ahhhh worst problem ever!!!

[Deleted]

ok this thing keeps happening to me and its even worse than retraction.

ok what happens is

# they fall off the lid onto their backs (and i cant really keep an eye on them constantly)

# then theyre body goes in, but the mantle stays where it is. when you touch them, they hardly move

# they dont move, but they stay alive. i cant get them out.

this has happened to more than 5 of my snails so far. how do i stop it? i cant stop them going on the lid. maybe keep the lid more dry? watch them constantly? i dont think i can make them come out, its horrible, and its happened to william, my oldest most favourite fulica!!! AHHHH!!!

[Kevin]

Ive seen my Lignus on they're backs at the bottom of they're tank, which suggests that they're falling from the lid. Ive seen it happen a few times now, the Lignus has always got back up and headed for the lid again though after a whille...Maybe the shock of falling would cause some snails to stay in they're shell a whille? I cant think of how you'd stop them falling?

[Deleted]

i just hate how if they fall on their back they die unless u find them quickly. dont have this problem with slugs...

[Arno]

I would thought that even if snails fall on their backs they could turn themselves over again.I don't know how you could stop them from crawling on the lid,they could easily fall off the side of the tank too.It's like Kevin said:the fall would leave them stunned for a bit then they come back out and head straight back for the lid(as snails do).As long as there is nothing hard for them to crack the shell on,maybe it's not a big problem at all.

[gail]

My snails are always falling on their backs for one reason or another, but they still manage to get themselves the right way up again. Not saying its a good thing for them to be upside down.

Have you got a particularly high tank?? they shouldnt be dying from being upside down. Or am I missing something?

Gail

[Deleted]

i mean like...they fall on their shell, so the aperture is facing upwards. when this happens they just cant get back up. maybe its the ones with weak bodies, maybe thats why they fall off the top in the first place....its awful....

[sezzy5889]

maybe you should put them in a shallow tank

[Val]

Mike, providing they have something nice and soft to fall on to, I'm sure this shouldm't be a problem at all!! If you place a snail upside down on it's back it will turn itself over again!! Can't really understand what is going on, presumably you have a nice thick layer of something on the tank floor???

[Deleted]

but they cant turn themselves over!! they just cant !!

[Val]

Why not?? Are they ill??

Val

[sezzy5889]

Get a digi camera, and take a pic!!!!!

[pixie]

you could put some plants in to break thier fall, or i put a wire mesh under the lid (a couple of cm) so that they cant climb onto the lid. my baby ones are constantly falling from the roof, but they manage fine.

[sezzy5889]

Mike are they baby ones that are dying or adults?

[Deleted]

er....kinda both. any species. i dont get it. this never happened before. my remaining lignus has died i think. this is awful, much worse than retraction. so many weak snails. the healthy snails are fine with this, they dont fall off. its the weak ones or the ones which arent very good as pets which die. is it cus im neglecting them? am i not looking in the tanks enough? ahhh

[sezzy5889]

is it happening in only one of your tanks, or all of them?

[Paul]

Mike, it sounds to me like the snails are weak and the falling off has nothing to do with them dying. If they weren't weak they'd be up and off. Have they been eating, I only noticed my snails were ill because of the retraction, coz they were kept with others so I thought they were eating. Usually you get periods of inactivity also, more than usual. The retraction is because of malnutrition, I'm fairly sure after watching my snails lose weight. It isn't retraction rather than less body mass.

If I was you I would try to ascertain which ones are eating and which aren't. Then you can try and get them sorted.

[gail]

I see what you mean now. I have been having similar problems with weak snails. Although mine havent been falling off the top of the tank.

I'm keeping a closer eye on them now to make sure they are eating. Keeping the warmer seems to help.
Anyone got any tips??

[Val]

Well, I think I would be inclined to go back to the 'wake them up and feed them' routine which I usually do when they are babies anyway. This way you can observe which ones have a healthy appetite and which are refusing to eat. I think that as with any pet they need daily checking, food changing, spraying with warm water if they are a bit lethargic and even take them out and let them slime around for a while somewhere else like a large tray or something, mine really seem to enjoy their 'outings' ;D

Val