Well, I have a large apple snail, and sometimes he will go into his shell for several days, not moving at all. today when i got home he was floating in the current underneath my filter, just bobbing around. He was pretty much sucked into his shell. I was wondering, how can you tell if they are actually dead? Right now I am going to throw his favorite meal in to see if he goes after it, But other than that, i have no idea how else I could tell. Thanx
how can you tell?
- Thread starter jenny cookie
- Start date
I'm not an apple snail expert by any means but a floater sounds odd to me (this may be something they do all the time and I just don't know it).
How to know if they are dead: This is gross, but pull him out and *ever so slightly* sniff him. If nothing, take a bigger whiff. A dead snail smells rather raunchy. If in doubt, take him out and put him in a gallon or half-gallon container with some light bubbling for a couple of days. In that time you'll likely figure out his status. Don't fret heating the container (just no big temp shock), apple snails don't care. They're native to my back yard and the water temp gets in the 30-40F range in the winter and they do fine.
How to know if they are dead: This is gross, but pull him out and *ever so slightly* sniff him. If nothing, take a bigger whiff. A dead snail smells rather raunchy. If in doubt, take him out and put him in a gallon or half-gallon container with some light bubbling for a couple of days. In that time you'll likely figure out his status. Don't fret heating the container (just no big temp shock), apple snails don't care. They're native to my back yard and the water temp gets in the 30-40F range in the winter and they do fine.
Floating doesn't sound right to me either. Though its not uncommon for snails to go into their shells for a couple weeks and be fine. I'd do what was suggested, you'll find out soon enough.
Snails in the whild will float inorder to move around faster. If you're really worried put the snail in a bucket with some food (blanced cucumber tied to a rock). If he's alive you'll find him on the food. If not ask Mako for a new one 
floating snails in general are pretty common, Apple snails in particular I'm not sure about.
Dave
Dave
yep yep floating apple snails are just fine! I personally have cana's and they will climb up the glass of the tanks until they reach the top then let go and sort of float around until they either find what they were looking for or someplace they think is better than the original and then they'll sink back down. Within their shell they have a sort of 'snail swim bladder' which is more typically an air lung which allows them to control their buoyancy. But if you're still worried about him being dead then just a small whiff will definately give you an answer as dead snails are quite raunchy!!! ~Saray
:thud: well I put the lettuce in right on top of him, and he started coming out of his shell, and the a huge airbubble popped out and he sank to the bottom. but thanks for the replies anyways, so i guess I will know when it is his time... :dance2: :thm: