Post by selltyreaper on Aug 7, 2013 23:58:38 GMT
This might seems like a silly question but I don't know if I've killed them or if they've gone on strike 
So about a month back my Helix Aspera's (garden snail) started to attach themeselves to the aquarium wall and retract 5mm into their shell. I came on here and asked about what this means and after posting up pictures of my aquarium people suggested I change the soil from sand to peat cos that's possibly why the snails where hibernating, the conditions where crap. So I did this as well as added more fake plants. The snails seemed to come back to life after a day or two and then took up positions on the wall again and retracted into their shells. After a week of no further activity I stopped putting food in their bowl cos it was just rotting away.
One of them woke up last week was searching for food so I gave it some lettuce which it happily munched and then it climbed up the wall and sealed itself off again (??!?). Now here's the kicker, there's been this....smell coming from the tank for at least a week, kinda like urine but less acidic and less sharp. I read someone on here that you know when your snails are dead is when you 'smell that smell'. Is that it? Cos I've checked the peat as it doesn't stink, I've checked that there's no random poo anywhere (none of them have pooed except for the active one and I've cleaned that up).
One of them fell off the side of the tank last week but still had it's papery seal so I've just left it shell down in the peat. Also I gave them all a good watering yesterday cos I noticed the garden snails outside where active because it's been raining heaps and lo and behold the active one has woken up this morning though he looks sleepy, his eye stalks are not extended far and he's moving slow for a snail.
So a) what the heck is that smell and b) have I killed/pissed off my snails by offering no food even though they appear to be hibernating? Thanks in advance for any help
PS (I spray them twice a day with distilled water. I have a hygrometer which tells me the tank is at 80% humidity and the temp gauge says it's about 23 degrees C)
So about a month back my Helix Aspera's (garden snail) started to attach themeselves to the aquarium wall and retract 5mm into their shell. I came on here and asked about what this means and after posting up pictures of my aquarium people suggested I change the soil from sand to peat cos that's possibly why the snails where hibernating, the conditions where crap. So I did this as well as added more fake plants. The snails seemed to come back to life after a day or two and then took up positions on the wall again and retracted into their shells. After a week of no further activity I stopped putting food in their bowl cos it was just rotting away.
One of them woke up last week was searching for food so I gave it some lettuce which it happily munched and then it climbed up the wall and sealed itself off again (??!?). Now here's the kicker, there's been this....smell coming from the tank for at least a week, kinda like urine but less acidic and less sharp. I read someone on here that you know when your snails are dead is when you 'smell that smell'. Is that it? Cos I've checked the peat as it doesn't stink, I've checked that there's no random poo anywhere (none of them have pooed except for the active one and I've cleaned that up).
One of them fell off the side of the tank last week but still had it's papery seal so I've just left it shell down in the peat. Also I gave them all a good watering yesterday cos I noticed the garden snails outside where active because it's been raining heaps and lo and behold the active one has woken up this morning though he looks sleepy, his eye stalks are not extended far and he's moving slow for a snail.
So a) what the heck is that smell and b) have I killed/pissed off my snails by offering no food even though they appear to be hibernating? Thanks in advance for any help
PS (I spray them twice a day with distilled water. I have a hygrometer which tells me the tank is at 80% humidity and the temp gauge says it's about 23 degrees C)
