Baby snail in the house (reticulata)

[platypus]

Hi,
I bought a baby reticulata snail three days ago and this poor thing seems a bit unhappy now, so i'd really appreciate your kind help and advice. I read the basic care information here, the Faq section, but still not sure if there's something wrong or did I do something wrong.

After I transferred the snail to its new home yesterday -Comodo african snail kit (it was delivered later), it climbed up and hangs upside down in a corner of the lid all the time - with its head and antennae out and seems lethargic, remained inactive all day yesterday.
Doesn't come down to eat. Didn't eat anything even during the night. 
Yesterday in the evening and this morning i just removed the lid and placed some cucumber in front of him - he munched on it a little bit then moved around the lid for a while. But when I placed the lid back - he was off to the corner straight away.

Before the tank arrived I kept the snail in a smaller container,  and he seemed happy - ate a lot of lettuce, some cucumber and carrot too. And slept with head buried in the coconut bed. Now his behaviour just changed.

He's not touching the "snail flakes" at all, not interested in cuttlefish, berries, apples or any other food, but only lettuce, a bit of cabbage and cucumber.
I sprinkled some cuttlefish powder around the container and left it like that for now, following an advice i found.
it makes me worry a lot. 
It's birthday present to our daughter and she's very excited but worried too. She called him Ninja.

Many thanks in advance for any information.


UPD. Sorry, I should have posted this in Care/problems thread - have not noticed it, being worried and in a hurry.

[etana]

Hi Platypus, I'll move this thread to the correct section and then write about what I think is going on.

[platypus]

Thank you!
Some update: I now placed the temperature gauge inside the tank and it seems to have woken Ninja up - he crawled to the gauge and is exploring it. I read snails cannot sea well, bit I wonder...
Actually is the rear surface of the gauge (round komodo dual gauge) safe for the snail?
But still not coming down for food. I think he stayed for a few moments on a spot where i sprinkled the cuttlefish powder.

[etana]

There we go. All right.

First a couple questions: Where did you buy the snail, what's his age and how long is his shell (the longest measurement you can possibly take)? Has the snail pooped?

It's not uncommon that snails binge eat after a journey if he came in the mail. It looks like they're happy but they're actually just bingeing due to stress. After that they also commonly will take a few days very easy, sleep a lot etc, to adjust to the new place.

It might be that the breeder has made the mistake of only feeding the snail cucumber and lettuce. It could help to ask the breeder what the snail's been fed. If the breeder confirms this, you should know that it's a common misconception that a diet like that is enough. It causes many problems, including snails growing up to be fussy eaters because they don't learn about enough many tastes when small. You can train the snail out of it by not offering cucumber and lettuce. He might seem upset about it at first but when he gets hungry enough, he will eat what is offered to stay alive.

One of the baby snails I originally got was also very inactive, taking ages and ages to decide to do or eat anything, ever. I think he'd been in an environment with no friends and nothing to do, and he simply didn't know what to do with anything. (eta: he turned out really great and is quite a character these days, outsmarting me and his tank mates now and then lol.)

That being said, try to place some plastic plants and hiding places (hamster houses work great for young snails) to your tank if there are none right now.

In my opinion sprinkling calcium around is only for emergencies when the snail absolutely will not eat calcium any other way. It's much less risky to have them decide by themselves how much they want. Smear some soaked fish food or kitten food onto the cuttlefish bone, or rub a drop of beer into it. That should encourage him to rasp it.

Hope this helps. The answers to my questions will help further.

[etana]

Jul 4, 2015 11:09:48 GMT platypus said:

Thank you!
Some update: I now placed the temperature gauge inside the tank and it seems to have woken Ninja up - he crawled to the gauge and is exploring it. I read snails cannot sea well, bit I wonder...
Actually is the rear surface of the gauge (round komodo dual gauge) safe for the snail?
But still not coming down for food. I think he stayed for a few moments on a spot where i sprinkled the cuttlefish powder.

Ah, you wrote this as I was typing. You know my snails LOVE temperature gauges and hygrometers, I have no clue why. They get those things so slimy they stop working. I think they are perfectly safe to have inside the tank though. 

Snails are most likely very near sighted and also likely colorblind, but they can smell very well and sense light and shadow with their entire body. It's quite cool.

[Zorst]

Yeah mine love the temp gage sensors and hygrometer sensors as well . My gages r didgetal so only the senors are in the tank but thses prove hours of entertainment both to the snails and my rugrats who like to see which snail can change the readings on the gages around the most .

Firstly can you tell us what the average temp and humidity are in your tank please as this may be part of the reason your snails not so active. Also they do tend to sleep more during the day and come out evening time etc. Thopugh when there confident and know its safe you often do see them about more in the tank durig day light hrs.

Two foods I find yu can pretty much tempt most snails with are thin slices of sweet potato and sweet corn, these always seem to go down well. Another one if fresh dandilion leaves but you must pick these from a safe area which doesnt get sprayed with weed killer etc. Always wash these well.

It may help if you can put your snail somewhere to hide away in actually inside the tank. An old washed plastic flower pot isa always a good cheap option. Just lay it on its side and put a bit of the coco fiber inside it and ouve the outside to from a little cave so to speak. You could even place your snail in here and see if he will investigate it n decide to stay in it to sleep in.

I have these flower pots in all my tanks n the snails love to use them.

You may also want to consider getting him another snail as a comanion, they do seem to be far more active and happier with a 2nd snail as they are naturally social creatures and often it gets snails eatting more as well as they often group together to eat, at least ours do.

Zorst

[etana]

Thanks Zorst, you said many important things I forgot to say.

I wonder why the fixation with the thermo and hygrometers. Even my little wild caught snails love them, both analog and digital. The analog ones take the sliminess a bit better, at least.

[platypus]

Jul 4, 2015 11:14:52 GMT etana said:

First a couple questions: Where did you buy the snail, what's his age and how long is his shell (the longest measurement you can possibly take)? Has the snail pooped?

Jul 4, 2015 12:23:05 GMT Zorst said:

Firstly can you tell us what the average temp and humidity are in your tank please as this may be part of the reason your snails not so active. Also they do tend to sleep more during the day and come out evening time etc. Thopugh when there confident and know its safe you often do see them about more in the tank durig day light hrs.

Hi, Thank you so much for your posts.
Here are the answers
I bought it from snails4you. The seller's been very helpful. It's a dark reticulata. The shell measures between 4 - 5 cm, I couldn't measure more accurately at the moment as the snail sits in the corner of the lid again with its antennae out. He pooped quite a lot the first days as it had lots of lettuce and yesterday in the new tank, too - i wiped away some from the lid. Cannot say about today.

The thermometer shows 25 C now. Humidity 85%. He gets more active I think and travels around the lid between rests. But still no attempts to slide down.
I'm trying to figure out why it doesn't go down. Maybe doesn't like the coir? Not enough moisture? Have no idea. 
My husband bought a coconut "house" from pet store which I'm not sure about because of the rough edges of the "door" . And nice plastic water dish - stone-shaped" doesn't seem to attract the snail.

[platypus]

Also, I've been thinking about getting another snail for company, but what about eggs? My daughter would certainly be upset if we need to get rid of them somehow.

[Zorst]

Tank temp n humiditys fine.

Eggs you can freeze for 48 hrs and either put in the bin or crush and feed to wild life outside or even back to the snails for a snack. They would have to be adult before they laid eggs anyway. You could get 2 different kinds that dont breed together so that is an option.

When eggs are first found you just have to look for eggs throughly every 48 hrs there like normal eggs with nothing inside so no snail present. My daughter knows that as we eat eggs they are'nt any chicks growing so they can be eaten. (We have a lot or rare breed chickens so my girls r well used to hatching eggs both under a hen and in the incubator also collecting and eating eggs). So they like to hunt out the snail eggs here as well. If you chose you can always hatch one or 2 to keep or sell when they have grown up some.

Many snails do like to live high up in tanks there instinct is often to climb anyway. You could get some false leaves like etana does to decorate your tank you may find he'll sleep in these.

You can carefully take him off the roof or side f the tank and place him on food so that you can see if he eats or not. A warm snail bath is also always good as they like a warm bath. Just make sure that the waters shallow.

Hope that helps a bit.

Zorst

[snailcrazy]

I have found it does tend to take a few days for snailies to settle in to a new tank. Also if they haven't been kept on the same substrate it takes a little while for them to get used to it. keep an eye on him and put him by or on their food when you squirt the tank till he becomes more confident. He should settle in. My snailies are all over the lid when the6 want a nap and early evening and then come down for a nosh.

[platypus]

Hi, thank you everyone for your help.
It sounds reassuring.
I thought maybe of replacing the substrate - for a new tank I used the one that came with it. But I also have another pack I bought from the snails seller.
Or shall I just wait. He still doesn't go down and I have to take the lid off with him sitting on it and offer him food and let him crawl around. But we have found what he likes!
I'm still cautious about handling him, it seems quite hard to "detach" him from the surface and i don't want to hurt him.

Also - sweet corn, do you mean fresh or canned one?

Thanks

[etana]

Rather give him a bit of time I think.

Snails can truly attach to surfaces tightly. Remember to never pull at his shell, only support it. He'll also detach more easily if you mist him first. He won't appreciate you touching his foot but it's the only safe way.

I think Zorst meant fresh corn, though generally if you feed canned food, make sure to check they're not preserved in any salt.