Is my snail dead

[TXaquaFanatic]

Came home from work tonight and found one of my snails upside down in the tank. I grabbed it to to flip it over but noticed it isnt completely tucked in its shell. Here's a picture. How can I tell if it is dead?

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[Clayman]

Does it smell? If so then it's dead.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

No smell. But wouldnt it take time for it to smell?

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[Clayman]

Yeah, it would take a little time, not much though. All you can really do is touch it and see if it moves or put it on the substrate and wait to see if it moves. If it is dead I would remove it as fast as you can so it doesn't foul up your water. I've had snails that I thought were dead and didn't move all day. Then when I came back they were in a different spot.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

So if I leave it in the tank over night and see if has moved in the morning, it wouldnt harm my tank? I figure if it doesnt move by morning I can count it out ?

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[TXaquaFanatic]

I did poke it and it didnt budge.

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[Clayman]

You could put it in a jar or Tupperware container of tank water and see if it makes moves. Just so your not risking your display tank. Put a piece of lettuce with it, most snails love lettuce. If it were me, I would leave it in the tank overnight to see if it moves, but in confident my bio filter would be able to handle a small ammonia spike from it dying.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Cool. I will leave it til the morning. Man I really hope I am wrong. I love my snails and will be really upset if this guy is truely dead.

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[Clayman]

Snails are awesome little creatures, sometimes they get a bad rep, but I enjoy most species.

 

[PassengerTN]

Just a heads up I had a mystery snail not move for almost 3 weeks. You'll know when a snail dies, the snail is undeniable. I dubbed mine "snail van winkle". He still roams the tank today.

Jesse

 

[Autumnsky]

Yup, same with one I had, weeks no movement then one day out and roaming around like it was all better.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Confirmed this morning my nerite snail is dead. It was kinda just hanging out of its shell . My ph lvl is a higher than normal. Not really sure how the heck that happened. Researching that now. Could the higher lvls have to do with its death. Though if it does, why didnt affect the other snails?! Really trying to grasp why this little guy died, while trying to prevent it happening to my other 2.

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[Autumnsky]

How long did you have it? Did it have any algae to eat...new tank...?

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

There is not a lot of algae in my tank. At least visibly. I always figured that could be an issue. And I have had it for about 2 or 3 months now.

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[TXaquaFanatic]

I try algae tabs but my goldfish always gets them, ha!

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[Autumnsky]

It is possible it could have been too hungry. My pH is low sometimes (under 7) and I wonder if that is a problem for them. I have plenty of biofilm, don't clean the inside of the glass very often, and some algae, feed some algae wafers, sometimes mine just die too.

 

[TXaquaFanatic]

Yah I have actually not cleaned the glass since I have got them actually. Thats what they are for

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[Gillie]

Confirmed this morning my nerite snail is dead. It was kinda just hanging out of its shell . My ph lvl is a higher than normal. Not really sure how the heck that happened. Researching that now. Could the higher lvls have to do with its death. Though if it does, why didnt affect the other snails?! Really trying to grasp why this little guy died, while trying to prevent it happening to my other 2.

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I doubt your ph had anything to do with it, nerites are from tidal zones so the higher ph doesn't bother them at all.

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[trennamw]

As i understand, nerites can get stuck on their backs and starve.

One way to check in future is to pull gently at the trap door and see if they try to pull it closed.

And yes the smell of a dead one, in less than a day, leaves no room for doubt.


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