I’ve learned a lot from my mystery snails, and yet every day, I’m challenged to learn something new and rather strange—from the way they eat, move, and even the way they sleep. Do you know the importance of learning about your pet’s sleeping patterns? It gives you a major heads-up to identify when something’s wrong with it. Since rest is as important as activity for all beings, it’s necessary to know whether or not your mystery snail is nocturnal.
Mystery snails are diurnal but can be nocturnal depending on their individuality and environment. They go through several naps in a day and switch from being more active during the day to being active at night. Some snails can adjust their activity patterns to align with feeding times or when they feel comfortable to feed.
In this article, we’ll be discussing the sleeping patterns of your mystery snail to equip you with the best way to keep your snail well-rested!
How Do Mystery Snails Sleep?
Mystery snails sleep by entering their shells and closing the trap door (operculum). They enter a state of inactivity and reduced metabolism, where they allow themselves to rest and restock energy before they awake and scout for food. They can sleep in any position—be it on an object, on the wall, or upside down in their tanks—and may choose any time of the day to do this. In addition, their nap time may extend for long periods at a time, also depending on the snail.
5 Strange Sleeping Behaviors Of Mystery Snails With Explanations
Keeping track of the sleeping patterns of mystery snails is highly engaging. There’s always a trick up their shells to keep you searching for articles like this that explain the phenomenon! Here are the weird sleeping habits to look out for and what they mean:
1. Sleeping For Too Long
Mystery snails are weirdly extreme creatures when it comes to their sleep sometimes. It’s either they sleep for a few minutes or sleep for days. It’s pretty normal for your snail to go past 24 hours sleeping in the same spot. This phenomenon is called aestivation, which is simply a term that describes snails entering a similar state to hibernation.
Mystery snails will aestivate when resources such as food are low or when they’re feeling threatened by their environment (wrong water parameters). Aestivation is natural for mystery snails, but it’s usually a sign that something is wrong. You must ensure that you provide your pet with the proper plant-based and animal-based diet, including the correct environment to thrive in.
2. Sleeping During The Day And Crawling Around At Night
Although mystery snails are diurnal, they can turn nocturnal when they feel like it. It’s a decision that depends independently on each snail, which means that even if you have five snails in a tank, one notorious night owl may prefer to move around during odd hours while the others are asleep. As long as your snail is healthy and in proper living conditions, you have nothing to worry about. Your buddy is simply doing as it pleases.
If, on the other hand, you suspect an illness, you should check around for parasites that could be bothering your snail. It would be difficult to get any sleep if your snails have parasites latching onto their delicate bodies.
3. Sleeping In A Specific Spot
Mystery snails can get used to patterns, and although they have no precise memory, they can navigate to their favorite spots if the pathway remains the same. Perhaps your pet enjoys sleeping at the edge of the tank, so it’s highly possible for it to find the same spot every night if the footpath of plants and gravel remains the same. It’s a quirky behavior but safe for your pet. Your mystery snail is simply enjoying its favorite sleeping spot.
4. Sleeping On The Back (Shell)
Sleeping on the shell may mean other unfortunate events, such as passing away, illness, or pain, but it could also be used to take a nap. If your mystery snail is introduced to a new environment, it may take little time for it to adjust, and you may witness your pet laying on its back a lot. It may even return to the same weird position with your help to correct it.
5. Sleeping Outside The Shell
Mystery snails will sometimes sleep outside of their shell if they feel comfortable in their environment. If you witness this happening, you can give yourself a pat on the back for being the ultimate snail parent! Especially after a great meal, you may find your snail’s body and foot outside of its shell while it sleeps, and it’s totally normal for them to display this behavior.
6. Sleeping Inside The Shell While Floating Around
Like it isn’t weird enough, mystery snails can sleep with trapped air in their shells causing them to be buoyant. This will be displayed as your pet bobbing around the tank completely hidden inside its shell. As long as the trapdoor is intact, your strange little pet is simply taking a quick bumpy nap after inhaling air and will be back to normal in no time.
How To Ensure Your Mystery Snail Is Sleeping Properly
Caring for your mystery snail’s sleep routine is necessary for its well-being. Ultimately, it depends on how much care is being placed on their environment. Here are ways you can ensure your snail sleeps better:
Ensure the aquarium is in proper condition
This entails the water parameters of your pet’s home, including hygiene. Mystery snails poop a lot and are bound to pollute their tank when there is no proper cleaning measure. The accumulation of dirt can spike the ammonia levels of the tank, causing your mystery snail to fall sick and become lethargic.
The number of times you should clean your snail’s home depends on how many inhabitants live in the tank and how quickly it gets dirty. However, twice a week, you can perform 20% water cycling to keep the tank clean and ammonia levels low.
Here are the water parameters you must uphold to ensure your snail is healthy and happy:
| Parameters | Ideal Range |
|---|---|
| Temperature | 70 – 80 (°F) |
| pH | 7.6 – 8.0 |
| Ammonia (NH3/NH4+) | 0 |
| Nitrite (NO2-) | 0 |
| Nitrate (NO3-) | 0 |
| Copper (Cu) | 0 |
| Water hardness | 150 – 300 ppm |
| Salinity | 0 |
Provide hiding spots in the tank
Mystery snails like to sleep in safe, secure places that are well-sheltered, like underneath plants or aquarium decor. Make sure that your snail has somewhere to hide when it’s time to sleep. This will improve its sleep routine and reduce the chances of going into aestivation.
Feed your snail the proper diet
Mystery snails rely on both plant-based and animal-based food to survive. The widely accepted ‘algae diet‘ is dangerous to hang on to, and your snail will suffer from malnutrition along the way. This, of course, will result in a lack of activity and a confusing sleep pattern.
Shrimp and vegetables like carrots, spinach, and kale are all healthy options for your pet. Also, you can opt for ready-made snail food like snello, sinking pellets, and algae wafers, which contain all the nutrients and minerals your snail needs to stay healthy.
Avoid disturbances
Since mystery snails are diurnal, they require less activity during the night to maintain a healthy pattern. Bothering your pet during its ‘sleeping hours’ can contribute to its inability to maintain a proper sleep routine. While they can catch up on their sleep by napping throughout the day, it’s still unhealthy to go against their biological makeup and tamper with their resting time. Do not poke, prod, or carry your snail when it’s sleeping at night!
Control the lighting
Placing your mystery snail’s tank close to an inlet for direct sunlight can positively impact its sleep routine. This allows your pet to make use of the natural timer, which is the sunrise and sunset. You must ensure that you turn off the light when it’s night to allow your snail to benefit from the natural essence of nighttime. By doing this, your pet will feel more at home and able to maintain a good sleep routine.
Is My Mystery Snail Sleeping Or Dead?
It’s a little tricky to tell if a mystery snail is sleeping or has sadly passed away, but by looking closely and knowing what to look for, you can spot the differences.
A dead mystery snail will have a foul smell within a few hours after death. A trustworthy test is by sniffing; if the snail smells bad, it has likely met its unfortunate demise. Other signs that your mystery snail is dead include:
- Loose trap door/operculum
- Lack of response to touch
- Immobility
- Shriveled or discolored foot
If you notice an empty mystery snail shell in the tank where there are only mystery snails and no carnivorous animals, it’s possible that your other mystery snails have eaten the deceased one. In addition to their omnivorous diet, they are also scavengers with a strong sense of smell for decaying matter. They probably crawled up and had a feast.
If, on the other hand, you find the dead snail, quickly remove the remains from the tank to prevent it from decaying, which will raise the ammonia levels, negatively affecting your remaining mystery snails.
