Mystery Snail Eating

I have a mystery snail and I got him around 3-4 months ago. I'm concerned he isn't eating enough. He can sometimes be pretty lethargic and not move for days. I used to plunk an algae wafer in the tank and call it that, and sometimes give zuchinni. I know he needs protien, i'm working on it. How do I get him to eat?

 

Try spinach, that has tons of calcium that aids in good shell health
You can try shrimp pellets, brine shrimp, or bloodworms. He might not go for those, but it's worth a shot!

 

Sorry I had to type that in a rush. He's in a 10 gallon tank. The one time I tried to take him out to eat, he curled up and wouldn't move. Would a breeder box work?

 

Also, I have cuttlebone in that tank.

 

Is the betta harassing him at all? Also, how does his shell look currently? I have one who spent a few months being lethargic, which has caused some definite ridges in his shell growth (would just be lazy and not eat for a while, lol). I would try changing up foods and see if that gets his attention. Maybe some blood worms or some different veggies. I've had good luck with green beans and broccolI in addition to zucchini.

 

My betta has never harmed any of them, the most he did was bump my red one once, then he left it alone. He had a problem with his shell so I added cuttlebone and it healed, for them most part. Do freeze dried bloodworms work?

 

I have a mystery snail and I got him around 3-4 months ago. I'm concerned he isn't eating enough. He can sometimes be pretty lethargic and not move for days. I used to plunk an algae wafer in the tank and call it that, and sometimes give zuchinni. I know he needs protien, i'm working on it. How do I get him to eat?

I recently started feeding shrimp pellets by Omega One and the HikarI Sinking Pellets (in the orange bag) to my plecos and corys, and my mysteries have discovered they love the stuff! They refuse to touch the food they used to go crazy for! haha Mine have never been a huge fan of zucchini, they basically just crawl around it. Maybe yours will like the pellets, too!

 

Thanks! Link?

 

Thanks! Link?

Here are some links for chewy, good luck!
HikarI Sinking Wafers

Omega One Shrimp Pellets

 

Do freeze dried bloodworms work?

Yes, and they look adorable slurping them up!

 

Thank you. Any ways to get him to find his food? Should I place him near them?

 

You can try, or if you have a breeder box available, you can put him in there with a few of them for a bit to see if he's inclined to come out and eat.

 

A healthy hungry snail seems to smell the presence of food and will hunt it down. There's no need to place the food near them. Mine likes Tetra Pleco wafers and API bottom feeder pellets that have high protein. He also likes shelled peas. He's doing great and has about a half inch of new shell growth in only 3 weeks of having him.

They can go dormant for long periods of time and even float around the tank with their shells closed. This is usually after having a good meal.

 

I wrote this in another thread. Mine go crazy for snello! (Snail jello.) They always seek out the food. Having a small glass bowl at the bottom will allow you to keep the food contained, and then you can tell 1) if the snail is eating and 2) you can easily remove it once it’s been in there too long, either with another skewer, tweezers, or a turkey baster

It’s really easy and lasts forever! I thought it was complicated too. This recipe worked for me:

1 jar baby food (4oz)
1 packet of gelatin
1 tbsp calcium carbonate powder (primary Tums ingredients, but only use plain tums as an alternative, or ground calcium pills with no added ingredients or vitamin D)
Edit: People also add ground up fish food flakes or wafers too. It’s up to you - you don’t need to do that for every single batch.

Heat the baby food until it’s bubbling, stir in the gelatin, stir in the calcium, pour into an ice cube tray, bottom of a Tupperware, or something similar. Let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours and then slice it up and freeze it. Done.

People say it lasts a month frozen, but the FDA says food will last indefinitely in the freezer, it just loses quality. So eventually it won’t be good, but my guess is it lasts a few months.

I’ve also skinned zucchinI slices, put them in a glass bowl in the microwave and pulled them out once they’ve been in boiling water for about a minute or so. Blanch by throwing them into ice water, then freeze them. I laid mine on wax paper in a ziplock so they wouldn’t freeze together, and the next day peeled them all off and threw them in a ziplock in the freezer. Worked perfectly and my mysteries love them. I skewer them on bamboo skewers and just remove them when they’re mostly gone or within 12-24 hours.

 

What kind of baby food? And thanks.

 

What kind of baby food? And thanks.

I use organic usually if I can find it or at least non-gmo, anything without additives (usually those ones are in jars), nothing citrus, and mainly stick to veggies. The more sugar, the more it can cloud your water and affect water quality. I’ve heard to add a dab of honey next time if they don’t go for it.

I purchased more at the store yesterday. Common ones or combos:
-Peas, spinach, zucchinI (they loved this one but I used flavored berry tums, so I’m going to try again without since I didn’t know better)
-Sweet potatoes (heard they’re very popular)
-Summer squash, and I mixed it with apples and blueberries for color (mine don’t seem to like that one)
-Carrots
-Green beans
-Pumpkin
-Butternut squash
-Peas
-Corn (have heard sweet corn is popular)

The ones highest in calcium are best. I try to buy the combos too, but you can also combine them for a double batch or just half and half, but I think most baby food says to refrigerate and use within 3 days.

Everyone’s mystery snails seem to enjoy different veggies, so there will probably be some experimentation needed. I’ve also boiled frozen organic carrots and green beans for them, but mine didn’t take to those like they did the boiled zucchini.

I’ll double check what I bought yesterday and add any I forgot.

 

These snails also need animal protein. They are not strictly herbivorous like Nerites. The veggies are good but they need the meat protein as well.

That "Snello" just seems like too much work to me.

 

I think the ingredients in API Bottom Feeder Pellets are pretty good for Mysteries, and if my Betta gets some of it, it's good for him too.

Ingredients:
Whole menhaden fish meal
Whole wheat
Shrimp meal
Wheat middlings
Squid meal
Pea protein
Brewer's dried yeast
Fish oil
Cane molasses
Dried seaweed meal
The usual litany of supplements and vitamins

It may not be gluten free but I don't care about that in what I eat lol. I supplement this with algae wafers as well.

 

Thanks.

 

These snails also need animal protein. They are not strictly herbivorous like Nerites. The veggies are good but they need the meat protein as well.

That "Snello" just seems like too much work to me.

When I'm making it, I usually toss in a few cubes of the frozen blood worms, or frozen carnivore mixes in addition to the veggies. It's not nearly as much work as it sounds like

 

I bought the Tetra Shrimp Wafers and they seem to like that too. That has some protein I haven’t added before. Still hope to try Repashy eventually too.

 

Mine loves repashy food- grub pie.