how to make my snails happy

[snailgirl]

Hi! How do I make my snails happy? When I put them in their tank they dont do anything but when I take them out and put them in water they are fine.... Except for one..... I don't know if the poor baby is dead or not.... Help....

[Bumblebee]

Snails are quite easy to keep happy as long as they have the right humidity and temperature. And also that they are fed a varety of foods and always have a source of calcium available.
And snails are mainly nocturnal so they will be quite inactive during the day since they are sleeping then.

How long have your snail not been okay? It could be that its hibernating, snails can do so when it gets a bit chillier.

[snailgirl]

maybe.... but so was Speedy as he was sleepy... bowl of water=exploring snail........ Speedy loves cucumber seeds lol I hope he is ok..... i was stupid and le them be for a while and i got them out and i saw speedy's foot.... I poked it with a toothpick and to remove the slime sealer. but no Captain Mollusk foot.

[Bumblebee]

Ah, so captain mollusk is really deep inside his shell then? Its common that snails retract deep inside their shells when they are either sick or in worse case dead

[snailgirl]

boo hoo! D: what do i do to know if he is dead?

[Bumblebee]

Well you could smell him, dead snails do apparently smell pretty bad.

[danikat]

Believe me if you smell a dead snail you'll know it. Only thing I can compare it to is old raw chicken that's been sat in the bin too long, but it's nasty.

You could also try putting him in a warm bath, that sometimes wakes them up. I've also heard that holding them upside down with water in the shell will wake them up when nothing else will, because they'll have to come out to breathe, but you need to turn them back over and drain the water out as soon as they move so they don't drown. It's supposed to be a last resort thing though.

[coyote]

A snail that has been dead for more than a day or two smells kind of fishy. If there's no odor after that time, it is not dead. There will be no doubt about the odor, though -- there is no way a live animal would have that kind of smell.

[snailgirl]

any other ways? i cant smell too good but i didnt smell anything... his shell is so small i cant tell when there is water in the shell or not...