Why Mystery Snails Make Great Pets

If you have children, then your children probably want a pet. If you don’t want the added responsibility of a dog, cat, or other fuzzy animal but your kid(s) won’t let it go, I urge you to get them a mystery snail.

Mystery snails cost around $3, and you can generally purchase them at any big box pet store that sells goldfish. They grow up to two inches or more and are super easy to care for. You only need 3-5 gallons of water per snail, so you can use a small (and inexpensive) aquarium or clear vase; and if you put plants in the water, even just the roots of a peace lily, you won't need a filter. Just make sure that you use water from a natural source (pond, creek, stream, river or lake); and that, if you have to use tap water, you treat it with a conditioning solution (available at pet stores) to make it safe for aquatic life.

If you set the water near a sunny window, algae will grow that your snail will eat. Until the algae grows, you will need to provide food for your snail: kale, spinach, zucchini, or cucumber are good. You can also buy algae pellets from your local pet store to feed your snail. (But always remove the uneaten food after a few hours.)

With the plants (roots) 'eating' the waste of the snail and releasing oxygen into the water, you will have a self-sustaining system under ideal circumstances. However, if your snail stops growing before it reaches 2 inches, it may not be getting enough food, in which case you should supplement the tank with green veggies (see above) or store-bought algae pellets.

But NOTE: don't add more food to the water than your mystery snail(s) can eat in a few hours. Non-eaten food pollutes the water, causing your snail to get sick and maybe die.

Likewise, If your container gets really green and is producing more algae than your mystery snail can eat, move it to a less sunny spot (you may also need to change the water) to slow down the algae growth.

Mystery snails live for about 1 year, so be prepared for this. When the time comes, you will have witnessed the entire natural life of a beautiful animal. And you're all set up to start the cycle again with a new mystery snail, perhaps one with a different color or design.

In the meantime, snails are amazing creatures to watch and provide a great source of silent observation and meditation, particularly large snails like mystery snails whose details are easy to make out as they move through the tank: their light-sensitive eye stalks, the frill-like curl of their bodies as they slide across rocks and roots, the spots and designs that are visible on their bellies as they slide across the glass.... I challenge anyone who sees a rapidly moving mystery snail, close up, not to be mesmerized for at least just a moment.

The photos below document my mesmerizing moment this morning, involving the two mystery snails in our big fish tank. I have entitled this series "No Snail Porn Today" .

White mystery snail (in background) approaching black mystery snail (in foreground).

Are they going to mate?

!!??

Not this time.

But wait. The white snail has stopped nearby.

Nope, she's back on the move.

The black snail doesn't even realize the white snail just slid over him.

He's too busy eating a snail of a smaller species (from a nearby pond).

If you have no pets in your house, go get yourself a mystery snail today. If you set everything up as I described above, I promise you won't be disappointed. Just be make sure you stick to 3-5 gallons of tank space per snail (they don't want to be crowded any more than you do).

And if you get two snails be prepared for them to make babies. You can scrape off the little egg masses that appear if you don't want more mystery snails, but do NOT release mystery snails outside - they can take over a place very quickly to the detriment of everybody living there already.

Here's a link to all the info you need to keep your mystery snail (and its environment) healthy: https://www.aquariumsource.com/mystery-snail/

Housing a mystery snail is a GREAT way to teach kids (and remind adults) about ecospheres and the delicate balance required to maintain them. You'll also have a living friend who enables calm and quiet meditation (and, if you sit quietly for long enough, interspecies communication).

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