Hi all,
I'm wondering if you all could help me in determining whether my apple snail is sick or if it's all in my head. I purchased my snails, one male and one female, several months ago at the same time from the same place. They both have been doing great, eating and doing plenty of growing, and even procreating until recently.
The female has stopped laying eggs altogether now and I've been noticing some weird behaviour. She's not nearly as active as she once was, opting to spend most of her time in her shell. Also, she seems to have a bit of a floating problem, as in she can't stop doing it. It seems as if she constantly has air trapped in her shell and is either unwilling or unable to expel it. The male has no issues with floating down to the bottom and getting to the food when I feed them, but it seems the moment my female snail loses her footing on the side of the tank, she's immediately floating at the top and gets inexplicably stuck in a bit of a vortex in the center of the tank (no other debris gets stuck there considering it's right under the spout of the water filter).
I've read mixed opinions about this ranging from it being normal to it being a sign of illness. One thing I'm really worried about is that her operculum has broken and a sliver of it has fallen off. The rest is still attached however. She's also secreted a clear gel like substance with bubbles trapped inside from time to time since being unable to sink. I read that this could also be a sign of illness. I am at a loss of what to do and worry that she is beyond help.
Any help at all is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I'm wondering if you all could help me in determining whether my apple snail is sick or if it's all in my head. I purchased my snails, one male and one female, several months ago at the same time from the same place. They both have been doing great, eating and doing plenty of growing, and even procreating until recently.
The female has stopped laying eggs altogether now and I've been noticing some weird behaviour. She's not nearly as active as she once was, opting to spend most of her time in her shell. Also, she seems to have a bit of a floating problem, as in she can't stop doing it. It seems as if she constantly has air trapped in her shell and is either unwilling or unable to expel it. The male has no issues with floating down to the bottom and getting to the food when I feed them, but it seems the moment my female snail loses her footing on the side of the tank, she's immediately floating at the top and gets inexplicably stuck in a bit of a vortex in the center of the tank (no other debris gets stuck there considering it's right under the spout of the water filter).
I've read mixed opinions about this ranging from it being normal to it being a sign of illness. One thing I'm really worried about is that her operculum has broken and a sliver of it has fallen off. The rest is still attached however. She's also secreted a clear gel like substance with bubbles trapped inside from time to time since being unable to sink. I read that this could also be a sign of illness. I am at a loss of what to do and worry that she is beyond help.
Any help at all is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I tend to worry as this is my first foray into fish keeping and I absolutely hate losing any tank inhabitants. Not to mention the information I've been gleaning online isn't very definitive.
