Mystery Snail wont eat after getting its own tank

[gregoranddexter1816]

I had 1 betta fish in a 2-gallon tank by itself (I know it's too small but I do a lot of water changed and test strips. I plan to upgrade the tank to a 5 gallon when I move).

about 2 months ago I got a snail (Petsmart gave me a mystery snail, wish they gave me Nerite). So I let the snail eat at night (originally it only ate algae but I researched that they need Algae wafers too). But recently I noticed the snail ONLY was active at night. During the day he hid as far away from the fish as possible. Then I was watching the snail eat early in the morning and the fish was bugging it and scared it away from its food. So I bought a little 1-gallon tank for the snail. I have tried feeding it algae wafers, cucumber, and roman lettuce. All blanched. No succuss. Snail still seems scared. It is otherwise super active and still creating waste. I am waiting for the snail to try carrot, a green bean (with the bean shell removed) and green bell pepper. I haven't had the snail eat in almost 4 days now. It has no access to algae, so I know it's not eating anything else.

Should I try snail jello? I just started calcium supplements this week because I noticed the shells poor shape. I heard peas are widely loved. Any suggestions? I'm very concerned it will die.

He (or she) hasn't eaten in a while and I'm concerned he will die. Please take a look at the full story. It's not too long but has more info. Thank you for all your help!

 

[Lettuceturnipthebeetsweet]

Hey! I just had a similar scenario. I put my mystery snail in a 5 gallon because my betta decided he really wanted to kill the snail. After I put him in his own tank, he was really skittish for a few days and would only move when people were not around and would not eat. Once I just gave the snail some time, he got more active and ate when he got hungry. It took a few days though. Now he's settled and a lot more comfortable. He loves algae wafers, have you tried to give him some of those? Based on my experience most snails accept wafers pretty readily, I would try that. Its good that your snail is active still, even though it's only at night

 

[gregoranddexter1816]

I just put him in his new tank. He is hiding now. But before I tried to feed him some algae wafer and he ate some!! I gave him some time to eat any more but he was done. I put a small ceramic mug in the tank (cleaned without soap of course) to put the food in. So every day, if he didn't eat, I can take the cup out and get the old food out much faster. How often do you feed your snail? I only have 1 now (I plan to get 1 shrimp in a month or two) and he doesn't seem to eat the full wafer. Also, how long do you leave them in?

The cup is also acting as the official shelter of the tank.

 

[Lettuceturnipthebeetsweet]

My snail usually hops on the wafers pretty quickly now and eats the whole thing, so I don't take it out. I like to put in a quarter of a wafer or so every couple of days, I've found that that's a good amount for my snail. He's about golf ball sized

I just put him in his new tank. He is hiding now. But before I tried to feed him some algae wafer and he ate some!! I gave him some time to eat any more but he was done. I put a small ceramic mug in the tank (cleaned without soap of course) to put the food in. So every day, if he didn't eat, I can take the cup out and get the old food out much faster. How often do you feed your snail? I only have 1 now (I plan to get 1 shrimp in a month or two) and he doesn't seem to eat the full wafer. Also, how long do you leave them in?

I would be careful getting any more animals for that tank considering the size. Mystery snails get big and I think that tank may not be big enough for a shrimp too. The animals would probably stay alive, but they wouldn't really thrive.

 

[gregoranddexter1816]

Sounds good! The snail is pretty big and as I was setting it up I realized it was maybe too small. I think he is older because of how big he is. What about calcium? I have WonderShell (not in the tank rn) and I have a piece of cuttlebone in the tank.

 

[Lettuceturnipthebeetsweet]

Sounds good! The snail is pretty big and as I was setting it up I realized it was maybe too small. I think he is older because of how big he is. What about calcium? I have WonderShell (not in the tank rn) and I have a piece of cuttlebone in the tank.

That sounds great! I use an eggshell instead of cuttlebone, but cuttlebones work just as well. Eggshells are easier to come by in my house haha, if you ever want to use them I throw in like an inch by inch square for him. It's not necessarily for him to eat, but it put the calcium in the water and keeps his shell strong. My snail is in a 5 gallon, so if you were to use shells maybe just use a half inch by half inch peice becausethe tank is smaller.

 

[rhyan]

I also had that problem when I bought a nerite snail I put it in my main betta tank thinking that he's going to leave it alone but for a week he's just eyeballing the snail and attempting to nibble on it's yummy flesh so I moved it in a different betta tank (my adopted partially blind passive betta) still it doesn't move and eat even if the fish just ignores it's presence so I moved it to the Goldfishes tank. It was way more active there but the Goldfishes are voracious that the frenzy eating when algae wafer meant for the snail was put in the tank even the crushed eggshells they we're chewing and spiting them out so I really don't know if my snail eats anything in it's new tank but I think it does since I was not scrubbing and cleaning anything inside for some algae to build up slowly. I may also do move it like what you do and put it into a dedicated tank. Try making a snello for it by mixing high calcium veggies, calcium carbonate powder, crushed cuttlebone/eggshells, spirulina powder, unflavored gelatin and some of your betta food.

 

[gregoranddexter1816]

OK!!! GOOD NEWS! The snail is eating! He must've been scared for the first couple days. He ate about 3/4 of an algae wafer and another kind of algae food I have. Put cuttlebone in his house crushed a bit so it would sink.

 

[Lettuceturnipthebeetsweet]

Awesome! Glad to hear he started eating!!!