How do you know when a snail has died?

[ReefDream]

Any sure fire way of telling when a snail is dead? I think one of the 20 I got might have died the day after I got it, but I can't be sure. It doesn't smell bad, but his little foot won't come out today. How long should I wait before tossing him (it's a pretty nice snail)?

[Dale D]

If it passed the sniff test then it is probably not dead or it just recently passed on. If it doesn't look any different in the tank tomorrow give it another good sniff. There is no mistaking the smell of a dead snail. It's almost as bad as dead Xenia (0r live Xenia for that matter). :D

HTH Dale

[Alice]

Just be glad it's not one of the big turbos....bleccchhh

[Randy V]

Your nose knows!

[kmu]

Just be careful not placing your sanil uppside down, this will kill it for sure, also check every once in a while or maybe always when you look at your tank for snails upside down that are on the sand bed, if you find any turn them around this will keep them from dieing, especialy turbos.

Mario Camou

[pillions]

If you see a suicide note drawn (eaten) into the coraline, then it's a sure bet the snail is gone. There's a lot shell envy in a tank; say, enough to push a slug over the top.

-CP

[ReefDream]

Ha! ha! I love it! Well, he left without a note! I was moving 30 lbs of new live rock in, so it's hard to say if accidently hurt him. I have 24 snails in that tank, and it's hard to move the rock in without one casuality. The rest of them will live happier lives though with the extra live rock.

[Agu]

I can usually tell because the shell is empty by the next morning :(

If you have shrimp, crabs, or nassarius snails any dead snail will be devoured before you even know it's dead.

ime,
Agu