How do you know when a snail is dead?

[jaydawg53]

I just added a snail to my tank yesterday to help clean up the algae, and he was moving around all day sucking away at all the algae. Today, he was stuck tot he same spot all morning, and didn't move. Now, I just looked up there, and he's lying on his side right under where he was stuck all morning. I moved him, and he didn't retract into his shell.

Since snails are already the kind of animal that might sit still for a while, how do I know if he's dead?

 

[Rach101]

Sniff him. You'll know. They smell -HORRIBLE- when they die.

 

[theotheragentm]

The smell is the snail rotting. It produces gas, so if your snail is floating, that can also be a sign that it is dead.

 

[jaydawg53]

well, he doesn't smell bad at all, but he's completely unresponsive. There was a LOT of algae in the tank, could he be in a food coma?

 

[theotheragentm]

I just read that you just put him into the tank. That might be normal. Leave him be for a while and turn down the lights. My snail buried himself in the sand when I first put him in my tank.

 

[jaydawg53]

Ok, I'll just leave him in there. He was very active yesterday; I'm a little anxious about it because I'm going to be out of my office (The tank is at my office) until Monday, and if he is dead, I don't want him to contaminate the water.

I'll just stop in on Saturday and see how he's doing. Hopefully he'll be happily sucking algae again.

Thanks guys!

 

[fishb0ne]

I've had snails not come out for a good few days when first introduced to a tank. Depending on how big your tank and snail are, your water might be fine til Monday.

 

[jsoong]

Do I understand it right? The snail is OUT of the shell & will not retract even when you touch its foot?

If so, it is likely dead. Dormant snails are inside the shell with the door tightly closed. A dead snail may not smell right away. If I were you, I'd put the snail in a different container (maybe a clean 1 gal tub with tank water) so as not to contaminate the tank

 

[theotheragentm]

I didn't catch that but jsoong is right. If the snail is out and not moving, that's not a good sign. It may be dead in that case. I was under the assumption it was closed up.

 

[jaydawg53]

Well, I'll be danged; I stopped by my office this morning, and the snail was crusing around, sucking up algae like a champ! I guess he was just really really tired!

Thanks again for all your advice!

j

 

[theotheragentm]

He's like any other guy. He eats and takes a 16 hour nap.

 

[tropicalfish]

What kind of snail do you have and what is their max size?
I might want one for my tank.

 

[malloc]

It produces gas, so if your snail is floating, that can also be a sign that it is dead.

Don't use this as an indication that the snail is dead. A (live) snail with his lung full of air will float. Mine occasionally climbs up to the surface, takes a deep breath & floats around with my hatchetfish for a few hours.

The best ways to tell are 1) the smell, and 2) if you touch his foot/skin and he doesn't retract into his shell.

They are a bit easy to shock when putting them in a new environment. Make sure you acclimate them slowly to your water, it will help them a lot during the first few days until they are adjusted.

 

[jaydawg53]

Yeah, I was surprised that when I touched his foot, he still didn't retract. I guess he' sjust tough like that . But I acclimated him to the water like any other fish, i put the bag in the water for about 20 minutes, and then dropped him in.

I'm not very sure what kind of snail he is, I just told the LFS that I wanted on ethat was least likey to reproduce. THey did tell me that if he gets too big they'll take him back on a trade in...

 

[courtnee]

Snails are well known for floating and can even go to sleep for months and float. Also they are known to hang out of the shell as well. It can also be a sign of stress to hang out of their shell. Mine did this as he died. They love to float and they play tricks on you.

The smell factor is a good one but not a 100% mine was in his shell barely hanging out for days and I kept smelling him and he did not smell. I finally left him in a 1gl bucket of water over night and tested the water for ammonia which turned very yellow that was my answer.

 

[sarah5775]

When I first got my snail (don't ask me what kind he is, the pet store didn't even know) he moved around for a few days and then stopped moving, and lay there, hanging out of his shell. I picked him up and he STILL didn't go back into his shell, even when I lightly touched him. No smell, but I was SURE he was dead. I did a pwc, left the room with the lights off for a few hours, and when I came back he was climbing all over the sides of the tank. That was three months ago, and he has been fine ever since, though he does go through a few days of not moving much every now and then.