vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 12, 2011 19:17:56 GMT
Hi - a while ago my old fulica passed away (run the natural length of his life, I think, no obvious issues) and not too long ago I got a new fulica - he's around 3 inches in shell length. When I received him and for a while afterwards he was very active, eating plenty and seemed happy and healthy. For the past few days though, he's been very inactive, only waking when I give him his daily bath and then sleeping the rest of the time. Yesterday I noticed he was a little retracted, and it took quite a while of bathing to wake him. Since then, he's eaten very little - I gave him some mushed up fish flakes which is pretty much all he's eaten. Today, he was deeply retracted, although he woke up fairly easily and is eating some fish flakes at the moment. He's still pretty inactive. There's no obvious signs of damage or pests, and I have an iredalei in the same tank who is behaving perfectly normally. The humidity is at around 75% and the temperature is usually around 26 degrees but I found out he's not used to being that warm so I'm slowly reducing that - it's been at 24 - 25 today. I really don't know what I can do or what's causing this  Any help would be really appreciated - he's such a lovely snail and I don't know why this is happening |
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Mar 13, 2011 1:17:00 GMT
do you know about how old this snails is? I'm just wondering if it might be age-related.
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
|
Post by vikingsnail on Mar 13, 2011 12:38:32 GMT
I've been told he's probably 8 - 12 months old, although the person I got him from had to rescue him from his previous owners, so not entirely sure! Today he was retracted again, although not as much as yesterday and again he woke up quite quickly. I put him on the cuttlefish while I sorted out some food and he ate some of that. I mashed up some cucumber and sweet potato along with the fish flakes to try to encourage him to eat, and he slimed past them and ate some solid courgette! This is the first time I've seen him out and fully extended in a fair few days, and he looks well when he's like this, but he looks like he's headed back to his spot for sleeping at the moment ...  |
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Post by SnailsPace on Mar 13, 2011 15:25:51 GMT
Coyote, I gave Viking the snail, first owner said they got him from pet shop last summer so I'd say he's about a year max, he has not had a heat mat before so the only thing I can think is that he's now too warm for what he's used too. But Viking can't cool tank too quickly as she has another snail in there. Sounds like she's doing everything she can and a bit more so I really hope he pulls through as he's such a handsome boy  |
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Mar 13, 2011 20:44:00 GMT
Is there any way you could make one side of the tank cooler than the other? That way each snail could go to the part that was most comfortable for it.
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
|
Post by vikingsnail on Mar 13, 2011 22:03:36 GMT
One side is usually cooler than the other as I have the heat mat at one end of the tank, there's usually about a degree or two difference, and he is spending most of his time there. Whether that's due to the temperature or the fact it's right next to the food dish and I'm always putting him there I'm not sure. They've been on 23-24 today but no real change in Arthur |
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 14, 2011 16:19:00 GMT
Still not much luck getting him to eat anything - despite the variety of food I've given him both mashed and solid However, on the bright side he was barely retracted atall today and actually woke up without a bath and had a slime around the tank |
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Post by SnailsPace on Mar 14, 2011 20:06:18 GMT
That's good news then, how's Martha coping with the lower temp?
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 14, 2011 22:06:17 GMT
She's doing good, eating and being active Infact Arthur has made his way over to the warmer part of the tank now, so I'm thinking of keeping them at 24-25 for the time being and seeing how they both do |
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
|
Post by vikingsnail on Mar 16, 2011 11:26:02 GMT
Things aren't getting any better  He's still incredibly retracted each time I check on him, and it's getting harder and harder to wake him up. He hasn't really eaten anything the past 2 days and I'm starting to get really worried as if he's not eating he's going to get weaker and weaker Surprisingly he's not looking too skinny at the moment. I've noticed the edge of his shell has become a little rough, although I don't know how he could have managed that as he hasn't moved much I'm going to give them a clean out tomorrow with new soil etc to see if that perks him up, but I'm running out of ideas now |
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Post by SnailsPace on Mar 16, 2011 11:32:09 GMT
Does anyone have any ideas? I don't know what else to suggest or why this has happened. Am going to message person that had his sister and check how she is
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 16, 2011 11:37:48 GMT
I was thinking of maybe trying him with some meat - I know they can eat meat and I thought if he could eat some it might give him some strength, but I'm not sure whether to give it cooked or raw? We've got some lean beef mince in at the moment?
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Post by SnailsPace on Mar 16, 2011 12:13:54 GMT
Mine eat raw mince x
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Mar 16, 2011 20:34:58 GMT
I don't know what else to suggest. Let us know how he does. *fingers crossed*
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 17, 2011 14:48:15 GMT
Yeah I don't think there is much more I can do apart from keep trying and keep my fingers crossed! Still no change in him, I woke him up last night (which took quite a while again) and gave him some beef mince, mashed carrot, mashed sweet potato and mashed cucumber, which he slimed all over but didn't eat atall He was fully out and extended lastnight and when he's like that he looks healthy, I can't see any sign of illness - he's not even looking particularly skinny for a snail who hasn't eaten in ages. But again today he's very retracted. I'm going to clean them out this afternoon and I've bought a kiwi along with the usual kinds of food in the hope of tempting him. Martha is still doing well, so at least this doesn't seem to be some kind of contagious disease, but who knows ... |
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 19, 2011 12:17:25 GMT
No change whatsoever in Arthur He had a slime about yesterday after being cleaned out, but proceeded to fall from the lid of the tank (he didn't damage himself) which makes me think he's getting very weak He still hasn't eaten anything - it's been pretty much a week now since he hasn't been eating I'm starting to wonder how long a snail can live without any food Can snails absorb nutrients through food just by sitting on it like they can with calcium? Although saying that he's been retracted most of the time so probably wasn't touching the food ... |
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Mar 19, 2011 23:42:01 GMT
I believe snails can absorb some nutrients through their foot besides just calcium, but I'm not sure.
The fact that he fell is not a good sign. It does sound like he's getting weaker, I'm afraid.
I'm so sorry, but I don't know of anything else that can be done for him right now. *fingers still crossed*
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 20, 2011 12:04:22 GMT
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Post by ness on Mar 20, 2011 16:16:47 GMT
It does sound a bit touch-and-go. Sweet potato is good for building them up, but obviously you can't force fead a snail! Has he laid any eggs recently? This can weaken them for a while, though most just have a rest for a few days and then are fine.
Good luck.
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 20, 2011 16:33:10 GMT
He hasn't laid any eggs since being here, and he's being kept with an iredalei now so I doubt he'll lay any more! Although having said that my iredalei for some unknown reason lays infertile eggs every now and then ... ! I'm hoping that the little bit he ate today is a positive sign, but I don't want to tempt fate atall... just keeping my fingers crossed |
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Post by ness on Mar 20, 2011 16:39:52 GMT
Oooh good luck. You're doing your best. x
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Post by SnailsPace on Mar 20, 2011 17:58:41 GMT
As far as I know he's never laid eggs. Could it be worms? He was kept in garden mud when I got him and there was all sorts in tank. Am sure I've heard sunflower seeds de worm them. Or could it be too wide a variety of food and he not used to it? I really hope he gets better for you
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vikingsnail
Achatina immaculata
Arnie the Fulica!
Posts: 245
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Post by vikingsnail on Mar 20, 2011 18:25:32 GMT
I've got some shelled sunflower seeds so I could give that a go I've never had any experience with worms so I don't know what to look for - I haven't seen anything that would make me think there were any kind of parasite in the tank. Infact, when he arrived here there were hypoaspis in the tank (just a precaution to introducing a new snail) but they went a while ago in a clean out. |
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Post by SnailsPace on Mar 20, 2011 18:30:17 GMT
No I don't know what they look like, he had no sign of any lice. I feel really bad and am so sorry he's got poorly
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Mar 20, 2011 20:25:23 GMT
It's pumpkin seeds that expel worms. Sunflower seeds might also, but pumpkin seeds are known to be a treatment for worms in any species -- including humans.
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Any help would be really appreciated - he's such a lovely snail and I don't know why this is happening 
He's still incredibly retracted each time I check on him, and it's getting harder and harder to wake him up. He hasn't really eaten anything the past 2 days and I'm starting to get really worried as if he's not eating he's going to get weaker and weaker 