feather duster popped own feathers off!!!!

[sinaloa213]

the feather duster i have in my tank was out like normal and all of a sudden a nassarius snail just went up to it and the snail tugged on the feathers and they just came right off.
all the feather are still attached on like a small round thing.
the worm is still inside the tube
is the duster doomed?
will the feather grow back?

 

[Unarce]

They do that when threatened or stressed. If the tank conditions are favorable, it'll grow back.

 

[robertloop]

This is typical if a feather duster is either stressed or starving. The crown will grow back but unless you are feeding phytoplankton it will die soon.

 

[sinaloa213]

well it cant be that its starved because i feed the phytoplankton
maybe it did that because there was a nassarius snail crawling on it

 

[robertloop]

I've also read that some people have observed thier duster sheading thier crown for no apparent reason. If the duster has not died there should be a new crown to emerge in a week or so. What kind of feather duster is it?

 

[sinaloa213]

its about 4 inch. in diameter and just brown and white

 

[DrDNA]

I had a feather duster do that in one of my tanks years ago, and it did regrow the crown of "feathers", don't recall how long it took though. Good luck!