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I feel helpless. What do I do?


Drea Liz

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Hey everyone, first time here and need help. I just got this lil guy Sunday afternoon. He still has not come around and I am getting very worried. He is only cracked open a little and not moving. When I get the courage to touch him, he clamps up. Then I feel whatever progress was possibly made has been set back. On the other hand, if he did die I don’t want him sitting there fouling up the water. The tank is 15 gallons. Tank mate is a single female betta that has zero interest in him. She will occasionally do a swim by and that is it. Water parameters are ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, pH 7.7, temp 76.6°

D3A5A3B9-47A0-4B59-9F47-052F20132344.jpeg

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Sorry to hear your troubles. 

3 going on 4 days is a long time to not be active. From that perspective, I'm not optimistic. 

Snails can become detached from their shell, which they can't recover from. Eg if it was pulled off the glass too hard or something. 

My recommendation is to accept that somethings, you can't control everything. It doesn't mean you did anything wrong. That being said, you can do things that can't hurt. Daily small water changes to keep water as clean as possible. Maybe add a very thinly sliced piece of boiled zucchini or a couple de-shelled peas nearby. These are things that won't foul the water if they sit for a few days. 

I should ask, have you added anything to the tank like medicine or salt or copper? 

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Nothing has been added or taken away. Long story short this is a brand new setup that I was forced to do a fish in cycle. Honestly, since it is a large tank for one betta and a snail I have not started the bacteria in a bottle yet. I keep testing the water and doing water changes. The levels are perfect. Should I just put Ed down to “swim in peace”?

8 minutes ago, TOtrees said:

Sorry to hear your troubles. 

3 going on 4 days is a long time to not be active. From that perspective, I'm not optimistic. 

Snails can become detached from their shell, which they can't recover from. Eg if it was pulled off the glass too hard or something. 

My recommendation is to accept that somethings, you can't control everything. It doesn't mean you did anything wrong. That being said, you can do things that can't hurt. Daily small water changes to keep water as clean as possible. Maybe add a very thinly sliced piece of boiled zucchini or a couple de-shelled peas nearby. These are things that won't foul the water if they sit for a few days. 

I should ask, have you added anything to the tank like medicine or salt or copper? 

Nothing has changed. Long story short is this is a new setup. I was forced to do a fish in cycle. Due to the size of the tank I have not added any bottled bacteria as the numbers have stayed perfect. I have tried offering food and still nothing. At this point should I just put Ed down gently? If so is it ok to do the fridge to freezer method? The other method is just so brutal to me. 

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water changes are critical when doing fish in cycle. are you doing them? 

personally i don't see any benefit to euthanizing your snail. there are lots of opinions out there but I don't believe they "suffer" or feel pain in any way we can contextualize. If you do go with euthanization, I'm not a fan of the freezer. It might be out of sight but that doesn't make it best. For snails, the research I've done suggests flat beer to knock them out, then increasing alcohol concentrations until fatal. I don't have an instruction set, but you can find some online. 

i should add, it's really clear how much you care, kudos for that. 

Edited by TOtrees
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9 minutes ago, TOtrees said:

water changes are critical when doing fish in cycle. are you doing them? 

personally i don't see any benefit to euthanizing your snail. there are lots of opinions out there but I don't believe they "suffer" or feel pain in any way we can contextualize. If you do go with euthanization, I'm not a fan of the freezer. It might be out of sight but that doesn't make it best. For snails, the research I've done suggests flat beer to knock them out, then increasing alcohol concentrations until fatal. I don't have an instruction set, but you can find some online. 

i should add, it's really clear how much you care, kudos for that. 

Yes, I have been doing frequent water changes. I have been doing them daily. 

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1 hour ago, Drea Liz said:

Tank mate is a single female betta that has zero interest in him

Are you very sure about that. I had a betta that would try and snack on the antennae. I almost never saw him do it, but it did affect the snail's behavior. I ended up having to separate them.

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15 minutes ago, Tony s said:

Are you very sure about that. I had a betta that would try and snack on the antennae. I almost never saw him do it, but it did affect the snail's behavior. I ended up having to separate them.

Positive. I sat watching them for 4 hours before going to bed.

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26 minutes ago, Drea Liz said:

Positive. I sat watching them for 4 hours before going to bed.

That's great. It may just take a bit of time then. You're still getting a response when it tries to close its shell on you. When it stops doing that, it's mostly done and then needs removed

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Just now, Tony s said:

That's great. It may just take a bit of time then. You're still getting a response when it tries to close its shell on you. When it stops doing that, it's mostly done and then needs removed

Does it mean anything when his door is closed it is not a perfect seal. There is one edge that seems to stay opened in a tiny spot?

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11 minutes ago, Drea Liz said:

Does it mean anything when his door is closed it is not a perfect seal

With snails it's hard to tell. I would allow him time to either heal a bit or pass. just check on him once a day. and when he's gone, you'll know. The door won't shut, and he may slide completely out

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2 hours ago, TOtrees said:

It might be out of sight but that doesn't make it best.

Agreed. And as hard as this may sound, the best way for euthanizing a snail is to put it in a ziploc bag with a little tank water, not too full, go out to your car and put the bag behind your back tire and to back over it quickly. It is the quickest, most efficient way to do it. If you don't want to look at it afterwards you can also have someone help you that is comfortable doing that so they can grab the crushed snail and the baggie and stick it into a paper bag or something else that isn't see through to dispose of for you. I know it sounds hard, but this is the best way I know of. 
 

 

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It’s a snail, there is absolutely no reason to euthanize it. If it dies, then get it out. Check it once a day. I recently had a snail take 6 weeks to wake up that has been healthy for months now. 

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I had this happen before with other mystery snails. Usually they “hibernate” for a while before coming out. One of my blue mystery snails has been doing it for about 2 weeks now, but he occasionally comes out. 

Try doing a time lapse to see if he is moving. 

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