How to Breed Pond Snails

Several species of snails are often referred to by the common name "pond snail." These include the woodland pond snail (Stagnicola catascopium), marsh pond snail (Stagnicola elodes) and the cold water pond snail (Stagnicola woodruffi). These all belong to the Lymnaeidae scientific family. As hermaphrodites, these pond snails do not need another snail to mate and lay eggs, and they can fertilize their own eggs. Keeping the pond snail in its ideal environmental conditions will likely yield you more snails than you anticipated.

Things You'll Need

  • Snail food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Provide shallow areas for your snails to live. According to the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Animal Diversity Web, most pond snails live in warm shallow waters of lakes and ponds. Most aquariums would be considered shallow water for a snail, but you may have to make modifications to a pond if it is more than 2-feet deep and you are not having success at breeding your snails.

    • 2

      Provide plenty of food that includes live plants and algae wafers. The more food you provide, the more prolific your pond snails will be. You can also feed them leafy greens such as kale and lettuce.

    • 3

      Keep large predator fish out of the tank with the snails if you do not want to control their population growth. Most carnivorous fish will eat the eggs and recently hatched snails. Some fish, such as clown loaches, are specialized snail feeders.