Digging and burrowing into the substrate can have different meanings for mollusks. Either your snail is fed up with the shenanigans of their daily life, is uncomfortable, or prefers to simply relax under a sand blanket. Since burrowing is either a good or bad sign, it’s crucial to know exactly why your pet behaves this way. This article will take you through the bizarre digging habits of your pet mystery snails, to help you understand your pets better and provide the best environment for them.
Mystery snails do burrow into substrate now and then. It’s a common snaily thing they do whenever they like. To fully understand the behavior, you must decipher why they may be burrowing in the first place. As much as it seems harmless, your pets could be digging into their substrate out of stress or discomfort which endangers them in the long run.
6 Reasons Why Your Mystery Snail Is Burying Itself In Sand
Burrowing is a common habit for most aquatic invertebrates. If you notice your pet displaying this behavior, here are some possible reasons why:
1. Your Mystery Snails Wants To Sleep Better
Mystery snails like to burrow into sand to take naps especially if they’re going for a long, long rest. Sometimes, snails can weirdly stay awake for long periods and sleep for an equivalent time. This is not to be mistaken with aestivation, which is a period of inactivity to preserve energy. This kind of sleep is just what it is; a long peaceful rest.
Now, some mystery snails may aestivate under a sand blanket and you can differentiate by taking a look at their operculum (trap door). If it looks like there’s a film over it, it’s aestivating. If there’s no film, your pet is simply sleeping and wants to be left alone.
2. The Light Is Too Bright For The Tank
Mystery snails use our day-to-night timing to navigate when to rest or move around. Even without access to a clear assessment of time, they have an internal clock that tells them when it’s night or day. If your tank is too bright when it’s meant to be night, you may catch your pet burrowing to hide into make-shift darkness. Other species of aquatic snails that enjoy sleeping in darkness are nerite and assassin snails. They will burrow to find cozy dark places to sleep when their home is too bright for them, similar to you using a sleeping mask to rest.
3. There’s Delicious Food Underneath The Gravel
Mystery snails have a keen sense of smell for decaying matter, and they will pursue that smell out of the tank even if it will cost their lives. Your snail could be burrowing because they perceive detritus under the substrate. This is most likely to happen if your mollusk pet lives with other tank inhabitants like fish or shrimp. There may be leftover food somewhere hidden or some scrumptious poop to munch on.
4. They Simply Enjoy The Sand
Some beginner aquarists are not aware of how mystery snails are fond of the sandy substrate. It’s tricky to pinpoint exactly why, but one could speculate that they enjoy the texture of sand on their little bodies and so, like to bury themselves to get more of it. Even without needing a full nap or seeking food, your mystery snail may dig the substrate to relax and wiggle its foot in the sand.
5. The Temperature Is Too Warm
Your pets need a specific temperature to live healthy and happy. Mystery snails are happiest if their environment is within 70° to 80° Fahrenheit. If the tank is too warm, they will begin burrowing into the sand to regulate their temperature. It could be that the aquarium is placed directly underneath an inlet of sunlight which raises the temperature of the tank. Naturally, your snails will seek cooler spots which in this case is by digging the substrate.
6. The Water Parameters Are Incorrect
The water parameters of your aquarium entail the chemistry of the water specified to favor your mystery snails. Temperature, pH, water hardness, and the nitrite cycle determine how comfortable and healthy your pets will be in their home. When one of these parameters is incorrect, your snails may fall sick or display signs of stress which could either be floating to the surface or burying themselves in sand. Ensuring your tank’s water parameters is crucial for maintaining your snail’s health and lifespan in general.
Enough Of The Digging: How To Stop Your Mystery Snails From Burrowing
I wouldn’t discourage my mystery snails from burrowing as it could indicate a problem with their quality of life. After all, mystery snails are known to dig for various reasons. However, if they have begun to affect your plants, here’s how to stop them:
Use Gravel Substrate Instead
Gravel is much more challenging for snails to burrow into, unlike sand. They’d seek other playgrounds to have fun once they notice burrowing is out of the question. However, be sure to use rounded gravel instead of sharp chunky ones to prevent your pets from hurting themselves when they graze. You may also implement more hiding spots or place a shallow bowl of sand into the tank to give your pets a life of fun while stopping them from digging everywhere.
Ensure Your Pet’s Water Parameters Are Correct
If your pet is burrowing alongside taking long naps and losing appetite, it’s probably suffering from excessive ammonia or nitrite in the tank. Ammonia is highly toxic to mysteries and usually, there isn’t enough time to display signs of discomfort before they pass away from the toxicity. By removing leftovers from the tank and performing water changes frequently, you can maintain a non-toxic environment for your aquatic mollusks.
Water changes are performed depending on how busy or messy your aquarium may get in a week. If you have a lot of aquatic pets, the tank will get messier faster than a tank with 2 to 5 mystery snails and will require more frequent water changes. The easiest way to tell if your tank is due for a water change is by using API water test kits (view on Amazon) to track the water parameters. If the ammonia rises above 0, perform a water change or add more ammonia-eating bacteria to the scene.
Using the table below, you can easily tell when something is wrong with your water chemistry by a visual comparison.
| 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 |
Remove Your Aquarium From Direct Sunlight
Rays of sunshine may not be as joyful to your mystery snails as will be to you. Direct sunlight hitting the aquarium is simply heating your pet’s environment causing them to be uncomfortable. The ideal spot for your aquarium is close to a ventilated area away from harsh rays of sunlight falling in. If the temperature of your snail’s home keeps falling or exceeding the ideal ranges despite the changes in position, getting an aquarium heater or cooler (view on Amazon) is simply the only way to keep your pets from dying from the temperature shift.
Will Mystery Snails Affect My Live Plants By Burrowing?
Unfortunately, your mystery snails can kill your plants by burrowing and uprooting them from the substrate. If the plants are young and fragile, they will eventually destroy the growth process or have you constantly replanting. The annoying aspect about this is that mystery snails can develop habits and memorize spots, and digging out your precious plants can very much become one of their favorite things to do.
The method that works is placing pebbles around the base of the plants to stop them from digging too close to the roots. This way, you can save your plants from your pesky yet lovable snail pals.
