Mystery snail lethargic

[ColdKoi]

So one of my mystery snails isn’t doing so well it seems…

I know they just shut down and sleep for a couple days sometimes, but this seems like more than that

Going on day 5 now, he’s still alive, will usually be up in his shell like usual when sleeping. Other times, he’s clamped tightly shut, and every once in a while he partly comes out, dangles a tentacle out for a bit maybe flops himself over then retreats.

The snail hasn’t moved other than maybe flopping himself side to side over these 5 days. Yesterday On day 4 I moved him into the 29g with the shrimp so it’s a little more peaceful (thinking maybe a barb or the rts was picking at him overnight) but no change in behaviour

Both tanks similar water. 78f 0/0/10-20 and gh10 kh6 the other mystery snails and nerites are all fine and happy in these conditions.

 

[ADsnail]

Sounds like he's alive, with that exploratory tentacle. Questions...how old do you think he is? (How, big/how long have you had him?). Any idea when he last ate? What happens if you plunk down some food right in front of him?

What I'm getting at is, what's the balance between aging out vs their natural interest in chowing down at every opportunity?

I had a young mystery who slammed shut within a few days of joining a tank. She never opened or moved again, until...a month later she got shoved around by vacuuming and suddenly came out, crept around like she'd been in a coma for a month, and carefully began eating and joining the group. She's now the biggest eater (as well as the biggest snail, ahem) and has normal habits. That was almost two years ago. I have no idea what was going on in there for a month. They truly are *mysteries*

 

[ColdKoi]

I’ve had this one for about 6 months now, it’s about 1.5” long so getting to a healthy size/age

Funny you reply tonight, I just righted the snail again because it was upside down again. Still responding to touch…. Righted the snail and low and behold about a half hour later it popped out of its shell and made a b-line for the glass with the worlds biggest snail ‘morning wood’ lol. It climbed the glass and is now hanging out at the water line not doing anything, just retracted into its shell again

So it’s definitely alive, that’s a good sign! Lol

 

[ADsnail]

Aw, he needed more of your attention Glad he's pulled out of that funk

 

[ColdKoi]

Yea I don’t know what that was all about. Never had one basically go dead for a week lol

Water temp is consistent and parameters haven’t changed so I do t see any reason it would have gone into hibernation or been shocked (the other snails are still fine)

They’re definitely a mystery lol

 

[ColdKoi]

Well he was up and about for a few hours. Then back to hiding in its shell again this morning. We'll see what happens I guess

 

[scottydk]

world's biggest snail "morning wood"

interesting word choices

 

[ColdKoi]

I’m not even joking, I’ve never had one of mine do that lol

Unfortunately that guy is still not acting normal. He’s been parked in the same spot as this morning, though at least not completely clamped up in his shell. He’s just sitting there like he ran out of steam while eating, part way out of his shell and wiggles around a bit from time to time.

 

[Autumnsky]

What are the water parameters? Do you know your KH/GH TDS pH by any chance as well?

 

[ColdKoi]

All posted in the first post other than ph which is mid 7s and never moves and I don’t have a tds meter.

The other mystery snails and nerites are still just as lively as ever so I don’t think this is a water parameter issue. Seems isolated to just this individual

The 75g he was in as well as the 29g he’s in now both house shrimp which are fine and from what I’ve read, they are a lot more susceptible to any poor water conditions.

 

[Autumnsky]

All posted in the first post other than ph which is mid 7s and never moves and I don’t have a tds meter.

The other mystery snails and nerites are still just as lively as ever so I don’t think this is a water parameter issue. Seems isolated to just this individual

The 75g he was in as well as the 29g he’s in now both house shrimp which are fine and from what I’ve read, they are a lot more susceptible to any poor water conditions.

Hmm, yes it is a little odd. Sometimes they have a break time to rest, but not really too much resting, usually active gliding around grazing.

 

[ColdKoi]

Yea exactly. There’s times they have sat around for a day. At the most no more than 48h, and typically less than half a day and they’re up and buzzing around the tank again. In the last 6h he literally moved 6” along the substrate from where he was this morning.

A little while after I got home from work he had spun around and trudged along the bottom a little bit then stopped again. Still no signs of any parasite, bite, sore, damage, whatever. Looks just as good as ever but 0 ambition to move or do anything.

I suppose maybe he’s just getting up there in age and things are running their natural course. It is the larger of the bunch I bought at the same time about 6 months ago, but I’d surely have thought that they were no more than a few months old when I bought them, thus at least another year or more to go…?

These are my first mystery snails so maybe I’m a little off on their age when I got them but I would imagine they’re quite young as they literally fly out of the store when they get them in, I actually waited 2 months to get these!

Not much I can do I guess he’s in a good clean stable tank and I’m sure the rcs and amanos won’t bother him

 

[ADsnail]

Hmm...this is a familiar scenario to me. I've always favored buying the biggest mysteries from the fish store's tanks. Why start small when you can have the end result right now (I do this with plants too: buy the bigger size so it looks like what I want, sooner).

The upshot is that I've adopted a lot of elderly snails that spend their final months under my care. I always bring them in with younger, smaller ones, which thrive for years. But the bigger ones exhibit the same behavior and time-line you're describing, with a few variations depending on the individual. I've come to the conclusion that my fondness for larger snails means I get to study the varieties of end days of mysteries. They just kinda...slow down.

BTW, 'snail wood' happens to all my mysteries (I've had/have dozens and dozens). If I knew what else to call it, I'd do research because when I say "all" I mean even the ones that lay eggs. Take for example a pair that repeatedly mates and one repeatedly lays eggs. That's a mated male and female having children, right? And then I see them both, individually or at the same time, in different places in the tank, with SW. The female too?!? Yes. So maybe this is not what I think it is. So then, what is it?

 

[ColdKoi]

Snail wood! Lol

Maybe I’ve got all same sex snails something but I’ve never had eggs yet so I really don’t know if they’re male or female

 

[ADsnail]

So, a bit of research tonight: it's called a siphon and is peculiar to mystery snails (found this on a few apple/mystery snail sites, so both, I guess).

"A siphon is an organ consisting of the mantle cavity at the left side of the neck. When needed, the muscles in the fold contract and the fold changes into a flexible tube-like structure which enables the snail to breathe air like a snorkel while staying submerged. Watch carefully and you'll see that they actually expel water with it before allowing air to enter."

That explains why I've seen both sexes with it, and they start extending it as they head up to the water surface. Never seen them blow water. That would be worth watching for.

How is your snail? Has it moved? Is it eating?

 

[ColdKoi]

I’ve never seen mine breathe with it, just poke it out from time to time while cruising around

He’s still alive. Moved another 6” or so today and kinda propped up on a low branch of a ludwigia. Other than maybe nibbling on a bit of stuff on the substrate or the plants that have been in his path the last couple days I can’t say he’s eaten. I tried a few things and he’s just seemed uninterested and just cruised past it when he did start moving again.

He must be a little bit better as the last couple days he hasn’t been clamped up in his shell like he was the first 4 or 5 days, but definitely still acting way out of character