can YOU help me?

[gasmaskman]

hello. im new to snails and just got my first. i went online to identify its species and found squat. i thought it was an apple snail. but when i put it in water, it just hid in its shell. when i take it out it still stays in its shell but comes out eventually. can you tell me what species it is and how to care for it?

[rosanna123]

i dont know much about aquatic snails but from what i have seen on ebay it does look like an apple snail

[ness]

Welcome to PeetSnails - I like your name!

I would suggest placing it in an environement where it has access to some water, ideally a dish with a shallow end and a deeper end, just in case it needs water. I don't know much about apple snails, but they can come out of the water for a while I believe.
Where did you buy it from? Have they got a phone number where you can ring for advice? Or can you take it back and ask a few questions?

There is a sister forum to petSnails called Snails2die4, a link to it is found at the bottom of the home page of this forum. You may find some answers on there. The very best of luck to you and Squat

Has it eaten anything yet?

[lee2211]

He's an apple snail or a trapdoor snail (the care is almost the same) this is the care I reccomend you provide -

All apple snails can live together, there're different species some get really big.

They do better with a heater as they are tropical snails, they babies will live mainly on algae in the tank. But as adults they will eat leftover fish food and vegetables (depending on which species either fresh or rotten).
They need a filter as they are messy eaters and once they've eaten and they excrete a lot of their stomach bacteria is expelled and messes up the water and makes it stink to high heaven.
As for the water you need to cycle the filter, which means adding a source ammonia into your tank, then your filter will get bacteria in it, which will then change harmful ammonia into nitrite, but nitrite is still harmful, so more bacteria will colonize and change the nitrite into nitrates. Nitrates are only harmful in big ammounts.
You'll need to get a water test kit, a liquid one the strips aren't very accurate, to test your water and make sure it is safe.
You should always condition your tap water before it is added to the tank as chlorine and chloramine in the tap water is not very good. If you could get one that contains good bacteria that would be even better. Or one that gets rid of harmful chemicals in your water.
You should test your waters pH and check that it is all right to keep these types of snails.

As for tank size, I'm not sure, but I think they'd appreciate a few plants thrown in to hide amongst and stuff to climb on. Even if they eat the plants it's good, you can throw in stuff like Elodea (high light requiring plant but they like to hide/eat in it), pond weed/duck weed, java fern, and java moss.

Here's some links for you to do some reading:
snails2die4.proboards.com/index.cgi
www.applesnail.net/
Here's a link about cycling - www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/fi....ss-cycling.html

[gasmaskman]

Ness: I have fed him some sliced carrots. i just came home and he's peeking out of his shell with his foot on them as you can see in the picture.

Lee2211: You've confused me. but I'll check out those links.

if it helps, i found him in a flooded downhill ditch after a huge storm. ive only had him for a couple days. now that i look hes out of his shell and slowly moving around. which means hes okay.

[ness]

This is very intriguing, and I'm glad he's well. He does look like an Apple Snail, but perhaps not? Although Lee has much more experience than me when it comes to apple snails, so I'm not wanting to doubt her identification. (it's just the fact that it's been out of water for so long that's confusing me and making me wonder - sorry Lee! . Lee's advice is sound, to look at the links, as you may get more of an idea on whether or not it is an Apple Snail, and for how long they can go without being submerged, and even if they are found in the wild in the UK (I really don't know - I'm sorry). I'm not discounting the possibility of it being a very similar-looking land snail.
Does Squat have any distinguishing features? And colour inside the shell opening, or near to it, anything notable about the body - things like that?
Was it found actually submerged? Is that a hard 'door'-like structure covering the opening of the shell in the bottom picture? That's something that apple snails and trapsoor snails have, and it is almost certainly an aquatic snail if so.

[gasmaskman]

yes, he was submerged. yes, he has a door thing. and the term "squat" means "nothing". like in the expression, "he doesn't know squat". but i like the name "squat" thanks for helping me think of a name.
and you guys reply FAST!

[lee2211]

Aug 22, 2010 23:17:53 GMT ness said:

This is very intriguing, and I'm glad he's well. He does look like an Apple Snail, but perhaps not? Although Lee has much more experience than me when it comes to apple snails, so I'm not wanting to doubt her identification. (it's just the fact that it's been out of water for so long that's confusing me and making me wonder - sorry Lee! . Lee's advice is sound, to look at the links, as you may get more of an idea on whether or not it is an Apple Snail, and for how long they can go without being submerged, and even if they are found in the wild in the UK (I really don't know - I'm sorry). I'm not discounting the possibility of it being a very similar-looking land snail.
Does Squat have any distinguishing features? And colour inside the shell opening, or near to it, anything notable about the body - things like that?
Was it found actually submerged? Is that a hard 'door'-like structure covering the opening of the shell in the bottom picture? That's something that apple snails and trapsoor snails have, and it is almost certainly an aquatic snail if so.

Apple snails can survive out of water for over a week, they do so when laying eggs

[lee2211]

Go on to google images and google Trap Door Snail and Apple Snail,
tell us which one you think looks most like yours.

[gasmaskman]

i checked the internet and concluded hes an apple snail. i came home from school and looked in his tank. last night i had added enough water to submerge him and i saw a little tube thing going from him to the surface. i guess that is the breating tube i read about.

[gasmaskman]

you guys are very helpful and just might have saved his life. i am very appreciative.

[ness]

Aug 23, 2010 1:30:32 GMT gasmaskman said:

yes, he was submerged. yes, he has a door thing. and the term "squat" means "nothing". like in the expression, "he doesn't know squat". but i like the name "squat" thanks for helping me thing of a name.
and you guys reply FAST!

Hahahah! Oh yes I see now, I mis-read your first post, thought you'd named it Squat ;D ;D

Aw it's great to hear that all is well and you've received the help you were after here. Very glad you have a confident ID, and the very best of luck with your new lodger!
Please update us on Squat's progress

[lee2211]

I'd provide an air pump to give him decent air circulation withing the water, and yes it's most likely to be the air tube ;D

[coyote]

Aug 23, 2010 20:01:22 GMT ness said:

Aug 23, 2010 1:30:32 GMT gasmaskman said:

yes, he was submerged. yes, he has a door thing. and the term "squat" means "nothing". like in the expression, "he doesn't know squat". but i like the name "squat" thanks for helping me thing of a name.
and you guys reply FAST!

Hahahah! Oh yes I see now, I mis-read your first post, thought you'd named it Squat ;D ;D

That's what I thought too! ;D

[gasmaskman]

Update on Squat: I found 5 new friends for squat on my walk home from school. squat is currently in his shell. ive noticed he only comes out from 7p.m.ish to 4a.m.ish. i added a water filter to his habitat to circulate air and clean the water. pics:







i like snails

[lee2211]

Apple snails are great
They can eat a variet of foods, I'd reccomend you try and find out what species of apple snail they are ( the links I gave you in a previous post will help you do that.)
For example Pomacea bridgesii (golden apple snail) prefer rotting vegetable matter and will only take fresh when there is nothing else to eat, whereas another species prefers fresh.

Try rotting stuff, and try fresh stuff, see which they prefer. Also, they can eat different things like courgette, cucmber, and lettuce. Algae wafers (mine aren't too impressed but it's worth a try) and if you sprinkle in some sinking fish pellets they'll eat those to.
They're scavangers so try and hide stuff under decor so they have to hunt for it.
If you walk past the same place again, have a look and see if there's any plant matter in the water and throw some of that in, they'll either eat it or use it for cover.

[gasmaskman]

they seem to like fresh carrots. i look over now and again and find several snails with carrots stuck to em. then they slightly curl up and it eventualy disapears

[lee2211]

Well, it doesn't hurt to try different stuff.

[gasmaskman]

Right. I gave them lettuce and cucumber.

UPDATE! the snails are all getting along. i was shocked to come home and see all 6 snails out and about. i lowered the water level so their tubes can reach the surface if the power goes out. the tank got dirty fast. oh well. two of the snails were wrestling! Oh... they weren't wrestling

[lee2211]

Yeah the tank will get very dirty fast.
When they eat you see and then they poop, they also excrete all most of their stomach bacteria which means you'll need a powerful filter and weekly water changes as the water turns cloudy and it stinks like no-ones business

[gasmaskman]

New problems. I just cleaned the tank yesterday and it looks like i never cleaned it! Why?
Other problem. My snails keep randomly falling over! lol

it turns out he's a Brown Pomacea Canaliculata.

edit: i see why they fall over now..
update: i keep finding little, i guess slime balls floating in the water.
and there are these little white things that look like rice in the bottom of the tank. the things are about 1mm long. anyone know what they are?