Golden Rabbit Snail Care (Orange Rabbit Snail) | Gentle Giant of Sulawesi

Looking to add some more life and color to your (shrimp) aquarium? One of our favorite options is the golden rabbit snail of the genus Tylomelania: a real eye-catcher, but easy to care for and also 100% shrimp-safe. Pretty much the ideal aquarium inhabitant!

Thinking of adding one or more golden rabbit snails to your tank? Below, you can find everything you need to know about their origins, diet, requirements, and much more.

Golden rabbit snail appearance & natural habitat

Appearance

Rabbit snails are among the largest and most unusual types of snails you can add to your freshwater (shrimp) tank. They're easy to recognize: their shells are very long and pointy, with 9-10 whorls on adult specimens and a ribbed texture. They've also got an operculum (trap door), which they can use to close off their shell for protection.

The body (or "foot") can have different colors, but with golden rabbit snails, it's a bright orangeish-yellow. The snails have two antennae reminiscent of rabbit ears, clearly visible small black eyes, and prominent faces that look a little bit like an elephant's trunk. This is why they're also sometimes called elephant snails!

Golden rabbit snails grow to a maximum size of around 3" and can live for up to 3-5 years.

Did you know? Scientists think rabbit snails, like the golden rabbit snail, developed their strong and thick shells to protect themselves from snail-eating crabs. The result is a kind of never-ending race: the crabs co-evolve with the snails, developing stronger pincers in order to still be able to eat them as their shell thickness increases through natural selection.

Natural habitat

The golden rabbit snail is naturally found on the island of Sulawesi, in Indonesia. A unique collection of five lakes here, referred to as the Malili system, contain a bunch of freshwater (invertebrate) species not seen anywhere else. Many of these are highly sought after by aquarists.

This includes the coveted Sulawesi shrimp, as well as various types of rabbit snails of the genus Tylomelania. Today's subject can be found in two of the Malili lakes, as well as one connecting river: Lake Matano, Lake Mahalona, and the Petea river. It likes soft substrates.

Like many of our other favorite creatures from Sulawesi, Tylomelania gemmifera is considered an Endangered species in the wild by the IUCN Red List. This is due to the fact that the two lakes it's found in are under very heavy pressure from human activity: mining, logging, urbanization, and hydroelectric power plants.

Even worse, invasive predatory fish called flowerhorn cichlids have made their way into both Lake Matano and Lake Mahalona. Despite the snails' protective shells, the cichlids are able to easily hunt them and decimate the population. We hope the situation in Sulawesi can be rectified, but unfortunately the future for the various unique invertebrates we love looks pretty bleak.

Setting up a golden rabbit snail aquarium

Requirements

Golden rabbit snails aren't picky about their environment and don't need a huge tank to thrive. A single specimen should work well in a 10-gallon aquarium, and you can count around 2.5 gallons of extra water volume for each additional snail.

One thing to keep in mind is that rabbit snails are lean, mean detritus vacuuming machines. Their snout-like faces are perfect for digging through soft lake bottoms like they would encounter in much of their natural habitat. As such, they'll appreciate a sandy substrate in the aquarium as well.

Although these snails do appreciate some caves and crevices to retreat to, their large shells are a bit unwieldy. Try not to fill up the tank with too much decor, or they won't be able to move!

Water quality

As always, you should ensure your aquarium is fully cycled before introducing snails or other livestock. For golden rabbit snails, you should keep the temperature on the tropical side—the island of Sulawesi is pretty toasty!

Also important is to pay some attention to acidity and hardness. Lake Matano naturally boasts rather alkaline water with a pH of 8.5 and a relatively low hardness level. It's a good idea to at least keep the pH above 7 (neutral) in your aquarium, because if you don't, the acidity of the water may affect your snails' shells.

pH: 7-8.5

Temperature: 76-85 °F

TDS: 50-150 ppm

Tankmates

When it comes to tankmates for your golden rabbit snails, most aquarium fish and invertebrates that thrive in similar water parameters should work fine. Pay attention to pH requirements, because a lot of the fish available in your local aquarium store will like more acidic water!

We've already mentioned these snails making great tankmates for (dwarf) shrimp, and of course they're a must-have in a Sulawesi shrimp set-up. However, you can also keep them in a regular peaceful community aquarium. Livebearers like guppies and mollies like alkaline water and can make a good choice.

Other options include:

• Rainbowfish like the red neon blue eye rainbowfish
• Japanese ricefish
• Rasboras like the kubotai rasbora
• Danios like the celestial pearl danio
• Adaptable catfish species like the panda Corydoras

Golden rabbit snail diet

Golden rabbit snails are pretty active, spending much of their time zooming around the tank and digging through the substrate in search of edible morsels. They're detrivores, meaning they're not picky at all about their next meal. The species feeds on decaying plant and animal matter, biofilm, algae, and more, while leaving live plants alone.

Because our tanks are generally too clean to sustain one or more of these large snails on detritus alone, it's a good idea to regularly supplement their diet. If you keep them in your shrimp tank, just add some extra shrimp food, as it contains all the nutrients a snail needs.

You can feed your rabbit snails sinking pellets, blanched vegetables, and pretty much anything else. Special snail foods or calcium supplements can be helpful to ensure their shells grow nice and strong; they can become brittle otherwise.

Breeding golden rabbit snails

When it comes to breeding, rabbit snails are unique among their kind. Rather than laying hundreds of eggs and then abandoning them like the majority of snails do, members of the genus Tylomelania invest their energy in producing only a few offspring at a time. The babies are hatched in a uterine brood pouch and born live, and can be almost 0.8" in length when they enter the world!

So what does this mean for us aquarists if we'd like to breed our golden rabbit snails? Well, it's good news. They do reproduce in the aquarium, but because they only produce a few babies at a time, they won't overrun your tank like some other snails are prone to doing.

If you've got both male and female golden rabbit snails, there's really not much else you need to do. Make sure the water quality stays high and feed nutritious foods. The female produces new embryos almost constantly. Once in a while, you'll see her release a white egg sac. This will dissolve immediately to reveal a brand new, perfect miniature rabbit snail.

Tip: It's not really possible to tell the difference between male and female rabbit snails. As such, it's a good idea to just buy a relatively large (5+) group if you'd like to breed your snails.

Buying golden rabbit snails

Specialized aquarium stores may carry a few different rabbit snail species (keep an eye out for the chocolate rabbit snail, too!). Don't confuse today's subject, scientifically known as Tylomelania gemmifera, with the giant golden rabbit snail, Tylomelania sarasinorum, which is more yellowish in color.

Conveniently, you can also order your aquarium snails online. The Shrimp Farm carries golden rabbit snails, and we ship them straight to your doorstep with live arrival guarantee!

Von Rintelen, T., & Glaubrecht, M. (2005). Anatomy of an adaptive radiation: a unique reproductive strategy in the endemic freshwater gastropod Tylomelania (Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae) on Sulawesi, Indonesia and its biogeographical implications. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 85(4), 513-542.

Von Rintelen, T., Von Rintelen, K., & Glaubrecht, M. (2010). The species flocks of the viviparous freshwater gastropod Tylomelania (Mollusca: Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae) in the ancient lakes of Sulawesi, Indonesia: the role of geography, trophic morphology and color as driving forces in adaptive radiation. Evolution in action: case studies in adaptive radiation, speciation and the origin of biodiversity, 485-512.