# Worried About Apple Snail



## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

So I had a mishap with my first apple snail that I purchased a few days ago and bought a new one to replace him today. I am not sure what went wrong but I think it because my friend may have hurt the first one. When I picked it up from the store it was active and crawling and doing snail stuff. I showed it to a friend when it was still in its bag from PetSmart, crawling up the side, and my friend thought it would be funny to flick the poor little guy hard so it would fall off. Well, my apple snail fell and immediately retracted into its shell. It did not come out for the next hour and when I got home I acclimated him and place him in a medical tank normally used for my betta. I wanted to isolate him before adding him to my main aquarium.

My snail did not come out for a while and when he did it was brief and not to crawl around. It stopped pooping and doing snaily things. I did not see it come out for the next two days but I did notice it had moved from one side of the tank to the other. It also did not eat. It began secreting a white, clear, slime trail that came out of its front and it died this morning.

I bought a new snail that was healthy and active today. It acclimated fine, crawled around its new tank, and explored a few times. For about the past few hours, though, it has not come out of its shell and I saw a white, clear, slime sticking out from its front. Now I am paranoid that it is going to die too! I love my snail and do not want it to die like the other. I am still unsure why the other died. Could my first have died because my friend flicked it hard on his soft underside? Could it have been sick? I don't want to repeat last time and want to make sure this is normal snail behavior.

I am floating a piece of cucumber right now. It has not moved yet and I want to see how long it will take until it will take interest in it.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

Do you have any salt in your tanks?


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I have no salt in the snail tank and no salt in the betta tank. My new guy crawled around for hours last night and was active this morning but he has been sealed inside his shell and floating for the past four hours I've been at work. I don't think he ate any cucumber from last night, so I will try blanching some lettuce for him. I just want to make sure he'll be doing well!


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

hmmm I don't know then... I'm hope someone comes by that does though


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

Me too. I never had a snail before and I thought I researched them pretty well before getting him but...there's always SOMETHING, isn't there?


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## MSG (May 8, 2012)

You should isolate that snail in a QT tank for 2 weeks. During that time give them THIN slices of veggies & break off a little algae pellet for them. 

I'm going to pull my apple snail out and do what I just suggested. Because I'm not sure if mine is getting anything to eat.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

Oh of course. If there wasn't it wouldn't be called life lol. All I know about those guys is they get huge and require a lot of space. Out side of that I'd treat them like any other snail.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

He is in a QT right now. How can I get him to eat? ANny food recommendations? PetSmart had no algae wafers.... I do have plenty of fresh veggies though and am blanching lettuce later.


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

Have you checked the pH o your water ? I think they need a 7 or over for their shells but I am not sure so you might want to look that up.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I will not mess with the pH because they are conditioned to living in the water that is from my area, which is slightly acidic, and changing pH can be harmful I have learned. He is normally active, or at least has been for most the time I had him yesterday, but he is still in his shell now. I know they are not really active and spend a lot of time in their shells but...I am still worried and would like to nknow what that white slimey stuff is.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

the slime you mentioned is similar to the slime coat in fish. Apple snails will produce "mucous like" slime when there is something in the water that irritates then. It could be trace of something that was on your hands, or ammonia, nitrite/trate etc.

It is normal for them to be more active after night. The food... is hit or miss, of course mine were used to snacking on my pennywort.

They do prefer ph of 7.6 or higher. In lieu of that calcium supplements are helpful. Plain old calcium tablets (like you get in the vitamin section of a pharmacy) work well. Some people have used tums, but I just didn't think it was a good idea. High calcium foods work well. Blanched dark green veggies like romaine, vegetable greens... spinach. All high in calcium. 

Applesnail.net has so much information on apples. I highly recommend it. They even have do it yourself recipes for making snail food or "snello" or snail "snax".
My snails never got to enjoy it, the girls snarfed it, and what they didn't get the shrimp went crazy for.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I have requested to join Applesnail.net and am looking into more tips for these guys. I love my snail so much. I had a scare today. I washed lettuce and gave it to him but he stopped moving and acted dead, so I got really scared and thought maybe the farmers used pesticide and it didn't all come off and it killed him. I cleaned his water, removed the lettuce, and he began moving again. He has been in his shell ever since floating like snails do but I still worry. I ran to the store and found algae wafers for him. I hope he eats soon.

What can I do to improve water conditions? He keeps sliming.


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I REALLY need help now. I think he's dying. I made a thread at applesnail.net about the problem: http://www.applesnail.net/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21476


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Keep food near him make sure the PH is below 8 above 7 make sure temp is tropical.


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