poorly snail?

[tiggerypokery]

Hi, My daughter has been nagging for a GALS for ages and we finally let her have one for her birthday. It was good for a few days after coming home from the pet shop, ate alot, moved around a fair bit and generally seemed quite healthy. She has now had it just over two weeks and there have been marked differences in behaviour. It seems to have stopped eating food, although it has still had a go at the cuttlefish, and it keeps burying itself for long periods of time and sealing itself up. After doing quite a bit of reading up on snails with my daughter, we thought maybe it was too cold and the temp was causing it to hibernate but I have since bought a heat mat and it hasn't made any difference at all. If we break his seal he does come out for 5 mins or so but then soon burrows back down again. My daughter looks after it well, regularly sprays the tank, keeps it fairly clean etc. I'm a bit worried that he's on a slippery slope downwards and my daughter would be gutted if he dies. What should I try next? I have been reading some of the forum topics and some suggest mixing a soft food so I might have a go at that. Any other ideas?

[copigeon]

Generally an indication of lack of warmth or humidity.
If the tank stays fairly moist it would be worth looking at how effective that heat mat is. Pop a thermometer in the tank and find out what the temperature is.
If its below 20c (I find an ideal temp range for a. fulica is between 20-24c) that is probably your problem.
Where is the heatmat placed, how large is it, and what is the size/construction of the tank?

[tiggerypokery]

Hi, thanks for the reply. Having read some more threads I am now realising that the tank isnt humid enough. And by cranking up the heat with a heat mat I probably made things worse as it was drying out the tank. Last night we gave Gary (I know, not very original but my daughter picked it!) a bath and he definately perked up a bit. After a nice long shower we returned him to his very moist tank and he happily slimed around the walls for a few hours. Although I am still concerned that he still hasn't eaten. Just before I put him in the tank I had him on my hand and tried to tempt him with some food. I tried loads of things...soft porridge, lettuce, cabbage, melon, ham, soggy biscuit...nothing worked!! I left food in the tank aswell once he was back in but he hasn't touched any of it. Unfortunately I didn't have any cucumber or cottage cheese, which appears to be a fav snaily food, so I will get some and see if that works.

This is a great forum and very helpful for people who have never had snails before. I am so glad I found it!