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Post by motorheadbanger on Oct 20, 2012 11:15:39 GMT
My new achatina marginata spent some time in a box with no food while being delivered by mail. He seems to have developed a taste for the soft end of his own shell. I give him enough food and cuttlefish-bone but he refuses to eat and only gnawls away at his shell. I have no idea what to do and I'm worried. Any suggestions?  |
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Post by motorheadbanger on Oct 20, 2012 11:34:08 GMT
If it is relevant his poop color is brick-orange or just transparent goo, and he is quite slow even for a snail.
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Post by muddydragon on Oct 20, 2012 14:57:03 GMT
Sometimes they will chew on their mantle edge if they have been damaged and it needs 'smoothing'.
Brick orange suggests he has been eating sweet potato if you haven't been feeding him this then ask the seller what he has been fed. - what are you feeding him? it's possible he may be used to one particular food - ask the seller which food is their 'main staple' food and try some of that. from the poo colour if you can't get in contact with the seller i reccomend trying feeding your snail sweet potato
Slow could suggest a temperature problem - he may have got cold in transport or may need more heat where he is currently. do you have a heat mat?
It may also be worth asking the seller what calcium sources he was given in the past i've found some prefer cuttlefish and others prefer limestone blocks (limestone flour with added water to make a paste which solidifies) - you can add other sources such as egg shell, oystershell etc to this.
Fish food - wetted is also popular and has pleanty of protein in it makes a great 'pick-me-up' for snails which haven't eaten for a while.
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Post by motorheadbanger on Oct 22, 2012 12:03:37 GMT
Thank you for the long, instructive post. At first I gave him cucumber, carrot and marrow. Now I tried sweet potato but he still refuses to eat. I haven't seen him chewing his shell since I last wrote but I cannot be shure he hasn't. I think it is warm enough in the room, but I am considering a heat mat. I can't contact the seller, about a calcium source but I am crushing eggshells at the moment  I hope the little guy starts eating a little. I've put him in a seperate box to оbserve the food more carefully. |
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Post by muddydragon on Oct 22, 2012 12:41:57 GMT
sounds like a good start hopefully he'll perk up . he may well need a heat mat margies like it a lot warmer than a lot of other snail species. were talking around 28oC. sometime however chewing can be a problem with shell growth if they've got bad shell growth they'll keep chewing on it to flatten it out. him not eating is worrying though.
Marrow and cucmber are quite watery and have little nutritional value for them although i've found they will all always eat cucumber, i've never had any luck with marrow and only had any luck with carrot when i've had them brought up on it from tiny with carrot peelings.
do you have a photo of him it may help figure out if he's chewing his shell due to damage or genetic bad shell growth
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Post by motorheadbanger on Oct 22, 2012 20:37:41 GMT
I've moved the box closer to the heater (not too close) and in 2-3 days I hope to get a heat mat.
I think the shell is pefectly okay, I'll try to get a decent picture of the little guy, but I have an old camera without a macro-pic setting so I don't think it'll be all that good.
About the food, what would you recommend for him? I find a meal of cucumber and carrots perfect for my reticulatas, but since he refuses that and marrow and sweet potato, what could I try?
Thanks in advance.
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Post by muddydragon on Oct 22, 2012 21:19:41 GMT
fish flakes are a big hit with my margies it'll disappear in a flash (just some tropical ones from wilkos i use) wetted and put in some sort of container they go down well and contain a lot of protein. 'open' lettuce is good (not iceberg) the sort where they're all open so you can see all the leaves and they're a nice deep green colour. there's a fair few other foods they can eat you could try. There's a list here: petsnails.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=feeding&action=display&thread=9416 |
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Post by motorheadbanger on Oct 23, 2012 6:43:02 GMT
I was planning to buy some fish flakes today, but I decided to try pear, because I had some here and he finally ate. He hasn't eaten his shell lately and I'm quite happy. Didn't try the eggshells though, nor the shellfish. But I'm really glad he's eating. I'll post a pic later today.
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Post by muddydragon on Oct 23, 2012 10:02:10 GMT
YAY! let us know how he gets on!
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Post by motorheadbanger on Nov 2, 2012 12:32:12 GMT
Sadly, he didn't make it.
Well, I woke up this morning and started bathing my snails. As usualy I started with the big ones, than the smaller ones and finaly I started bathing this little guy, but sadly he never came out of his shell. R.I.P. little snail.
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Post by muddydragon on Nov 2, 2012 13:50:05 GMT
oh no! i'm os sorry to hear that  You did your best |
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Post by pinkunicorn on Nov 2, 2012 16:19:57 GMT
Sorry to hear that. RIP snaily. |
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I hope the little guy starts eating a little. I've put him in a seperate box to оbserve the food more carefully. 
