Eggs infertile?

I have been trying to breed apple snails (Rainbow Snails from Snailshop) for over a year now. Not once have I been successful. They are mating, producing eggs (I have a space of about 4" above water) but nothing ever comes of it. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Force9storm!

How many apple snails have you got? Have you males and females? Either they are infertile or the humidity in the air is wrong. Do the eggs always have condensation on them?

I have about 12 snails - couldn't say for sure what sex they are, but I have to close my eyes sometimes when they get busy. I wouldn't say the eggs have condensation on them, they look fairly dry even though I think the air is moist enough (maybe not).

I used to have a very similar problem, the eggs would dry out and either kill the deveolping embryos or make the shells so hard that the babies coudent break out from the shell.

The only solution I found was to take the eggs from the side after about one day of being laid, then change them to a small tank/tub/cup where they were suspended above the water on netting with spaces about 5mm apart. The eggs would stay moist (if the tank had a lid), warm (it can be floated in the main aquarium) and when they hatch the babies just walk through the netting into the water!

I have had this problem, no matter how dry or moist the eggs were they never hatched or even seemed to develop in the ways I have seen in photos. They just look newly hatched forever. I never tried the cup trick because I actually cannot accommodate hundreds of baby snails, just wanted you to know I had exactly the same problem and I'm still sure my snail is infertile.

Hi, Eggs have to stay moist.

Float a bit of polystyrene tile in a clean take away box+ small amount tank water and put snail eggs on the polystyrene. Float the box in the tank and splash a little water on the eggs everyday.

When they go whitish after some days the snails are about to hatch. Once you see the first ones emerging then you can gently break apart the egg mass and help any stuck snails out of the shells by washing them in the tank itself. The shell is very soft so be gentle.
If the shell goes white but no snails emerge then break it apart as before. sometimes if the shell is too dry they can't break it themselves. a cockail stick dipped in tank water can be used to ease out tiny babies. REALLY gently!

If you have lot of snails you should have male and female, so they should be fertile. Eggs need to be moist not wet, wet drowns the embryos and dry stops them from hatching. Good luck!

Hi : )
I just want to thank for the tip of how to care for the eggs! I´m a newbeginner, sitting here in cold sweden and very happy to find this site

Thanks for all the help everyone - I hope to have a successful reply in the coming months. I've wanted to breed them for some time now, but was really extra hoping to breed them because the snailshop closed down. I guess I could just buy some more now if I don't succeed, but I still want the satisfaction of breeding them myself. Snailshop rules!

My eggs always used to hatch untill now. I can't seem to hatch any now and i have no idea why. I haven't changed anything in the tank

Good luck