How Do Mystery Snails Mate? (9 Interesting Facts)

If you are considering breeding mystery snails, one of the key things you may want to know is how they mate. There are also those who may want to know how mystery snails mate out of pure curiosity. In this article, you will find comprehensive information about mating in mystery snails.

How do mystery snails mate? Mystery snail mating starts with the male climbing on top of the female. Once the male is at the right position, he inserts his penile sheath into the female’s reproductive tract. He then proceeds to deposit his sperm into the female, after which the female is able to lay viable fertile eggs.

Unlike most other snails, mystery snails are not hermaphroditic. They are either male or female: but you won’t find one with both male and female reproductive organs.

For that reason, mystery snails mating is a crucial part of their reproduction. To put it differently, mystery snail reproduction always entails mating. Mystery snails are unlike most other snails that are capable of breeding even without mating.

Whereas a female mystery snail may lay eggs even without mating, such eggs will be infertile and keep floating, and therefore incapable of hatching. For her to lay fertile eggs, she needs to mate with a male.

How Do Mystery Snails Reproduce?

The most ideal place to start, while answering the how do mystery snails mate question, is by finding out how they reproduce generally. This is because mating is part of the reproductive process.

So, how do mystery snails have babies? In other words, how do mystery snails breed?

For instance, it is common knowledge that some types of snails are asexual. Are mystery snails in that category? To put it more precisely, are mystery snails asexual?

Can mystery snails reproduce by themselves? Do mystery snails reproduce asexually or sexually? Those are the questions we are seeking insights into here.

The true position is that mystery snails reproduce sexually. Therefore reproduction entails male and female mystery snails mating.

Therefore the answer to the can a single snail reproduce question is ‘no’ – if the single snail in question is a mystery snail.

When a male mystery snail mates with a female mystery snail, it delivers its sperm into the female’s reproductive tract. This is the sperm that then fertilizes the eggs in the female.

Thereafter, the female lays fertile eggs – after one or two days. And the eggs then hatch – typically after two to four weeks, giving rise to young mystery snails.

So in a nutshell, that is how mystery snails reproduce.

Having gotten a snapshot of how mystery snails reproduce, we can now proceed to answer the how do mystery snails mate question at greater depth.

How Do Mystery Snails Mate?

There are four key steps in the mystery snails mating process.

In the first step, the male mystery snail climbs onto the female mystery snail. This climbing is at such a slow speed that most people would prefer to term it as ‘crawling’. So the male mystery snail crawls onto the female mystery snail.

In the second step, once the male mystery snail is at the right position on top of the female, he inserts his penile sheath into the female’s reproductive tract.

In the third step, the male proceeds to deposit his sperm into the female’s reproductive tract. This can take between one hour and six hours.

And in the fourth step, the male and female mystery snails separate.

The sperm that the male delivered into the female is stored in the receptaculum seminis. From here, it is used to fertilize the eggs that the female lays: making them capable of hatching.

Therefore if you had the how do snails mate question (specifically with regard to mystery snails), that is the answer to it.

Similarly, if you had the how do water snails mate question (specifically with regard to mystery snails), that is the concise answer to it.

Mystery Snails Mating Inside The Tank

At this point, one may ask, how do snails mate in a fish tank (which is where they are usually kept)? For instance, do they come to the surface to mate, or do they mate inside the water?

And the answer is that the snails mate right inside the water. They have gills with which to breathe while in the water.

In fact, in the entire mystery snail breeding cycle, the only step that entails coming to the surface is the egg laying step. This is because the female mystery snails will only lay their eggs on the waterline: not deep in the water.

But the mating happens right inside the water. And the sight of two mystery snails mating in fish tank can indeed be a rather fascinating one.

How Often Do Mystery Snails Mate?

Having understood how snails mate (mystery snails in particular), we can proceed to explore how often they do it.

Mystery snails mate very frequently. It is not uncommon for them to mate on a daily basis (or at least several times per week). But this comes with complications. That is because if the females are mounted too often, they can have injuries, and even die.

This is why people who keep mystery snails are often advised to separate the females from the males, if they notice that the males are mounting the females too often.

In answering the how do mystery snails mate question, we saw that the process entails the male climbing onto the female, inserting his penile sheath into the female’s reproductive tract, then delivering sperm into the female’s reproductive tract.

That may seem like a very energy sapping process. But male mystery snails are tenacious, and will do it over and over again.

How Long Do Mystery Snails Mate?

A key aspect we need to address, when answering the how do mystery snails mate question, is that of how long the mating process takes.

The entire mating process in mystery snails takes between one and six hours. So it is a lengthy process. And for most of the time in this duration, the male and female mystery snails remain attached to each other.

While answering the how do snails mate question (with regard to mystery snails), we saw that it involves the male climbing onto the female, inserting his penile sheath into the female’s reproductive tract, then delivering sperm.

From start to end, this process can take between one and six hours.

How Long After Mating Do Mystery Eggs Lay Eggs?

Another key aspect to deal with, while answering the how do mystery snails mate question, is that of how long the female snails take to lay eggs, after mating.

For anyone who has an interest in mystery snail breeding, this is a very key question.

The answer is that it doesn’t take long for the female mystery snails to lay eggs after mating. Normally, just one or two days after mating, the female may be able to lay fertile eggs.

Therefore the period between mystery snails mating and mystery snail laying eggs is really not very long.

And this should also answer the how long is a snail pregnant question – with regard to mystery snails specifically.

But this brings about another interesting question: how to know if your snail is pregnant.

Now how to tell if a snail is pregnant is simple. You just examine her genital tube. If there are eggs in it, then you know that the snail is pregnant.

Therefore a pregnant mystery snail is simply one that has eggs in its reproductive tract.

At this point, one may also ask, how often do mystery snails lay eggs? And the answer is that a female mystery snail is usually able to lay clutches of eggs on a weekly basis.

Therefore if you had the how often do snails lay eggs question – specifically with regard to mystery snails – now you know the answer. And that is roughly weekly.

Another related question: how many eggs do mystery snails lay? And the answer is that a mystery snail typically lays between 50 and 200 eggs per clutch.

That should in turn also answer the how many babies do mystery snails have question. But then again, not all eggs hatch into viable baby snails.

How Long Does It Take Mystery Snail Eggs To Hatch?

After mystery snails mate, the females proceed to lay fertile eggs. The females may lay the eggs one or two days after mating.

Then once the females lay the eggs – typically on the waterline mark – the eggs take between two and four weeks to hatch.

So that is what the mystery snail eggs hatch time looks like.

This, in effect, also answers the how long does it take for snails to reproduce question – specifically with reference to mystery snails.

So in calculating how long it takes, you need to consider their mating time (which can be between one and six hours).

Then consider how long it takes for them to lay eggs after mating. That can be between one and two days after mating.

Finally, consider how long it takes for the eggs to hatch – which is between two and four weeks.

A related question here is: what do aquarium snail eggs look like (specifically mystery snail eggs)? And the most concise answer is that they look like gelatin blobs.

One may then ask, what do baby apple snails look like (given that most mystery snails are apple snails)? Or, to be more specific, what do baby snails look like in a fish tank?

The answer is that the baby mystery snails normally look like miniature versions of their parents. So they have almost all features that their parents have, but they are smaller in size.

In terms of size, a baby mystery snail is, on average, 2.4 millimeters.

Therefore if you had the what do snail babies look like – specifically mystery snail babies – now you know the answer.

One may even ask, how fast do baby mystery snails grow? And the answer is that it typically takes them 2-3 months to show appreciable growth.

When Do Mystery Snails Start Mating?

Earlier, while answering the how do snails have babies question (specifically mystery snails), we saw that the process starts with mating.

More specifically, in addressing the how snails have babies question (mystery snails in particular), we saw that there is mating, followed by egg laying, which is in turn followed by the eggs hatching into baby snails.

Naturally, this leads to a question on when mystery snails start mating.

And the answer is that mystery snails normally start mating when they are around 3-4 months old.

Can Mystery Snails Lay Infertile Eggs?

Anyone posing the how do mystery snails mate question may also have an interest in knowing whether they can lay infertile eggs.

The answer is ‘yes’. If a female mystery snail doesn’t get a male to mate with, it will proceed to lay infertile eggs.

But it is worth noting that a female mystery snail can store sperm for up to 140 days. Therefore in spite of not having recently mated, a female mystery snail may lay fertile eggs, using stored sperm.

In answering the how long do mystery snail eggs take to hatch question, we saw that the period is normally 2 to 4 weeks. Therefore if eggs go beyond that period without hatching, they may have been infertile to start with.

How Do You Tell Male From Female Mystery Snails?

Earlier, in addressing the how do mystery snails mate question, we saw that the mating process entails the male crawling on top of the female, inserting its penile sheath into the female, and then delivering sperm into the female’s reproductive tract.

This may give rise to the question on how to tell male from female mystery snails.

In other words, this is a question on how to sex mystery snails.

And the answer is that mystery snail male and female differences are rather subtle. The surest way to tell the males from the females is by looking into the mantle cavity, which is somewhere underneath the shell.

If you find a penile complex in there, then you know that it is a male. If you find no penile complex there, then you know that it is a female.

That is the most straightforward approach to mystery snail male or female differentiation.

How Do You Get Mystery Snails To Mate?

A natural extension to the how do mystery snails mate question is this: on how to make snails mate.

It is one of the key things you need to know, in the process of learning how to breed mystery snails.

Now one thing you need to do is raise the tank temperatures gradually. If you can move towards 77 or 78 degrees Fahrenheit, you would be able to encourage the snails to mate.

Another thing you need to do is ensure that you consistently feed the mystery snails well.

In a nutshell, that is how to get mystery snails to breed.

That is also the approach you would take in ivory snail breeding, blue mystery snail breeding… and so on.

Generally, apple snails mating tends to be spontaneous, once there is adequate food and higher temperatures. (And most mystery snails are in the category of apple snails).

It is ideal to familiarize yourself with the freshwater snail reproduction cycle, before embarking on this sort of breeding program.

So you need to understand, how do snails get pregnant, how do water snails lay eggs<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>, how many eggs do snails lay at a time, how many babies do snails have and so on.

When embarking on the breeding program, it would also be ideal to have some insights on how to raise mystery snails.

Otherwise it may be sad for you to get some golden mystery snail eggs for instance, have them hatch into baby golden mystery snail hatchings, and then not know what to do with the baby snails.

How Do You Keep Mystery Snails From Mating?

Another question that may come up, alongside the how do mystery snails mate question, is this one – on how to keep them from mating.

Earlier, in answering the how many babies do water snails have question, we saw that the number can range from dozens to hundreds.

Yet you may not have capacity to take care of so many snails. That may then lead you to want to know how to stop snails from breeding.

Or suppose what you have is a black mystery snail. And you don’t want it breed more black mystery snail babies. There, you may find yourself interested in how to prevent snails from breeding.

Now the most straightforward approach, when it comes to preventing mystery snails from breeding, is to keep the males from the females.

So you keep them in separate tanks.

You may also consider lowering the temperatures in the tank where you keep the mystery snails. That is likely to discourage them from breeding, as they prefer to breed in higher temperatures.

Final Verdict – How Do Mystery Snails Mate

How do mystery snails mate? Mating in mystery snails entails the male climbing on top of the female, inserting his penile sheath into the female’s reproductive tract, then depositing sperm into the female’s reproductive tract.

The mating act may take between one and six hours.

Once the mating act is over, the male and female mystery snails separate. The female then proceeds to lay fertile eggs, usually on the waterline mark, after one or two days. And those eggs may then hatch after two to four weeks.

You may encourage your mystery snails to mate by feeding them well consistently, and by gradually raising the temperatures in the tank you keep them in.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet snail a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️