Worried About Apple Snail

[Sivan]

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.

[lvandert]

Do you have any salt in your tanks?

[Sivan]

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!

[lvandert]

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

[Sivan]

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?

[MSG]

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.

[lvandert]

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.

[Sivan]

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.

[Perseusmom]

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.

[Sivan]

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.