going straight up top

[lou]

yesterday i cleaned out my snails and as soon as i put them back in they all went up to the roof, they hung there all day and all night and come down this morning and they are still all where they was, wota re they doing and why?

[coyote]

Mine do that too, when I change the tank significantly. Any kind of disturbance and they head up to the top of the tank for a while. They eventually go back to normal, though.

[donut]

my 3 GALS & the 4 garden snails also do this everytime they have a tank change

[snailysnail]

yep, same here =]
anna x

[sandie]

If you give them a complete tank clean, then this is what they do. They don't like being distyrbed, and it seems to unsettle them. All my snails behave in this way, my two Jades, my ten Gardens, and my five GALS.

They come down when they're hungry or thirsty, though.

[brgwnth]

mine tend to be more active when disturbed. only once have they gone onto the roof and that was the first day i got them.

[tellevator]

okay, I changed mine over from a d.i.y. tupperware home to a spacious new terrarium almost a week ago and the little pooper still just hangs out on top. I take it out for walks (up my arm mostly..) in the evening and leave it relatively undisturbed during the day and it's making me all concerned!

[Dusk]

Some just like hanging out on the roof even when they're feeling fine If it's eating properly, growing properly, doesn't have any obvious mites or similar, I wouldn't worry too much. What species is it and have you checked the temperature in the tank recently? Heat rises so it's possible it's looking for a warm spot.

[munchingsnail]

There are some Helix Aspera that sleep vertically deep in a gap in the wall next to a bus-stop I use. They seem to like that space for the inaccessibility (1 1/2 inch gap), distance off the ground (+24 inches) calcium (right where they are sleeping) and the convenient access to lawn grass. There aren't snails anywhere else except for the occasional large ones which can't get back into the gap due to their size and so sleep on the side of the wall.

I've seen Grove snails which sleep in narrow notches formed from the wide header stones on the top of walls.

Local predators are magpies, squirrels and mice in this area which actually have their daily patrol going around all the walls and inspecting anything within 12 inches of the ground level. Being high up seems to be a safe place.