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Occasionally verify tanks are 26°C ± 0.5°C. Record snail and tank data daily so trends can be reviewed if concerns arise.

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Image paths corrected during migration. In the source repo, every image on this page was linked as ../img/…, one directory level too high, so none of them displayed on the lab docs site. The paths below point at the correct location. Worth fixing in the repo too if it stays in use.

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Current snail colony

Maintenance of snails and tanks (every M/W/F)

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Switch gloves between tanks to prevent contamination. Each species of snail has its own labeled materials for maintenance and cleaning, which can ONLY be used for that species.

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1. Get a pre-packaged Ziploc bag of lettuce from the freezer in room 311.
2. Break off two large leaves of lettuce per tank — you may need more depending on the density of the tank. There are three tanks for each species of snail (BS90 and NMRI), six tanks total. Put any leftover lettuce back in the bag and return it to the freezer. If the bag is empty, wash it out in the sink and hang it to dry; these bags can be reused.
3. Shake in a little Tetramin fish food.
4. Look at the styrofoam pieces floating on top of the tank. If you notice a high density of egg bundles, you may want to add another piece of cut styrofoam. If a majority of egg sacs have hatched off a styrofoam piece, you can remove and discard it. This doesn't need to be done often — roughly once per month.
   • Optional: remove old lettuce from the tanks, unless there are many baby snails present. Use the long tongs labelled with the corresponding species.
5. Top off water levels using distilled water. There is a pitcher located by each species of snail that you should use.
6. Repeat the above procedure for the NMRI snails.

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Ordering lettuce. Coordinate the purchase two weeks before finishing the existing supply. It is ordered from the Union (608-263-7910) and delivered to the Hanson loading dock within a few days. Cut the bottom off each lettuce head and package one head per Ziploc bag. Do this in B7, then bring the bags up to store in the -20°C freezer in room 311.

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If the Nalgene tank is out of water, spray down the bottom of the tank, then add 100 mL of pond water stock solution and 30 gallons of DI water.

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BS90 tanks are prone to mite contamination. Inspect the styrofoam pieces holding egg sacs — you will be able to see mites moving around, usually near or in the egg sacs. If mites become a problem, start a snail nursery in a separate small tank.

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Snail nursery startup

1. Take a small, cleaned tank from underneath the BS90 snail tanks. Fill it 1/2 to 3/4 full with diluted pond water from the Nalgene tank. Connect a fish tank hose to the grey air pump and clamp it to the nursery tank. Do not add gravel — this allows easier access to baby snails once hatched, so they can be moved to the larger colony tanks.
2. Go to the BS90 tank with the least mite contamination and remove a piece of styrofoam holding freshly laid egg sacs. Clean a pair of scissors with 70% EtOH. Cut away a few freshly laid egg clusters that have no mite contamination. Put the trimmed egg sacs face down in the new nursery tank — three egg sacs a week, for three weeks running.
3. Wait a week before feeding the snails. Start with a tiny piece of lettuce and a small amount of fish food. Scale up the amount of each as the snails grow.

Cleaning tanks (every 4–6 months)