How to tell if snail is dead?

[zacdl]

I got 2 snails and 2 hermits yesterday. From what I can tell the hermits are alive (Although I really wouldnt know, but I dont see any hermits laying around).

1 of the snails really hasnt moved off of a hermit shell since I got it, its just been attached there. The other one is just sitting in the sand not moving either.

Now one of my other hermits is moving around, and the other one isnt moving around. So since one is healthy for sure, I dont think it is a water issue (And am assuming the other is taking a nap or something like they sometimes do).

How do I tell if they are dead? Do they go into their shell when they die? Cuz this one is still attached to that hermit shell...

 

[krap101]

well for freshwater if you pick it up it should retract into its shell, or if its closed it will retract further

 

[zacdl]

I posted this in the SW section

The thing is I just did a waterchange/small topoff yesterday, so the water is pretty high up in the tank. I wouldve stuck my hand in there its just it wouldve overflowed with my arm displacing that much water.

I was wondering if they still have their suction even when dead?

 

[Hara]

I posted this in the SW section

The thing is I just did a waterchange/small topoff yesterday, so the water is pretty high up in the tank. I wouldve stuck my hand in there its just it wouldve overflowed with my arm displacing that much water.

I was wondering if they still have their suction even when dead?

you may have posted in the saltwater section, but the same theory applies.

they do not stay attached when they die, it most likely has found something worth eating.

 

[zacdl]

OK thanks.

 

[zacdl]

Here are the two that arent moving:

 

[JG]

Smell it - whoooooo boy ! They smell awful when dead !

 

[zacdl]

Well this morning one is gone... Not in its shell. That was the one on the glass. I guess the hermits ate it?

The other one is still attached to that shell, I am betting it is dead too?

Any clue what happened to them?

 

[quarryshark]

How slow did you acclimate them? Inverts are very sensitive and need to acclimate slowly.

 

[zacdl]

Same way I acclimated everything else, the other snails, everything.
Never had any problems with the way I acclimated before,

 

[vTEC]

Yeaahhh.. smelling is a definite way of telling whether or not theyre alive... god... i had to clean out the dead ones at work... never again will i do that...

another thing i notice with dead snails, is that the FW snails tend to float when they're dead....

if your snails are just sitting on the bottom of the tank.. and not on the glass.. and they havent moved, then they're more than likely dead

 

[Guest]

Yeah, but how is that "same way"?

When I acclimated mine 4 months ago, it was successful and I wasn't even being too fancy. I sat the plastic bag on the water. Then 15 minutes later I added a cup of tank water in it.

15 minutes later, I removed half of the bag's water. Then replaced that same quantity with my tank water. 15 minutes later, I repeat the process. 15 minutes later I repeat the process again. Then I net out the snails (or whatever fish I bought) and let them in the tank. It may sound a bit too much work. But you have to realize that I was playing play station 2 in between the processes. So it wasn't much. It only took an hour. That's about 2 maps for me in SOCOM 2.

JG, I recently did a hyposalinity treatment on my tank because of ich from god knows where. It killed the snails. I took them out by net and....Wow, the stench spread all over my living room. It was the ultramagnus-bombardostink halitosis from hell!!