When Do Snails Sexually Mature?

[dorecs]

Hi,
I've got two tadpole snails that are at the moment 6-7 mm across,
When will they start breeding? 
Do snails have an age of sexual maturity?
Aaand, does one have to be male and one female, ?
 
Thanks!
 
(I asked a similar question yesterday but realized my snails might be too young to actually breed)
 
 
 
Edit:
Read around online and it says they like overfed tanks to breed in, instead of doing that and ruining my tank, will this tiny tiny tiny tiny tank, which is now overfed, help?
https/www.flickr.com/photos/86426440@N06/14031947911/

 

[Donya]

When will they start breeding? 
Do snails have an age of sexual maturity?

Your snails are a type of Physid, which usually mature quite small/young. Most likely yours are already mature.
 

Aaand, does one have to be male and one female, ?

No, they are hermaphrodites, so all you need to do is put two of the same species together and eggs will happen.
 

Read around online and it says they like overfed tanks to breed in, instead of doing that and ruining my tank, will this tiny tiny tiny tiny tank, which is now overfed, help?

If you actually want to keep the snails in a healthy state, overfeeding in a volume of water that small is more likely to kill them from poor water quality than anything else. Physids are hard as nails as far as snails go, but they will still often flee stagnant water, which puts them at risk of drying out. You can keep hardy snails like Physids in an unheated pico tank with some sort of very basic filtration/water movement and feed them moderately. Filtration can be a tiny sponge filter or even just some plants. As an example, for many years I have had a 1/2gal "snail bowl" that has a line of air tubing for surface aggitation and grows java moss under a low-wattage, single-bulb LED from IKEA. Keeping physids in such a setup would be quite easy as long as the tank isn't exposed to extreme heat/cold (i.e. don't put it in direct sun or in front of an AC vent). Foods that can be entirely consumed quickly are best, such as pelleted foods or flakes. It looks like you have added a leaf or piece of lettuce, which is hard for Physids to eat when fresh and therefore tends to pollute the water before it becomes softer and edible.

 

[thelaw]

Hi,
I've got two tadpole snails that are at the moment 6-7 mm across,
When will they start breeding? 
Do snails have an age of sexual maturity?
Aaand, does one have to be male and one female, ?
 
Thanks!
 
(I asked a similar question yesterday but realized my snails might be too young to actually breed)
 
 
 
Edit:
Read around online and it says they like overfed tanks to breed in, instead of doing that and ruining my tank, will this tiny tiny tiny tiny tank, which is now overfed, help?
https/www.flickr.com/photos/86426440@N06/14031947911/

i have herd snails can mate right after hatching

 

[dorecs]

Hi,
Thanks for replies,
for now I think i'll just leave them to their own devices in the main tank, as you said, the water quality would be so poor in the toothpick holder tank, they would probably die anyway,
 
If they do lay eggs will my fish eat them right away? (Neons and Lampeye's)
Is there anyway round this? Tank in a tank?! 

 

[Donya]

Very few fish will eat eggs from Physids - it's one of the reasons they are prone to overpopulating tanks. The fish you have are unlikely to eat any of the snails' eggs.