Best Way to Remove Nerite from Shell?

[davidflagg]

Nerite snail just passed away. Lived a good life of algae snacking. Had a pretty shell.

Wanted to know the best method of removing the snail from its shell for disposal. I'd like to place the shell back into the tank for hermits. Is there a way that doesn't involve gradually letting it rot out in its own container?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Nerite snail just passed away. Lived a good life of algae snacking. Had a pretty shell.

Wanted to know the best method of removing the snail from its shell for disposal. I'd like to place the shell back into the tank for hermits. Is there a way that doesn't involve gradually letting it rot out in its own container?

That's how I've always done that - smelly though!

Jay

 

[VintageReefer]

Leave it in the tank and natures critters will clean it out. Bristle worms and hermits will clean it out naturally

 

[Doctorgori]

heck usually the contents become smelly slime within 24hrs…
TBH I wouldn’t give it any further worry
PS add: I actually collected the “empties” from my CUC over 2yrs … sorta sad but some snails don’t live long especially with hermits present ;) :anguished-face:

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Put it on an Ant Hill. That’s the way we did it when we were kids and would pick up Sea Shells that were still alive. Didn’t know any better.

 

[davidflagg]

Update for anybody curious. Waited about 3-4 days before dealing with it, and surprisingly there was no smell at all. I had it in its own water-filled plastic cup but I guess there wasn't a lot of rotting going on. Snail was certainly dead as a doornail though.

Turns out all I had to do was run hot water over the shell in such a way that it pushed the snail up towards the lip. Then I just pulled it out with a pair of tweezers. Nerites are small so it may not work as well with larger snails, but this ended up being really simple. Maybe this will help someone else out.

Pic of empty shell. Small but pretty.