Snail personality differences?

[Sarah88]

ok so i just bought some mystery/apple snails. i got one gold and 2 blacks plus several babies, i acclimated them like i would any fish (float/add tank water to bag/float/add more water/float/pour some water out in sink and add more tank water/float them add to tank) the babies were all over the tank immediately, no shyness at all, the gold one took maybe 10min and then was all over as well fully out of its shell and exploring, the black ones however stayed in their shells for quite some time, i thought they might be dead as there were several dead snails in the tank (got them from petsmart) but i made sure to ask her to get live ones (i have had someone give me dead snails before from a different store) however i didnt see them before she put them in the bag, so i figured i would give them the night and if they hadnt moved was going to return them, well they proved me wrong and are indeed alive, one moved to the other side of the tank at night but the other one only moved a little, they dont really crawl around like the gold one does and either stay in their shell or are only partially open for their antenna to stick out, have you guys experienced this? are the black ones just more timid or is their something wrong with them?

 

[msjinkzd]

They are probably weakened. its likely the larger ones had been in the tanks longer at the petstore. Rarely are they fed appropriately in petstores so they are probably really hungry. I would recommend putting the sly/sluggish snails in a breeder trap for a few days so that you can monitor their eating habits.

 

[Sarah88]

ok thanks yeah they seem to be coming out a little more and i put brine shrimp in there for the fry and they really seemed to like that what should i feed them on regular basis though i thought they pretty much just eat the algae and whatever is left over? iv never had a tank peaceful enough to really have snails before so i don't really know

 

[msjinkzd]

They need a calcium rich diet of veggie matter. Though they will eat leftovers and nibble at algae, they are not efficient algae eaters. I like to take blanched zucchini to feed them or what is even easier is a bag of frozen french cut green beans. I just put a green bean in using a veggie clip and as it defrosts and softens they munch on it.

 

[Sarah88]

hey thanks for the advice yeah one of the black ones is acting totally normal now, the other one was still not moving alot and staying in its shell but i placed a brine shrimp right beside it and he came out and snatched it up after awhile so will probably be ok, would canned green beans work if i rinse them really good to get all the salt and stuff off of them? (have some extra cans i need to use up lol) like i said this is the first time im really able to keep snails so i want to make sure i take good care of them

 

[Sarah88]

can i feed them cucumbers and other vegetables as well? oh and is there a reason the zucchini has to be blanched, cant i just give them fresh slices?

 

[msjinkzd]

yea, you can feed them justa bout any vegetables. Often green veggies have a higher calcium content (except for iceberg lettuce, etc). I blanche it because otherwise its too difficult for them to rasp to eat until its been in the tank for several hours.

 

[Sarah88]

oh ok gotcha thanks for the great info

 

[msjinkzd]

cucumbers do not need to be blanched, though you may want to remove the seeds. Also, start with about postage stamp or so sized pieces of vegetable as your snails may not recognize it initially as food especially since they are from a pet store. If it goes uneaten, remove it after about 12 hours. Sometimes they will not eat it until it softens even further in the tank.

I use aplastic chip clip to sink my veggies or a plastic fork with a string tied to it (for easy removal).

Good luck and enjoy your snails!

 

[Sarah88]

thanks!