I was scooping out some more dead leaves and I picked up a snail!! He's black to dark green tint and the size of the Hersey's chocolate eggs that are out for Easter. When I turned him over he sucked himself in and flattened down the hatch. He's not a pond snail...haven't seen any that big in the 2 years that I've been ponding. I tried taking a few pics of him but they came out too blurry. The only snails that I knew of that were in my ponds were the pond snails and the black mystery snails. Whoopee!! Maybe the guy from New York was right, Mystery snails can survive severe cold. The older/bigger original mystery snails did die, but sometimes youngsters don't know better. I'll be watching for them NOW. :ph43r:

Congrats on your slimy friend! If it's not an apple snail that beat the cold, maybe somehow another species got introduced to the pond. It sounds big though.

I found a 2nd snail in the larger filter pond. Both have shells measuring about 1/2 inch. And I can see their bodies move without having to take my glasses off. lol We found out after this winter thaw started what those gate valves are for. I've tried filling my filter pond twice so far, but turning the pump off for the night just in case. NO water in it the next day, getting a reverse drain somehow. Told hubby when I put in the 4x6 waterfall/filter/pond it WILL have a gate valve so I don't have to worry about any backflushing. That pond will be totally shutdown and covered for the winter season.

I did some googling this morning, it looks like those snails might be giant pond snails ( didn't see ANY that big last year or dark in color ). I also found one ramshorn. That has a definite shell shape so I'm clear on that one.

I've never seen a giant pond snail myself.

Be careful what you wish for. I purchased two apple snails once.

My Oh My; a couple apple snails, a couple months, and more snails than I ever wished for.

Thanks goodness they're gone. Not sure if it was the harsh Iowa winter or adding salt to the water, but for whatever reason was very happy to see them go.

Hi Sadie,

Congratulations on your 2 snails.
Speaking of snails, I purchased 3 Japanese Trapdoors last July. One died before winter. :( Yesterday, my pond was cleaned. I now have 16!

Karen, I'm glad your trapdoors reproduced! I've got too many predators, mostly the raccoons, that eat my snails so I have to add more each year.

Hi Robyn,

Yes, I was worried about them over the winter.
If I could I would send you some because I am sure they will keep at it!
My pond has no predators. There are a few cats, the occasional raccoon and occasional opossum.

:rolleyes: Cool..I can hardly wait to see what's in my new pond...another few weeks until I get to start moving in... :D
I wish your photo's would have come out..I have never seen a snail as large as your talking about...please try to take another with something next to the snail so we can see the size of it...I think snails even live in the woods,in the damp forest floors,even around here,in the midwest... :P

There are aquatic and terrestrial snails. They're different species. There are some huge land snails down in the tropics (as well as big aquatic ones). They might be scary to come upon in the woods!

LOL...Robyn..How big is big?

Scary big? :unsure:
How about four inches in diameter?

Here is a photo of Karen's snail that she sent me. It's a trapdoor snail.

We will miss our Mystery snails that we put in last summer. Turned out too late that we're too far North for them. And the aquarium hadn't cycled long enough so the shock killed 2 when I tried saving them. They did have alot of babies, but it's just too cold so I don't expect them this season. They are a kick to watch, I even named them. lol When I fed the goldfish flake food, I'd find at least 2 of the snails near the surface. I NEVER thought I'd like snails, but seeing one break the water surface and grab the food out of your hand....it is the NEATEST thing. You do have to have patience ( I didn't name any Speedy. lol ) and they have to learn to trust you. The adults were the size of ping pong balls. I'm still looking since the water is clear, but no sign of the shells....or my dead pleco. :(

Lymnaea stagnalis, this is what I found. The pic of the snail looks like what I've found and I know I have no 'intentional' trapdoors. I also saw a pic of a snail eating a fish, so I'll probably never find Dude, but maybe that's why these snails are so big. lol They look like like the little 'usual' pond snails, with no type of trapdoor at the shell openning. Just alot of slime. lol

My snail is definately a trapdoor. That is what I purchased. I'm positive. :)

Sorry, I guess I got confused, mixing up SadieMay and Karen? It was SadieMay who said she had the giant pond snail. I thought that person was sending the photo for identification. Me stupid.

Sorry Robin. I just wanted to post it in this thread because I recall someone was interested in what they look like. It was confusing.