Astrea snail continuously flips on back???

i cant figure out whats going on in my tank, all the parameters look good as far as nitrate and phosphates and ph and temp. i only have a few snails right now....getting low and one astrea this morning was on its back with the meat all sprawled out for something to come and nab it...looked like it was trying to suntan. anyways i flipped it over several times and it keeps flipping upside down. usually when i see an astrea snail on its back it shuts the trap door so no crabs could pick at its foot but this one is asking to get gobbled. any ideas why it would behave like that??

 

1. maybe it's about to die
2. maybe it's trying to self right in vain
3. I don't like astrea's. not worth the trouble IMO

 

Pick it up and place it on as level of a surface as you can. They are not the most stable of snails and are prone to falling over and being in need of help uprighting themselves. Trochus snails are larger and look quite similar but can upright themselves.

 

I've had the same issue, usually it was about to die. It looks and acts very lethargic, can't really maintain its "grip" and then just stops moving.

 

snails...same thing happened to me...i had 5 different species of snail and all of them did that but nassarius snails

 

Astraea's do not have the mechanism other snails have to right themselves. They do not require it in their natural environment. They need to be turned daily as they attempt to climb up our unnatural rocky aquascaping.

 

yeah all my nerites die too