shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
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Post by shortie on Jan 18, 2013 3:14:06 GMT
I've had my Achatina fulica for about a month now, and they've lost their appetite!! They were fine up until I sprinkled fish flakes on their food a few days ago and I have since removed the food and cleaned their food bowl. They didn't like the flakes but they haven't touched their food since! I heard they can go a few days without food but it's unusual cause these guys demolish their food within a few hours! I haven't seen any poops for a few days either! Temps and humidity are fine and the snails themselves are pretty active too. Should I be worried or am I just being paranoid?
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Post by vallery on Jan 18, 2013 7:19:07 GMT
Did any of the fish food they didn't like get onto the substrate by accident around the area you place their food dish?
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shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
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Post by shortie on Jan 19, 2013 1:15:07 GMT
Did any of the fish food they didn't like get onto the substrate by accident around the area you place their food dish? A little but they seem to avoid it like the plague! None of their food was touched either and still no poos
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Post by vallery on Jan 19, 2013 10:16:29 GMT
Hi shortie , Maybe you could try changing the substrate in your tank and give it a wash. Maybe and bits of fish food in there is bothering them. Then try feeding them after. Vallery
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shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
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Post by shortie on Jan 19, 2013 14:59:00 GMT
I had a feeling it might have been the substrate! I changed it last night and we have a little success!! Thor and Kitty were more interested in the cuttlefish bone though! I didn't think fish food would cause it cause I heard a lot of snails enjoy the stuff! Thanks Vallery
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Post by vallery on Jan 19, 2013 16:01:32 GMT
Hi shortie , Glad it helped a little. Sometimes it is the brand of fish food as well they don't like. I had to toss two tins of goldfish food out because my snails detested it. I am now using Hartz brand gold fish flakes and they love it. But if you do try again with a different brand, test them with it out side of the tank in another container and wash the snails after if they don't like the next brand so they don't track it around their tank. I always sprinkle mine directly on their food. vallery
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shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
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Post by shortie on Jan 19, 2013 22:45:49 GMT
I put some fresh food out today, and Maximus decides to poop in the food dish.... As interesting as it is to see them poop, the food bowl isn't the place for it!! Hahaha!! So the fresh food got chucked in the bin and the bowl got a good scrubbing and Max looked pretty pleased with himself! I'll try them on another brand of fish flakes, at least I can give them to a friend who owns fish so it wasn't as much of a waste!
Thank you Vallery!
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Post by starcrazy19 on Jan 20, 2013 12:04:44 GMT
I don't think you have to chuck out fresh food and scrub the bowl just because a snail pooed on it! They are detritivores, a bit of muck isn't bad for them and they certainly don't require human standards of hygiene
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Post by vallery on Jan 20, 2013 16:06:12 GMT
:)I will give fresh food a wash and put it back but not throw it out if they have pooped on it as with mine they tend to stay away from the dirtied food. I guess some snails react differently to different things. Mine are fussy. Modified: Especially my P. Isabella. they will totally abandon pooped on food and it just goes bad and it is a waste.
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shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
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Post by shortie on Jan 22, 2013 20:41:10 GMT
I'm a bit of a food hygiene freak haha! The food bowl seems like their favourite place to poop, maybe they're telling me something! The snails have been quite weird, they've slept for a whole day without eating then woke up today and started eating again, is this normal or are they just weird?
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Post by shaydeesnail on Jan 22, 2013 21:39:24 GMT
Did they eat any of the fish flakes at all? My snails are sometimes full for a few days after a protein meal. A few of my snails currently seem to be sleeping off a big meal of boiled egg. You may want to try that as a source of protein- my snails seem to really love it and it's cheaper than fish food if eggs are something you'd usually buy yourself. I only give it to them every few weeks.
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shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
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Post by shortie on Jan 22, 2013 23:19:42 GMT
Boiled egg? I had no idea! That's great! No they didn't touch the fish flakes at all! But I'll give them a boiled egg, they'll have to share it with Slinky [my blue tongue skink], he gets boiled eggs every few weeks as a treat!
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Post by vallery on Jan 23, 2013 11:35:41 GMT
Hi shadyeesnail , Which type of snail do you give boiled eggs to? I was wondering if I could give some to my cepaea and Pleurodonte isabella. Do you just give them the white part or the yolk too? Do you mash it up or anything? I really want to try some new stuff to feed them. Trsebel mentioned cepaea love pear, so I have tried that and they love it I mash it up a little first. My Pleurodonte wouldn't touch it. I haven't tried it with my other species yet. Hi shortie , I know I have different species then you, but I do have a variety of species which I feed in the same manner, not the same foods though. I am not sure if what I do is right but I generally always feed my snails around dinner time. I put there platter of food in and leave it in for the night because they don't all eat at once, some eat right away others don't bother with it at all, so that way throughout the night they can nibble when they want. I remove it the next night for a fresh batch of dinner. It doesn't spoil that fast so I figure it is okay. Seems to work out fine. I am not sure if all snails are nocturnal but mine pretty much are, through out the day there isn't much activity at all, a few will slime around or eat. But generally it's through out the night when they are all doing there thing. I have often gone in around 2 or 3 a.m. with a flash light to see what they are up to and there is a whole hub of activity going on in there. Once I went in and was shocked to see how many Oxychilus alliarus (garlic snails) I actually had I didn't realize I had so many and they were all out. They burrow during the day. vallery
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shortie
Achatina achatina
Posts: 98
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Post by shortie on Jan 23, 2013 16:29:54 GMT
Mine don't have a routine, they wake up when they feel like it haha! I gave them all a bath yesterday, Kitty and Thor didn't enjoy it but Max just sat there in the water chilling out! Oh it was cute! I'm guessing Kitty and Max ate a lot today, they didn't seem interested in the potato whereas Thor was having at right good munch at it! I wasn't too sure what to do with the potato though. I boiled it to soften it was little then let it cool before it got served. Someone enjoyed it so at least I think I've done something right! I've tried giving them carrot and lettuce but they only seem to really be interested in cucumber!! Personally, I hate cucumber so anything to get them off it and onto something more nutritious would be nice!!
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