The Clutch Entry: Count, Day and Position
Each clutch gets its own entry the day it appears, which is what 'counted and dated' means in practice: the log ties the numbers to the day they were true. Count the eggs as closely as the clutch allows — mystery snail clutches are dense, so an honest 'roughly two hundred' with a photograph beats false precision — and note where it was laid: on the lid, the glass above the waterline, a plant stem. Position matters because it tells you about the conditions the female chose and where to watch for the next one. Record which snails were in the tank and, if you know her, which female laid it; in a breeding tank with several females, attach the entry to the likeliest layer and mark it as a guess rather than a fact.
Parents and the Water Behind Each Clutch
A clutch is the output of conditions, so record the inputs with it: the tank's temperature, how the water level sat relative to the lid — females need a gap of air above the water to lay in — and anything recently changed, from a new food to a water change or a moved heater. Note the diet the breeding snails were on, particularly calcium-rich feeding, because shell and clutch quality follow it. Over a season, these pairings of conditions and clutches become the most useful page in the log: they show you which setup produces strong clutches, instead of your having to remember which stretch felt productive.
Incubation Notes: Left in Place, Floated or Moved
Record what you did with each clutch: left where it was laid, moved to a separate hatching container, or floated above the tank on a damp-towel setup. Note the humidity arrangement in plain terms and any mishaps — a clutch that fell in the water, one that dried and cracked, one the fish found first. If you check a clutch as it darkens, note the colour change and the first signs of hatching. Clutches that fail teach as much as clutches that hatch, but only if the log says what was different about their incubation.
Hatch Results and What Survived
Close each clutch's entry with the outcome: roughly how many hatched, over how many days, and how the juveniles did in their first weeks — growth, shell condition, losses. Link the entry to wherever the juveniles went: grow-out tank, sale, swap or another keeper, with numbers. A clutch that produced snails you could not rehome is a different result from one that produced a smaller batch of strong juveniles, and the log should make that difference impossible to miss when you plan the next pairing.
Reading the Log Across a Season
The real value of clutch records appears when you read across entries rather than within them. Lay the season's clutches side by side: which female laid most reliably, which conditions preceded the strongest hatches, where juveniles thrived. You will usually find one or two quiet patterns — a preferred laying spot, a temperature band, a food that coincided with better shells — that no single entry reveals. Write those conclusions at the top of the next season's page, so the log argues with your habits, not just your memory. A season of clutch entries like that belongs with the rest of the colony's story, and KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps those breeding records together in one portable packet — counts, parents and hatch results ready to show a buyer or a fellow breeder.