Bettas CAN NOT be housed with Mystery Snails

[Xaltd1]

The moral of the story is that bettas are as individual as we are. Some harass snails, some ignore them. I have a feeling, if the snail is the only other living animal in the tank, it will be in more danger that if there are other fish/inverts to keep our bettas busy. They are smart fish! They'll always inspect a snail, then decide on it's entertainment value. My 1 large snail in with my male is smart enough to tuck all appendages IN if he sees my betta hovering near by. I guess you need a smart snail, too! (I look at the snail each day w/ a magnifying glass just to be sure s/he is not getting hurt.)

[ChoclateBetta]

Bettas are more diverse than people.

[Xaltd1]

And I never met a betta I didn't like! I don't think a betta will break up with you, have an affair, drink too much, and leave you for another person!!! You also don't have to spend $$ on a lawyer to get alimony payments....

[LadyVictorian]

I was one of those people who didn't like snails, now I am on the snail band wagon with my golden mystery snail Tesla. He will be living with Nix in the big 10 gallon and she is fairly small so I am not expecting too many problems. I tested her aggression with my frog knowing he will snap back and in a 2.5 gallon for 2 hours she ignored him. I also got two shrimp...we shall see about them.

[Skyewillow]

I've had horror stories of bettas and shrimp. I had a sorority kill 3 BIG pregnant ghost shrimp JUST to get the eggs.

Onto the original topic of snails and bettas. It's been stated into overkill that bettas are individuals, some bettas won't tolerate ANY sort of tank mate, others, you could probably get away with throwing anything into their tank, and they won't care one bit. On the other hand, snails are individuals too, and it's the ones that learn to protect themselves that tend to live longer. Some snails just don't develop those particular survival instincts. I have a trapdoor snail of some sort that I collected from a lake last summer, and this is honestly my most successful snail out of all of them!

About comparing what snails go through in the wild, compared to tanks. I feel it's appropriate to make that comparison, because the inhabitants of our underwater worlds don't really know to act any differently than they would in the wild. Bettas eat small invertebrates, shrimp, snails, bugs. And people culture these things specifically for their bettas to consume. Since they're trying to replicate nature as much as possible for their pets, is this wrong too? Knowing as much as we can about the wild relatives of the animals we share our homes with, helps us to better care for them.

In closing, just like some bettas don't do well with other livestock, some snails don't do well with other stock either. And I would consider an invertebrate (shrimp and snails) tank for your snail, and fish only setups for your bettas rather than returning them (because they deserve good homes too). I hope your snails recover from the social experiment that the bettas didn't comply with. They must not have gotten the memo that they're supposed to be nice ;)

[ChoclateBetta]

The only snails I can keep alive are assassins and Physella Acuita.

[Skyewillow]

Assassins are one of my new favorites... Mine always looks kinda blah though. :(

[ChoclateBetta]

Mine are so interesting. At Petco they only live a day.

[Xaltd1]

Thank you, SW. When you see a fish "break character" (attack something that says "FOOD" to them), we are seeing what happens in nature. Snails are food for fish and birds. We forget that humans have only recently been toying with DNA that goes back millions of years. Somehow, we expect them to behave like fully tame pets. Dogs bite; cats claw; horses kick. Fish eat what is fish food to them, even if we see that food as a pet. I would return a "harassed" snail to where I bought it.

[ChoclateBetta]

I would not return it Adopt it too a member here.