snail question

[kelleyincolorad]

I hope I'm putting this in the right place...

I bought a yellow snail from (siiiigh) Petsmart. It cruised around for about a day and a half, but then started floating and closed itself off. I've read some internet info on snails (Petsmart just called it "yellow" so I have no idea what it could be) and have read that if they are dead then they aren't closed up. Does anyone know how long they will stay that way and is it common for them to just float to the top like it's dead?! If it is, just how exactly would I know?! Confused...thanks for putting up with me again.

Kelley in Colorado

[OrionGirl]

Many kinds of snails are air breathers. They lack gills to get oxygen from the water, so must surface and grab a bubble of air in their shell, which sometimes results in a floating snail. In the wild, this is an advantage--it's a quick albeit risky method of traveling to greener waters. In a tank, it means you have a snails that looks durned silly for a while.

Closing up is quite common with the larger snails. Mine will do this for 3-4 days, then open up and head for the snack bar. I've never had a real problem, though I do keep track of them to make sure they are not dead. The trap door (operculum, I think) opens up in dead snails, and they can poison a tank quickly, so should be removed. Otherwise, leave him be, he's thinking. ;)

For more on snails: http://members.lycos.co.uk/Mollusks/ under Gastropods.

[kelleyincolorad]

I'm so glad I asked here first..I just about pulled the thing out of the tank, and the Petsmart folks were "sure" it was dead! It's sitting on the bottom of the tank..thinking. I did see a tiny bit of a snail parts come out of hiding for a bit today, so I guess "Sunny" (what else would you call a yellow snail??) is okay:)

Thanks again for the help!

Kelley in Colorado

[elgecko]

http://www.applesnail.net/