Why do they suddenly come out of their shells

[snaillovermom]

Hi, my 7-year-old is the snail lover. I write on her behalf.

She started with 5 adult helix aspersas kept in a plastic terrarium. Her favorite snail came COMPLETELY out of his shell overnight (shell not damaged one bit) and she's devastated.

This is the second of hers to die this way (I'm not sure he's dead yet but I know there's no hope) and I just wonder if anyone has insight as to WHY this happens to snails.

Recently, this favorite snail had been digging in the soil... to lay eggs, we thought. The other adult laid eggs last week. Or rather, is digging in the soil also something they do at the end of their life? Maybe he was trying to bury himself.

We would like to understand, if anyone knows. Perhaps we can prevent this in the future... or just accept it's part of the snail life cycle. These 5 adults have given her about 75 babies to enjoy and care for.

There's only 1 of her original adults remaining. Do people recommend it be kept separately, or in the same small terrarium as a bunch of babies?

Thanks in advance.

[pinkunicorn]

That sounds very odd. I'm sorry for the loss.

Is there any chance your daughter might have pulled the snails too hard off surfaces when handling them? I have heard of the mantle muscles weakening as a result of this and eventually collapsing. The safe method to remove a snail is to slide a wet finger under its foot, starting from where the head is. Especially with larger snails the suction can be very strong and the snail's reflex is to hold on to prevent being snatched by a predator.

[snaillovermom]

Hi, thanks for your response and the sympathy.

She doesn't touch the snails very often and hadn't touched him recently, but we'll take note of this way of handling them.

[pinkunicorn]

Do you have a cuttle bone or other calcium source for them? Do they regularly consume it as well? I'm trying to think of all the possible causes that I know of that could have caused this...

[snaillovermom]

No, I never heard of cuttle bone except for on this forum. Would I find it in a store like Petsmart? Our snails eat mostly lettuce, carrots, and other vegetables.

I read somewhere that the babies would need calcium, so I opened a capsule of a Calcium-Magnesium-Vitamin D supplement (for adult humans) and sprinkled the powder over the soil in our snail's box.

I didn't go out and buy anything special. Ideas/knowledge/advice appreciated -- even if you tell me that I've done something dreadfully wrong.

[pinkunicorn]

Snails need calcium especially much as babies and as long as their shells grow, but also need some as adults for maintaining shell health and repairing any damage caused by falling and breaking the shell, for example. You didn't mention specifically if your poor snails' shells had broken or just fallen off as whole, but breakage due to frail structure came to mind as a possible cause.

The calcium supplement was well thought, it's what I always recommend as emergency calcium source. In the long term, though, it's a good idea to have a cuttle bone or pure calcium carbonate powder for daily consumption to avoid overdosing, as the human supplements can have too much vitamin D for the snail in the long run (as a fat-soluble vitamin it piles up in body's storages and is poisonous in very large quantities). I don't know how long a snail would have to eat human doses of vitamin D to get overdose, and most supplements have relatively low dosages in any case. But as their requirements are so much smaller than humans' they might get too much over time. I doubt we're talking days or weeks, though, and it depends how much the snail is eating the supplement every day. It takes some while in humans to develop into an overdose, unless a very large quantity is consumed at once.

A cuttle bone is the "shell" of cuttlefish, and they cost about 1 euro in pet shops where I live. I consider that expensive for a cuttle bone, but I'm usually too lazy and forgetful to order them online in time for that moment when I run out and then I just go buy a few overpriced ones. But you can get them for much, much cheaper online. They're sold in bird section of the pet store, usually with all kinds of seed sticks and mineral rocks. Many come with a metal attachment for bird cages; this can be removed or left there, snails are unlikely to hurt themselves on it.

Pure calcium carbonate powder (aka chalk or limestone) can be purchased from a variety of places. Pharmacies sell or should be able to order medical grade calcium carbonate, but this grade of purity is not necessary. Gardening stores sometimes sell chalk, but make sure to check that their mixture does not contain calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide! That's caustic lime and kills the snails. A natural limestone, on the other hand, is a good source that the snails utilise in the wild, as well. I'm stressing the difference between caustic lime and limestone to make sure everyone reading this will remember the difference... it would not be the first time a snail lover accidentally buys caustic lime instead of limestone to feed for the pets!

Another really good source is oyster shells. They're a bit tougher than cuttle bones so they sometimes need to be powdered, especially for the babies. But oyster shells actually contain more calcium carbonate in an easily absorbed form than other sources, so they're a very good option when available. They're not usually sold in pet shops, but oyster shell powder can be bought, at least online. And if you happen to eat oysters, keep the shells. Just wash them well and let them dry completely over a heater, for example. They can also be found on beaches for free, if you are lucky enough to have access to a beach!

[snaillovermom]

Thanks, Pinkunicorn for all this information! I'll head over to our local shop and buy cuttlebone. I was afraid I'd have to gut a fish or something -- whew!

One of our snails who died this way had been dropped about a month earlier. His shell was chipped and mantle began to show.

The other snail had NEVER been dropped and his shell appeared to be robust and perfect. In fact, he was the healthiest and most "outgoing" of our snails... always the best eater and strong-looking guy.