Normal hibernating or unsuitable environment?

[maklau]

Hello! I’m brand new to owning a pet snail and, even tho I’ve done quite a bit of research, I’m still very inexperienced and confused about a lot. I’ve had a pet cepaea garden snail for about 10 days now. Everything had been going fine, and he seemed pretty healthy, happy, and cute. I noticed his pattern of burying himself and sleeping most of the day and then coming out at night around 12/1am and then reburying himself probably some time before sunrise. Last night he didn’t come out at all but thought nothing of it until he didn’t come out at all again tonight. I got worried so I dug him up and saw that he had the little papery covering that I’m pretty sure means he’s hibernating.

Now I know it’s mid October and the weather has cooled a bit and I know that he would normally hibernate in the wild, but would he still hibernate if his tank conditions are theoretically ideal? I keep his tank around 80-85% humid and the temperature has been in the 70s (in the tank). The temperature of where I live though has been around the 70s during the day and 60s overnight. So is he hibernating because winter is coming despite his tank conditions? Or am I doing something wrong in maintaining his tank?

Also when I dug him up and saw his little papery covering I panicked a little thinking he was drying out and dying and ran him under some water for like 30 seconds until I realized he was probably hibernating. I buried him back where I found him in his tank but could this have harmed him?

[snaileyhammy]

Hello there!

I assure you, your snails is ok! It’s likely he was just estivating, has the tank gotten a bit dry lately? Either way, something wasn’t right with the conditions in your tank, if you let the tank get a bit warmer and wetter, then he should become active again. He could have been hibernating, but it would have had to got really cold in the tank. So, I would suggest putting a thermometer in the tank to make sure it’s the correct temp. I think your snail is lucky to have you! You picked up on his behavior of being a nocturnal animal, and his nightly routine. He won’t be active all the time and will sleep lots on the day, which is ok! That’s natural for him.

If you have any further questions, just let me know! So glad to have you here!

[maklau]

Sorry for the late reply, but thank you so much! I was just overreacting a bit, he’s totally fine 😊

[SuspiciousBagel]

I second snaileyhammy! Glad he's ok now though. For future reference, don't force snanils out of a dormant period as it can cause a lot of stress and harm to them. Just fix whatever caused the issue in the first place and they'll come out when they're ready.

[snaileyhammy]

Glad your snail so ding better!!