Is my snail dead?

[JenNewbie]

Saturday I bought a zebra snail and ghost shrimp for my 2gal betta tank at work. I let them acclimate to the new water over 2hrs or so. Came back in to work on Tues. and dropped in an algae wafer chip for the ghost shrimp, but the snail was completely closed. The "foot" of the snail opened a crack at one point on Tuesday and pretty much all day today it's been open from halfway to just barely open, but the snail hasn't moved at all. I thought if it were dead, the shell would be completely closed? And how the he!! did I kill a snail in just 3 days?!

 

[QTOFFER]

A slightly open operculum (the hard trapdoor) on a snail is not a good sign.
Remove the snail from the aquarium and sniff it. Believe me, if it's dead you will be able to tell. You can also try probing the operculum with a blunt object - a live snail will tighten up and pull it closed. If it's dead you want to get it out of the tank ASAP, otherwise it will foul the water.

Why would it die so soon? It's possible that the betta killed it. It might also have been dying when you bought it.

 

[Lance M.]

With my experience with mystery snails, pond snails, and trapdoor snails The only way to tell if they are actually dead is if the trapdoor part of the shell has come of. Then you know for sure the snail has actually died.