I'm worried that Bertha isn't really eating. When I do the feeding dish thing she never plays ball and when she's in the tank I doubt the goldies leave ANYTHING she could scavenge. There might be a small amount of plant die-off for her but not much.
For the past two days she's climbed right up above the water level and doesn't seem to want to be in the tank. This has co-incided with my water params having been a little off for the last few days; the amonia has never been above 0.25 and the nitrite today was at it's highest at 0.50. Is this enough to affect her? Should I do a small change? And how little can she eat before she croaks?

Aaaaagh

Guys? where are you?

I think Big Bertha might be dead.

No movement since yesterday lunch time. She was kinda hanging out of her shell when I put her in her own tank for last night. This morning she was inside but sort of retracted from the sides of her shell.
Absolutely no movement when I tap the trap.
She doesn't smell.......yet. How long would that take?
Put her back in maintank just for now.

wait till she smells. Sometimes their stubborn, especially when they dont feel to hot.

try offering something tasy like cucumber, and wait it out

Jees Magick! Thank God someone is there
I've sat her up on the divider bar for the last 2 hours but should I put her back in the water now? I think the goldies will eat the cuc but I'll try.
I've lost my torch otherwise I could check for a heart beat. How long before she'll smell if she is dead?

Sorry Pixie,Just got off my 80 hr. work week.First I wanna mention that any reading over 0 on Nitrites or Ammonia can affect snails/fish,etc. There are usually two main reasons that snails will climb out of tank water. 1) Poor Water Quality,and 2) Sometimes at "Breeding" age you see this. Being that you had readings on both,I'd think more along the lines of the water quality. How big is the Goldie Tank/How many fish/size of fish?etc...I tried putting a few Brigs in my 75 gal.,and my fish were just too aggressive for them,and they hated coming out of their shells at all. When she close up,is her body hanging out of her shell somewhat,or is she completely in?

Devs! At last


Well, it's not looking good. She hasn't moved at all and her shell was floating this morning. She's in her shell but I can see through the trap as she's kinda shrunk away from the sides. When I try to push or pull the trap there is absolutly no movement in her body. Also the thing I remember was how hard she was stuck on the tank side (Mon) when I tried to put her in her own feeding dish. I virtually needed a crow-bar to prize her off - Is that normal?
I think you may be right about the GF. Especially since I got the latest one Calypso - I'm thinking of changing the name to MobyDick as he thrashes round the tank tugging on anything he can get his greedy mouth on.

Oh dear, I think she may have been too scared to come out and feed. Are the params I mentioned enough to kill a snail? Also what does breeding age mean? Do you remember she did lay a clutch a couple of weeks back?
I don't think she has a bad smell but my daughter says she does. To me she just smells like the earthy tank smell. Is a dead snail REALLY foul. Magick says to wait - how long do they take to smell if they are dead?
I'm not very hopeful
PS Oh, the tank is about 47 US Gls

Poor you. Try not to despair just yet.

They can be sure be stubborn about coming out when they want to be.

Dead snails REALLY stink. Think of rotton seaweed on a beach, they really are rank. It would only take a few days for her to smell like this if she's dead (which we hope she isn't!).

I'm a bit scared when you say " virtually needed a crow-bar to prize her off".....did you pull her off hard? This could possibly cause fatal damage. You need to just gently tap on her until she drops off where she was holding onto. Hopefully that didn't happen.

As for her lack of eating...I don't know. She might be having a nibble on the fishs' food. Do you know if she's pooing? That would be a good sign that she's eating something.

I know you have no torch, maybe try holding her under a lightbulb?

If she's closed up tight, that's a good sign (in terms of being alive), if her shell door was hanging open that would be a real sign of potential death.

I want to help but I don't know what else to say! Keep a very close eye on your water parameters. Anything slightly off at all and your snails will suffer first.

Please keep us posted. X

Oh dear. Poor Big Bertha is dead




Thanks for your reply, Kila. No, not as bad as I made it sound - I didn't actually wrench her off, I gently pulled and tapped so she slid sideways on the glass, then she let go.
The thing was that she had really not been eating since I got her. It didn't make any difference if she was in the main tank, her own small tank or a feeding bowl (your idea) in the dark. Nothing really worked. I'm wondering if she was just old or if at the lfs she was already made ill; they have them all on the same rig as the GF who they salt and treat for parasites etc. That must be very toxic to them. None of the snails are looking good and many are floating or hanging out of their shells. Also the unstable water params and boisterous fish probably didn't help.

What a shame, I can't believe how attached I'd become to a SNAIL.
Thanks for your help.

That's too bad Pixie...When you said that she was shrunk away inside the shell,I knew she was a goner. It wasn't that the Params were awful,but any trace of Ammonia/Nitrite will affect them.You don't know how/what conditions they were kept in before you either.The Snails that I see around here in the Pet Stores,are pathetic.Half the shells are empty,and the ones living barely move around.
I did remember your snail laying a clutch,but I was more swayed toward the Params.
I think Canas,and other bigger Snails in the Apple Family do much better with the Goldies.I'm not saying that it wouldn't have worked out eventually,just saying that it probably would have been more work for your Snail in the long run.Sorry about your loss.

Oh, pixiefish, I'm so sorry to read about Big Bertha! Take peace in knowing that you tried everything to help her.

Warm wishes coming your way!

"Big Bertha"

Im so sorry hun! *huggles*

Awww noooo, I'm so very sorry that Big Bertha passed away. The poor little angel.

I can't recall if you kept the clutch? Does Big Bertha live on in the little ones?

You did absolutely nothing wrong, make sure you know that. You did everything for the little pet, the royal treatment!!

If the tank in the LFS tank was salted and medicated with snails inside then it's a miracle she survived as long as she did. You gave her a great quality of life for her remaining time here.

Don't let it put you off snail keeping. Big Bertha would want you to keep going!

Aww thanks everyone


Poor ol' Bertha. It is a shame.

My little 'Ziggyfish is really sad, so I might head back to the lfs to see if there is another yellow someone worth rescuing.

I'd like to keep her shell - is that gross or not?

No, it's sweet. XX

Pixie I am sorry to hear that she didn't make it. I don't think it is gross to keep it. I have known many people to keep fur, toys, shells and other stuff of their long lost pets.
Take care sweetie.

Thank you