. For fertilization to occur you would need two specimens of opposite gender spawning simultaneously.
The snail in the picture looks like a Astrea tecta to me... that's why I said Astrea