Trapdoor snails are one of Dragonfly Aquatics biggest sellers. A pond isn’t complete without adding algae eating pond snails. The trapdoor snails are black in color and range from 1” to 3” in size. They are live bearing and will multiply. These snails can survive cold winters and temperatures below 0 degrees. To keep your pond algae in control along with plant coverage a snail will keep eating the algae on the sides of your pond, on the rocks, sides of plant containers and even on plants. Trapdoor snails will even eat decaying matter left over from fish food and plants. Japanese trapdoor snails only produce about 20 young snails in their lifetime and do so over a number of years. In calculating the number needed for your pond the rule of thumb is you should use approximately 1 snail per 20 gallons of water. If you have a larger pond you could add a percentage needed per year. Overall they are less expensive than adding algaecides weekly.
It is normal for these snails to sometimes have algae attached to their shells as they have no way of cleaning themselves. This will not promote algae in your pond and the algae will disappear fromthem after being in the pond if your pond is mostly algae free. When you receive your snails they will appear dead as they get scared in shipping and will pull into their shells but after adapting them to your water a few hours later they will disappear in your pond. If there is a crack in their shell these also will mend. It is not necessary to float snails as you do fish. You can put them in some pond water when they arrive and when they become adjusted enter them into your pond or just put them in your pond.
We ship snails FedEx ground shipping and will put an ice pack in the box during hot weather. If you would like to have your snails shipped FedEx air overnight you can call us on 1-877-488-2973 to place your order with the additional cost for shipping. You can select 2nd day FedEx air for an additional 28.00. We do everything we can to insure the snails leave healthily and arrive healthy.
