Deep retraction- day by day. -Day 5-

[shaydeesnail]

I bought two baby fulica online, and when they arrived one (Buu) was retracted very deeply, and seemed kind of... dry and tacky.
The other fulica (Nappa) was fine and quite active luckily

I keep a journal of my snails on my computer, and I thought I'd make a small one on the Buu's health, in the hopes that it might be useful to someone else who finds their snail deeply retracted.

Day 1-
Found Buu hiding deep in his shell. I couldn't get him to come out at all. The only way I could tell he was alive was because he occasionally moved a tiny bit.
I held him in case he was too cold, but it didn't seem to help, and I bathed him in warm water.
I tried the method of putting a tiny bit of water in his shell then tipping it out. It didn't work. I then but some lettuce and a pea shoot under the moss with him, and left him to sleep.
Day 2-
Buu had not even moved at all, however he looked a little more hydrated in a way, I am thinking maybe he had dried out a little in transit, however I don't think that's what caused he to lose enough weight to retract so deeply.
all of my other snails love a mixture I make of fish food and limestone flour. I wet the mix and mash it up until it becomes a paste and then leave them to eat it. I've had to ration this as it makes them so fat! I usually use a very cheap fish food that is mainly made of rice, vitamins and colourings. in this case I decided to go out and buy a much better quality fish food that is high in protein, has more vitamins and minerals, fats, and algae in.
The smell managed to tempt the little guy out! on closer inspection he had only one eye but he managed a few bites and this seems to have really helped. he actually moved around a bit and then buried himself next to Nappa.
Day 3-
The fish food and calcium definitely helped! Buu was a lot less pushed into his shell, he moved himself a little and made himself comfortable, which was great to see.
I've kept him nice and damp as his slime is still quite tacky. He does not come out of his shell readily like Nappa does, but his increased weight is promising. I can't believe how much he bulked out in just under 24 hrs!
There is still some of the mash left that he'll hopefully nibble.
Day 4-
The eye appears to have almost completely grown back. This is promising as I assume if his body is healing his eye stalk then he is probably also healing inside
I have not seen Buu eating but I did find him on the lettuce and there appear to be some nibbles in it, though this could be from Nappa.
Buu has filled out quite well! however he is still very timid and extremely slow. I know he's a snail but, he is very slow moving compared to Nappa or any of my other snails. This leads me to believe he is still feeling quite poorly. I wish I could find out why he was poorly in the first place, but the good fish food seems to have done the trick The type I used is King British natural goldfish flake food. I will definitely be more likely to compare nutrition labels in future!
Day 5-
I have not been able to keep as close eye on Buu today, but on checking he seems to be in the same state as yesterday, but with some very flimsy shell growth. The growth was so weak that the blade of grass that touched it when I set him down broke it! I'm hoping that filling him with constant calcium will hopefully sort the problem eventually. I'm wondering if he is a runt (...do you get runt snails?) I think with continued care his energy levels will be the same as Nappa's.

I will update as time goes on and hopefully Buu will recover! reading on the Petsnails website that deep retraction is nearly always fatal made me even more determined. I also hope his eye will grow back! Any tips you have would also be appreciated.
Also anyone's own experiences would be good to hear as well.

[jessicamartin]

it's great that your posting on here so that other people who have snails that are suffering from this to have the reference.

I once bought some baby snails online, and when they arrived they were both very deeply retracted. One of them recovered in a day or so, and the other never recovered and passed a while afterwards. I always think that if I had known more about it, or someone else that had had the same problem, then it would have been a different story.

best of luck x

[pinkunicorn]

I'd suggest give him a wide variety of foods to choose from right now. Lettuce, cucumber, carrot, sweet potato (it keeps well in the fridge so you can keep slicing bits off for a week or even more)... I always give the cores or pits of the fruits I eat to my slimies, which is a bit cheaper in the end and they don't mind one bit as long as there's some fruit flesh to munch. Apples, pears, plums, peaches... And I do the same with whatever veggie bits is left from my cooking: washed potato peels, the ends of haricot vertes and other stringy beans, sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, anything I eat usually. Very cheap and ensures the slimies get a varied diet and they can choose what they want to eat.

The high-protein fish food is the best option, yeah. The last jar I bought was almost 5 euros for the smallest jar, but I chose it based on the protein content. It's ... I forgot the brand name but the product is Gold Japan, for exotic gold fish in particular. My slugs go absolutely mental over it and even my otherwise very picky aspersas will eat it. I raised about 70 healthy slub babes on this diet and they grew into bigger adults than their parents, and have the next generation incubating already, so it seems to be good.

You could also try raising the temperature of the enclosure a little, by heatmat or putting it in a warmer place until the little guy is in better spirits. Keep humidity at good levels, too. Sometimes this gets them activated.

The eye will grow back, if it was lost in an accident. If he was born with one eye then he'll remain one-eyed. But it shouldn't bother him, especially as a pet when there's no predators around.

[shaydeesnail]

I'm sorry to hear about your snail Jessicamartin I do hope this thread can help people in future! I was panicking when I first saw how far Buu was retracted, and there isn't a lot of information floating around. I don't know why, but I get the idea that my snails being packaged in tissue might have exasperated the problem as it's not damp like moss. How did your snails come packaged?
Thank you for your advice Pinkunicorn
Yes it is definitely worth comparing the nutrition in different fish foods! This definitely seems worth the extra money.
The eye does appear to be growing back! I wonder how he managed to lose it, poor fella has been through the wars!

[latebloomer]

I think the transit must really take it out of them as my newly arrived smaller hatchlings have often been a bit of a worry at first. Most have been excellently packed with moss, with one exception which was in a turtle food container with a bit of tissue paper, in a padded packet. However the snails were fine, and have grown on really well. I use the tropical fish food for mine, they love it.I have noticed that if the hatchlings are of varying sizes the smaller ones never seem to catch up with the larger ones. I have three tigers, one was much smaller but was free. If they were siblings he may well be a runt, but is healthy and growing, bless him.

[pinkunicorn]

There's runts among all animals, it's part of the natural progress. I've got many little sluglets that probably wouldn't have made it in the wild due to growing slower, but as pets they manage just fine. Glad to hear there's some progress. What's the latest news?