Why Are Your Mystery Snails Stuck Together? 2 Main Reasons

Last Updated on August 25, 2022 by cmoarz

Why are your mystery snails stuck together? What does it mean when snails are on top of each other? There are actually several reasons for this. Knowing why they are getting stuck will help you avoid future worries and anxiety when you see it happen again in the future because it will happen, a lot.

Why Do Mystery Snails Get Stuck Together

Mating

This one is going to be the most obvious answer. Mystery snails are not hermaphrodites and need a male and female to mate to produce offspring.

So, The male climbs on top of the female and does the dance of love, which involves inserting its relatively large insemination tubule into the female which is located on her side just below her eyestalk. 

So what happens when mystery snails mate? The female will go lay some eggs soon after by climbing up out of the water to find a suitable spot to lay.

This mating can last for a relatively long time until the female violently shakes the male off. That’s where it appears they are “stuck together” and where the confusion can sometimes come in.

Hitching A Ride

If there was one term to describe a snail, Especially a mystery snail, I would have to choose ‘lazy’.

Snails are so incredibly lazy that they will find a snail that is moving fast enough to keep up with them and latch on the side of it as a ride so they can avoid doing it themselves.

Sometimes it gets so absurd you end up with an actual stack of snails attached to each other, also affectionately known as a snail train.

Here is an adorable picture of a snail train:

How Do You Get Snails Unstuck?

You shouldn’t attempt to “unstuck” snails. You will almost certainly cause damage such as mantle collapse which is a death sentence for a snail.

Most of the time a snail isn’t “stuck” at all and is perfectly content in doing what it’s doing.

Sometimes you do need to move a snail that doesn’t want to move, and there is a safe way to do that.

Never pull on the snail directly, which will cause mantle collapse. The best way to unstick a snail from say, glass, Is to gently wiggle it until it lets go. You may touch its foot gently to get it to retract, but don’t do it too hard or often as you can cause irritation.

Never pull on a snail!!! Snails are delicate creatures and can easily be injured, causing death or snail health issues.

If you aren’t sure if the snail is stuck or just hanging out on top of another one, leave them alone! They will figure it out themselves.

Conclusion

Mystery snails becoming stuck together usually means they may be mating or hitching a ride to a food source. Mystery snails do not fight at all. They aren’t capable of showing aggression. Do not attempt to pull them apart or you may cause injury.