Dried out nerites...

[Azurescriber]

So, how can I tell if a nerite is too far dried out to survive before I put him back in the tank?

Or, once they are in the tank, does the fact that they sink or float make a difference? How can I avoid smelling nasty dead snail in a few days? :(

Silly things didn't seem to like my water change.

[Goes to 11!]

My understanding is that if the trap door is still closed it's alive, IIRC they literally hold it shut and dead snails obviously don't do that.

How long has it been out? I have found them on the outside of the glass of the tank before lol.. Just out for a cruise. :-D

[Azurescriber]

I have no idea...I'd like to think it was only a day at most, but the holidays have been so busy.

I believe the trap doors were shut.

One is still floating, and the other has sunk....the trap door is opening on the sunken one, but it may be he is dead rather than re-emerging.

Do they smell right away? I know the other one who died was dead for at least two days.

At least one seems to have recovered fine.

(Yes, I had FOUR escapees. I had just done a large water change...maybe they didn't like it? 0.o)

[AllenIsbell]

It's ironic that you posted this. My Apple Snail got out yesterday and was out for over 9 hours. I cleaned him up, put him back in, about 10 minutes later he was up and going again.

Give them a try!

Here's a vid I made about it: