Snail not moving

[Divinityinlove]

That shell in the first photo is empty. There's no operculum (trap door) so there's no snail in there. It will have been eaten by its tank mates.


Nerites crawl into tiny spaces and cling to the underside of decor. I once needed to treat a tank for ich (before I knew about the heat method) so I needed to remove the nerites first. This was back in my fake plant days so I took everything out of the tank and examined everything carefully. I could not find one of the snails. So I put everything back in the tank and added the medication. A couple of days later, there was the nerite crawling up the tank wall.

I've never had to search for a spotted red or zebra nerite. These two new tiger stripe ones are forever hidden in that cave. I couldn't see them when I took the cave out to look during a water change and vacuum. But after the new water was back on, 1 of them crawled out for 5 seconds and went back in. Again, have not seen it since. The other one have not seen at all since I put it in. They both hide well enough in the curves that even inspecting I couldn't see. It's very strange because my other zebra and spotted reds are everywhere and very active.

 

[Madame Pisces]

Hope it's ok to post on this 'old' thread but it's a similar issue. I'm trying to figure out if one of my two nerite snails is dead.
I heard a clink on Saturday evening at 10pm as a snail fell off the glass and likely hit a bit of decor. (I assumed it was the other of the nerite snails as he has deliberately been jumping off decor/glass for years in order to lie on his back which is clearly more comfortable for him, likely as they're prone to oedema as they age. Therefore, I didn't disturb the tank.)
When lights came on during Sunday afternoon at 3pm, I noticed the shell was up-ended on its side in a strange way - on the operculum which has been flattened where she has broken it squeezing through tight spaces over her life. I put her in the correct position, but she has never moved since.
I've checked on her welfare regularly but she's been retracted inside the shell ever since. She didn't react when my other nerite crawled over her repeatedly last night. I've done the "sniff test" but all is fine so far, and I certainly don't want to remove her until she's definitively dead, and earlier on this thread I read of snail(s) that resurrected after 5 days. This is most uncharacteristic of her. (My other nerite goes for prolonged spells where he doesn't move - but his muscle/innards are always protruding rather than ever retracted in his shell.)
I've only ever had the experience of one nerite that died - a baby that was attached to her back when I bought her, so I am not entirely sure what to look for. (The baby snail never smelt when it died but it did look similar with its muscle/innards retracted and the hardened bit underneath eventually 'collapsed' after a week of lifting her in and out of the tank daily to check.)
Any thoughts on this or looking at the attached photo of her re whether or not she is dead?
[Edited to add: additional photo taken of her removed from tank, at the angle I found her on Sunday - I wanted to check for myself whether she would have been able to pull herself right way up if she had landed at this angle, which I now think she would have; *if* she is dead, this makes me wonder if she fell off the glass because she died, rather than died because of the 17-hour delay potentially stuck in that position.]

 

[Essjay]

Hi, welcome to the forum

Looking at the photo, the snail is dead . The operculum should be held tightly shut when out of water. In the photo, the gooey looking part between your fingers (not the rubber glove) - is that part of the shell or something on the shell?

Edit - now there's a second photo, I'm not sure. If there's something inside the shell and there's no smell, it could still be alive. When in doubt I float a small tub (a single portion cheesecake pot is my go-to) in the tank with the snail in that so that if it is dead it doesn't pollute the tank. An alive snail will usually climb out.

 

[Madame Pisces]

Thanks for the welcome, Essjay and sorry for the later edit which crossed with your reply.
The dark bit is quite hard to touch - I wonder if it's rigor mortis or the muscle part that maybe covered that (clueless re snail anatomy!) has disintegrated.
What you suggests sounds like a great idea. I'll put a used yoghurt pot in the tank with her in it for a few days - that way, it will be easier to do the "sniff test" too. Thanks again.

 

[Madame Pisces]

As an update, I placed the snail on top of the filter which is above the waterline - realised this was easiest as it has a sizeable flat surface. She doesn't seem to have moved but there seems to be a tiny bit of resistance/gripping at the front which is consistent with the ~2mm rim of flesh evident in that second/close-up picture. (Now that I know what the operculum is!), it seems that this is covering most of her underside, apart from this tiny rim of flesh.

 

[Essjay]

The top of the filter sounds OK, but watch for it falling off and landing upside down. Crawling off is a good sign to look for.

 

[Madame Pisces]

The top of the filter sounds OK, but watch for it falling off and landing upside down. Crawling off is a good sign to look for.

The smell today gives me a definitive answer.
I've had to leave the lid of the tank open to let the smell disperse, and have been sniffing clove oil as an antidote to reduce the olfactory flashbacks.

 

[Essjay]

I'm sorry to hear that That smell is awful isn't it.

I've had nerites live a couple of months after purchase and others which have lived for years.

 

[Madame Pisces]

I'm sorry to hear that That smell is awful isn't it.

I've had nerites live a couple of months after purchase and others which have lived for years.