Siamese Snail Eater

[David]

Mention keeps being made in the group about the different
personalities of bettas. This is an amusing one for me -- perhaps
others will find it so as well.

I have two bettas, purchased several months ago, on the same day at
the same store. Each is in his own gallon jug, stuffed with plants.
I also have three other jugs that contain only plants. As might be
expected, along with the plants came snails. Initially these were so
tiny that they weren't even visible. But after a month or so, some of
them were very visible. Anyway, I have enjoyed watching them grow and
flourish. They have been doing well, in all of the jugs -- except one
jug -- the jug inhabited by Escargosaur Betta. None! The coincidence
didn't really even register to me, but it seemed a waste to not have
any snails amongst all those plants and algae in the latter's jug. So
I transplanted the largest one, over 1/4 an inch by now(!), from the
other betta's jug into EB's. Ploop! Whap!

It didn't have a chance.

Although they may be in there somewhere, I still haven't even found
any pieces of its shell. Who needs clown loaches<g>?

[David]

Well, I found pieces of shell this morning that I presume belonged to
the deceased! Have any of you other betta folks observed this
snail-eating behaviour?

BTW, I thought afterwards that I should have been a bit more precise.
He, of course, did not consume the whole thing in one bite. He first
attacked the pointy end. But as soon as he figured out that this
wasn't going anywhere, he then started working on the other end. I
watched this thrashing around going on for several minutes.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to see the end game to completion -- I had
to get my wife to the dentist (already late). But there was
absolutely no doubt in my mind then how it was going to end.

Perhaps this whole story is much ado about nothing(??) But it seemed
so surprising and unexpected to me that I wanted to share it, to see
if others had similar experiences. If so, I am curious to know...

Cheers, David

On Tue, 24 May 2005 16:55:34 -0600, David
> wrote:

>Mention keeps being made in the group about the different
>personalities of bettas. This is an amusing one for me -- perhaps
>others will find it so as well.
>
>I have two bettas, purchased several months ago, on the same day at
>the same store. Each is in his own gallon jug, stuffed with plants.
>I also have three other jugs that contain only plants. As might be
>expected, along with the plants came snails. Initially these were so
>tiny that they weren't even visible. But after a month or so, some of
>them were very visible. Anyway, I have enjoyed watching them grow and
>flourish. They have been doing well, in all of the jugs -- except one
>jug -- the jug inhabited by Escargosaur Betta. None! The coincidence
>didn't really even register to me, but it seemed a waste to not have
>any snails amongst all those plants and algae in the latter's jug. So
>I transplanted the largest one, over 1/4 an inch by now(!), from the
>other betta's jug into EB's. Ploop! Whap!
>
>It didn't have a chance.
>
>Although they may be in there somewhere, I still haven't even found
>any pieces of its shell. Who needs clown loaches<g>?

[NetMax]

"David" > wrote in message
...
> Well, I found pieces of shell this morning that I presume belonged to
> the deceased! Have any of you other betta folks observed this
> snail-eating behaviour?
>
> BTW, I thought afterwards that I should have been a bit more precise.
> He, of course, did not consume the whole thing in one bite. He first
> attacked the pointy end. But as soon as he figured out that this
> wasn't going anywhere, he then started working on the other end. I
> watched this thrashing around going on for several minutes.
> Unfortunately I wasn't able to see the end game to completion -- I had
> to get my wife to the dentist (already late). But there was
> absolutely no doubt in my mind then how it was going to end.
>
> Perhaps this whole story is much ado about nothing(??) But it seemed
> so surprising and unexpected to me that I wanted to share it, to see
> if others had similar experiences. If so, I am curious to know...
>
> Cheers, David
>
> On Tue, 24 May 2005 16:55:34 -0600, David
> > wrote:
>
>>Mention keeps being made in the group about the different
>>personalities of bettas. This is an amusing one for me -- perhaps
>>others will find it so as well.
>>
>>I have two bettas, purchased several months ago, on the same day at
>>the same store. Each is in his own gallon jug, stuffed with plants.
>>I also have three other jugs that contain only plants. As might be
>>expected, along with the plants came snails. Initially these were so
>>tiny that they weren't even visible. But after a month or so, some of
>>them were very visible. Anyway, I have enjoyed watching them grow and
>>flourish. They have been doing well, in all of the jugs -- except one
>>jug -- the jug inhabited by Escargosaur Betta. None! The coincidence
>>didn't really even register to me, but it seemed a waste to not have
>>any snails amongst all those plants and algae in the latter's jug. So
>>I transplanted the largest one, over 1/4 an inch by now(!), from the
>>other betta's jug into EB's. Ploop! Whap!
>>
>>It didn't have a chance.
>>
>>Although they may be in there somewhere, I still haven't even found
>>any pieces of its shell. Who needs clown loaches<g>?

Bettas aren't recommended as snailers as this 'talent' varies by
individual. They are carnivores, so it's not unexpected. If you have a
Betta that will not eat snails, skip a few feedings and then crush some
snails against the glass when you have their attention. Often that will
do the trick, but even the Escargosaur Betta is only effective against a
range of snail sizes. You can try to manually get rid of the larger
snails that they leave behind.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Tynk]

Well....There are Bettas out there that are true snail killers.
Some that you'll see going after a large Mystery snail, others that
will only eat the small baby ones. Some may have a taste for certain
snails and not others.
However, most male Bettas don't eat snails.
Since you seem to have a little dude that likes his food big, try
tossing in a small size Ghost Shrimp. I bet he'll gobble it up.
I had a male that would gobble up the smaller shrimp in a gulp, and if
it was a bigger one he would first kill it right away and then take his
time nibbling. = )
I've also had a snail eater. Only one though....out of several that
I've kept snails with..or tried, hehe.
I've kept Bettas for 27 yrs but only a few yrs ago added MTsnails to
the single Betta tanks around the house. It's just something I've never
put in their tanks before because of the possible population troubles.
I have since quit because of, well...population troubles. LOL
I had several Betta tanks that became so over run by snails that I had
to constantly pull out snails. Not on the one white opaque male I had.
The only snails in his tank were the 2 adult snails I put in there to
begin with, hehe. What a piggie he was because he sure ate everything I
fed him as well. = )~

[Gill Passman]

"Tynk" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Well....There are Bettas out there that are true snail killers.
> Some that you'll see going after a large Mystery snail, others that
> will only eat the small baby ones. Some may have a taste for certain
> snails and not others.
> However, most male Bettas don't eat snails.
> Since you seem to have a little dude that likes his food big, try
> tossing in a small size Ghost Shrimp. I bet he'll gobble it up.
> I had a male that would gobble up the smaller shrimp in a gulp, and if
> it was a bigger one he would first kill it right away and then take his
> time nibbling. = )
> I've also had a snail eater. Only one though....out of several that
> I've kept snails with..or tried, hehe.
> I've kept Bettas for 27 yrs but only a few yrs ago added MTsnails to
> the single Betta tanks around the house. It's just something I've never
> put in their tanks before because of the possible population troubles.
> I have since quit because of, well...population troubles. LOL
> I had several Betta tanks that became so over run by snails that I had
> to constantly pull out snails. Not on the one white opaque male I had.
> The only snails in his tank were the 2 adult snails I put in there to
> begin with, hehe. What a piggie he was because he sure ate everything I
> fed him as well. = )~
>

This all prompted me to check on the condition of the 1cm snail that hasn't
moved for a few days in the Betta tank - empty shell....but then he is
eccentric - he,he

Gill

[Elaine T]

Gill Passman wrote:
> "Tynk" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>
>>Well....There are Bettas out there that are true snail killers.
>>Some that you'll see going after a large Mystery snail, others that
>>will only eat the small baby ones. Some may have a taste for certain
>>snails and not others.
>>However, most male Bettas don't eat snails.
>>Since you seem to have a little dude that likes his food big, try
>>tossing in a small size Ghost Shrimp. I bet he'll gobble it up.
>>I had a male that would gobble up the smaller shrimp in a gulp, and if
>>it was a bigger one he would first kill it right away and then take his
>>time nibbling. = )
>>I've also had a snail eater. Only one though....out of several that
>>I've kept snails with..or tried, hehe.
>>I've kept Bettas for 27 yrs but only a few yrs ago added MTsnails to
>>the single Betta tanks around the house. It's just something I've never
>>put in their tanks before because of the possible population troubles.
>>I have since quit because of, well...population troubles. LOL
>>I had several Betta tanks that became so over run by snails that I had
>>to constantly pull out snails. Not on the one white opaque male I had.
>>The only snails in his tank were the 2 adult snails I put in there to
>>begin with, hehe. What a piggie he was because he sure ate everything I
>>fed him as well. = )~
>>
>
>
> This all prompted me to check on the condition of the 1cm snail that hasn't
> moved for a few days in the Betta tank - empty shell....but then he is
> eccentric - he,he
>
> Gill
>
>
My ramshorns don't seem to reproduce they way they do in other tanks in
with the bettas. I hadn't really thought about it before...

--
Elaine T __
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