Is My Feather Duster Dead?

[khrios]

My feather duster has not come out of its tube now for about a week. I have been moving it to lower flow areas, but that was never really a problem before. About 5 days ago, the top 3" of its tube turned a brownish color, but now it looks normal. It was damaged when I got it~2 mo. ago, but seemed to be fine when I put it in the tank. It always used to open after only a minute or two of being moved or bumped, but now has not opened for quite some time. How do I tell if it's dead?

[bertoni]

I'd leave it alone. If it's dead, the cleanup crew will remove the carcass. Given some time, if alive, it might recover.

[kass03]

Sometimes they will lose the crown/head of feathers when stressed.
Usually you can still see the worm at the end without the feathers. They can grow a new crown.
Don't give up yet it might still be alive.

kass

[khrios]

I know they can lose their crown, but I haven't seen any parts of it around the tank. I tried moving it again today, and the tube just seems really limp and easy to bend, whereas before it didn't bend in half or all that much and it had a certain rigidity. I guess I'll just leave it, then. Hopefully it will recover.

[khrios]

It came out a little while ago! It doesn't seem to be out as much as before, or maybe it did lose and regrow its crown.

[iamquockie]

yea, if its dead it will detach and the cleanup crew will know if its dead. I just left mine alone for about a month and then I saw new little feathers sticking out of the tube. its back to being as big as it was, all in about 3 months