# how do i tell if my apple snail is dead



## lwstinkinsweet

he hasnt moved since yesterday afternoon. he is partly in his shell and partly out. i am worried that he is dead. so i moved him into a different container to make sure he doesnt make my betta sick or anything. i think if it was anything it was the salinity in the water not an illness. i looked up some snail illnesses and he didnt seem to have any. but i am going to monitor him in the hospital tank until i am sure of what is wrong with him or if he is dead or not.


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## AprilRain

Touch his foot with your finger. If he doesn't move or react to touch, he's dead. If he's alive he should flinch or pull back. There's also the sniff test. Nothing on this earth stinks like a dead snail... ack!

-April


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## lwstinkinsweet

do they stink as soon as they die? or does it take a little while. because while i was moving him, he didn't smell or antything. i didnt try to touch his foot because i didnt know if that would hurt him. maybe he is just like that from the salinity in the water. can that kill them if it is too high? i dont want to bug him too much. so i might try to see if it will move when i touch it. can they hibernate?


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## cucci67

3 of mine died, and they stunk like rotten eggs. Actually, they were worse than rotten eggs. I agree, touch his foot.


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## Lara

Or you could stick an algae wafer nearby, I've never known a live apple snail to resist one of those! Salinity will kill apple snails I believe :???:


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## azn1stknightsou

Salinity will definately kill snails.


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## lwstinkinsweet

well i did a water change this morning to take the salt water out. i looked in on my snail in his saltless hospital tank and he had eaten all the food i put in there for him. he was out and active. so i am sure it was the salinity. i put him back in the freshwater with my betta. they are both doing well. (except the fact that every time i try to do a water change my betta hides underneath the filter and gets tiny tears on his tail from the filter trying to suck it up. but he always has done that, so it isnt a big deal. the ends of his tail look a little tattered from it. i used to think it was tail rot, but it isnt because i do a ten percent water change daily and a ninety percent once a week because if i take him out to do a hundred percent, he hides more than if i just suck the water out and he also fights the net and gets worse tears.) but other than my betta being a nut, everything is going well. the snail is on the filter, he has stuck himself to it and seems to be doing great now. thanks for all your advice


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## AprilRain

Good to hear your snail is doing ok. Now that the water is more snail-friendly, he should be much more active for you.


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## amingra

I read that apple snails will go into a sort of hybernation if the temp is low. The higher temp speeds up their metabolism, making them grow faster and be more active, but it also shortens their lifespan. My snail is doing great and i use aquarium salt. do u mean marine salt or aquarium salt will kill them?


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## lwstinkinsweet

i have a betta so the temp is between seventy five and eighty degrees.


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## amingra

Thats fine for the snail. Over 80 is not good for them and they will be inactive between 60 and 70. According to what I read


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