A few weeks ago, I had my first batch of mystery snail babies. The two parents are sort of a gold/brown mix, and they produced about 11 babies that survived (some may have become food for my african frog). Anyway, the babies are getting pretty big now. They are about the size of a pencil-top eraser (or bigger). Two of them are completely white (somewhat transparent) and one is completely gold. The rest, all equal in size or smaller than the pure white and gold babies, all look to be a brown %26 gold mix, like the parents. Can I expect them to stay this color as they mature? Are they considered albinos? Is there an increased interest in albino mystery snails? And, if so, what can I expect if I keep the baby albinos and continue to breed them? My current plans were to trade the babies to pet stores for fish food, carbon, etc. Will the color anomolies increase the "tradeability"?
Answers:
A white shell color (ivory) doesn't necessarily mean you have an albino. Albino mean that the snail isn't able to produce any color pigment in its body, whereas an ivory mystery snail lacks pigment only in the shell. Its body can still be normally colored.
Albino and ivory are both apparently recessive color traits, meaning that a snail would need to have both alleles (genes) for this trait. If either allele is to produce a pigment, the snail will have some color, so in a sense, they would be less common, but only if no one would breed specifically for this color. If you keep these and continue to breed the light ones, you should get more of the same light color. You can see more on apple/mystery snail genetics in this link: http://www.applesnail.net/
There is a chance the shells might darken as they get thichker as the snails grow, but I wouldn't expect them to darken very much if you already see gold and brown in the others babies if they're a similar size.
It would be hard to predict how much you might get in credit for them. Online websites show white/pearl/ivory selling for a little higher than chestnut (normal coloration) or gold, and about the same as purple, blue, or jade. A lot would depend on the size and number you can supply compared to the cost the store may be paying for them now. If they currently have mystery snails for sale, only expect to get around 1/4 of that amount (at the most) for something of a similar size. You can always ask in advance if they would be interested in having a local source, and if they would be interested in a particular color (ivory or otherwise). The snails would also need to be able to be confirmed as the species Pomacea bridgesii which is the only mystery snail permitted to be sold (the true "apple snail" is now considered an invasive and is illegal). You can see how to identify the species in the website listed above.
na their shells probably arent think enough to have the gold tint
