Stripy on his way out :( -Rest in peace Stripy!

[shaydeesnail]

--Stripy has now passed away, but the original post is still below.--

Unfortunately one of my Cepaea nemoralis is suffering from mantle collapse. It started about 2 weeks ago, with about a mm of the mantle showing, nothing seems to have helped him and there is now about 2cm (a lot for a little snail!) showing. It looks like he's almost completely out of his shell. He was full grown when I found him and he is only covering the visible body with a sort of slime membrane, like the stuff they use to hibernate.

He is still very active, eating and wandering around the tank... and unfortunately climbing ¬¬ I'm reluctant to separate him from his tankmates, I really want him to be happy for what ever time he has left.

Should I be thinking about putting him to sleep? Or shall I let him live out his last days with his friends, as he seems to be fine apart from the obvious problem that I can see. He's one of the most active in there!

Should he show the first signs of illness or pain I will definitely put him to sleep, it's just so strange to see such an active, happy looking snail and know that he won't be around much longer. I've seen people say that they give their snails a big drink of beer, then put them in a container in the fridge for a while to make the snails fall into a deep sleep before putting them in the freezer. do people agree that this would be a good way to put him to sleep if I have to?

Aside from that, I'll be saying my goodbyes- and I'm sure Stripy (All my cepaea are called Stripies collectively) would appreciate a good send off from you guys!

Although I'm incredibly sad about this, I'm going to keep strong for my poorly Stripy, and all the other Stripies. He'll be the first snail I've lost since I started collecting.

[inky]

Aww...

I know how you must feel... My snail died yesterday. He was the first one that had died. I would freeze him to put him out of his pain... You don't know if they're in pain even if they are sliming around... I'm sorry, but I think he must be frozen...

[inky]

And do NOT give them beer. It kills them a lot faster. That's why gardeners leave "beer traps" lying around, to drown the poor snails! They are very attracted to it, but I've heard it can be very bad for them.

[actos]

Oh, I'm sorry for little Stripy! Are you sure it's irreversible? I know nothing about snail problems, except broken shell.

However, beer does not kill snails. The beer traps in the garden allow slugs and snails to drink so much beer that they get drunk and drown in it. I read on the mail petsnails site that a few drops of beer, occasionally, are actually good for the snails!

Either way, I hope Stripy doesn't suffer!

[mechangel]

Don't give up yet! I would try isolating him when not supervised to prevent another snail climbing on the shell and pulling on it, but I worry about them hurting each other hanging off one another by accident all the time. Does he ever get himself back in the shell? What does he do when he sleeps?

www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/mantle-collapse.html

Did you read the page about it? Does it look like those pictures?

"The first thing to do is to move the affected snail to a shallow container. This will limit climbing and stop more strain on the mantle. It would seem that this is the only course of action needed for tears. Care should be taken to keep the tank a little cleaner than normal to ensure no infection can occur. For mantle collapse more drastic measures are needed.

Firstly the snail will need a much more humid environment than normal because they struggle to retract and will dry out. Regular spraying is needed to stop this. You'll also need to wake the snail up by spraying and place it right in front of the food. In my case, the snail refused to eat at all and just kept burrowing. I think this is the normal reaction to being hurt. After a few weeks of no improvement it was looking sadder than ever but I persevered and it started to feed. Only small amounts were eaten but the mantle began to look more substantial again and currently it appears to be healing. However, the snail is still very inactive compared to a healthy snail, probably due to malnutrition and weakness. I am continuing to build it up and at the moment my hopes for its survival are quite high.

I did have a crisis of conscience about euthansing it many times. In the wild, it would have been eaten or dried out within a few days so I felt I was prolonging the agony, particularly because there were no signs of improvement. Had I know for certain it would survive I would have been fine. I came close on 5 occasions because it looked so pathetic and it was upsetting to witness. But, I am glad to report that it seems to have paid off so I suggest perseverance."

[pinkunicorn]

I'd try to keep him as long as he doesn't seem to be in pain. He will cease moving and eating when he's too ill. In the meantimetty the techniques others have used to cure mantle collapse? Maybe put another snail with him to the smaller box.

[mechangel]

Hows he doing?

[shaydeesnail]

Stripy died a few days ago, I don't think he was in too much pain though, I think it must just be hard for them to breath when they are so far out of their shell, he looked as though he was more than half way out. His body has been buried and I have his shell, it was a lovely bright orange with one stripe. Rest in peace my little Stripy!

[pinkunicorn]

Rest in peace, little one.

[actos]

So sorry. RIP Stripy!

[inky]

I'm really sorry for your loss.