what the heck is wrong with my snail?!

fire/medic · Jan 30, 2023

My neisseria snail has been acting strangely. He’s been staying on his back with his foot exposed. He’s not dead, I can flip him back over and he he retracts, but I come back a little later and he’s upside down again.

Any ideas?

I attached a picture of what he’s doing.

BamaCoastPyrat · Jan 30, 2023

How long have you had him? Any changes in the system or tank mates lately?

Tired · Jan 30, 2023

That's not a nassarius. I think that's a babylonia snail. They're carnivores- what have you been feeding it?

RedFrog211 · Jan 30, 2023

I think Babylonians are a type of nassarius

as Tired mentioned, they’re obligate carnivores, so ensure it’s getting food. Maybe try burying him in the sand a bit and see if it helps? Not too sure what would cause that behavior.

fire/medic · Jan 30, 2023

BamaCoastPyrat said:
How long have you had him? Any changes in the system or tank mates lately?

I’ve had him for a couple of months. No big changes prior to this behavior.

fire/medic · Jan 30, 2023

Tired said:
That's not a nassarius. I think that's a babylonia snail. They're carnivores- what have you been feeding it?

I’ve not been specifically feeding it anything. It’s always hung out under the sand. Is there something I should feed it, and how?

Tired · Jan 30, 2023

Putting meaty foods by it should do the trick, assuming it's still healthy enough to eat. Mysis shrimp or the like. Assuming this link is correct https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/tank-cleaners/babylon-snail-detail about how much they eat (and I'm going to say he's probably right, he knows his stuff), your snail might be acting like that because it's starving.

fire/medic · Jan 30, 2023

Tired said:
Putting meaty foods by it should do the trick, assuming it's still healthy enough to eat. Mysis shrimp or the like. Assuming this link is correct https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/tank-cleaners/babylon-snail-detail about how much they eat (and I'm going to say he's probably right, he knows his stuff), your snail might be acting like that because it's starving.

I’ll give this a try. I re-situated it into the sand bed, so we’ll see how that goes.