sick mystery snail.

[bettagurl]

my yellow mystery snail has been acting very odd,she is normally all over the tank cleaning but recently she has ben staying in her shell,i dont see her come out at all.she is alive,what could be wrong with her?

 

[H3D]

If the snail is still in its shell then it is still alive. Snails can sometimes go inactive for days or even weeks.

 

[bettagurl]

so do you think she will be ok?immworried about her and the fact that if she does die and i cant tell she will rot and destroy my tank.

 

[H3D]

I cannot tell you if it is OK or not, but if it is dead you will know because it will hang out of the shell. So if it is in the shell it is probably OK and just resting.

 

[bettagurl]

ok,i'll keep a close wtch on her,thank you!

 

[fballguy]

If she is dead she will start to smell like rotten eggs.

 

[icecubez189]

you'll want to check her shell for any signs of irregular growth, holes, pits, cracks and other deformities. apple snails do enjoy a good rest once in a while which is normal. you might even see them floating at the surface, sometimes for days. then before you even notice, they are back on the glass and eating away. if your really paranoid, just take the snail out of the water. if it smells really bad, its probably or more likely dead. if the operculum (shell door) is completely shut, then its resting because a dead snail would have relaxed muscles and therefor the trap door would not completely close. poke at it gently and see if they squirm or move around.

 

[F1shkeeper]

yeah, it will smell if its dead, i've had one die and rot to nothing in one of my tanks, it didn't seem to harm anything though so i wouldn't worry about that.

 

[bettagurl]

when i first noticed her not moving i removed her from the tank,she isnt dead,just very slow,i never see her move but she has gone about an inch in a few hours.she is in a five gal with a juvinile betta(not sure of its sex yet) and she still barely moves at all.