Posted by Kat Erris on October 27, 2005

Q: I've not sure if this is appropriate but I can't find an answer to this anywhere. I had what I believe is a Columbian ramshorn snail in my small tropical community aquarium for the past year. It honestly was my favorite pet. I'm concerned I didn't take care of it properly. That's because over the last several weeks the snail's originally dark yellow and chestnut striped shell started turning bleach white. What could that be and is it fatal? The snail's behavior didn't change. It was still a voracious eater of what the fish supplied and additional calcium from crushed sea shells or coral. The snail also moved frequently. That is, until it appeared to suddenly die with nothing besides the coloring being abnormal.

I thought she would live a number of years and assumed she was young because her shell grew considerably since we purchased her. I don't want to make any mistakes twice.

A: Your question is very appropriate - just hope we can shed some light on this. I'm a bit confused as to when the bleached white appeared - before or after it stopped moving? I do know that when a snail dies, as its flesh decomposes and shrinks within the shell, the shell may lose color. I'm guessing that the color change occurred AFTER its death, not before. I'm not sure what the life expectancy of your snail is, not sure anyone really knows, so it may simply have reached "old age". I wouldn't assume that you've not provided essential food and habitat. Although it is commonly believed that snails feed on feces, this is not the case. Snails feed on plant material and eagerly eat the algae on the glass, rocks and plants and may even feed on the larger plants too. As long as there was plenty of plant material for it to eat, I'm assuming it was healthy enough. Of course, all animals can and do get diseases but I wouldn't think your snail died of one. Hope this helps.

John Wiessinger ( October 28, 2005)