URGENT - Hippo is now sick. Help me keep him alive

[jembolina]

This morning when I woke up I saw Snail was deeply retracted in his shell while he was sleeping. He's never done that before but about 3 weeks I went away for a weekend and when I got back he looked like he had lost weight and he hasn't put it back on since. There was still food in the tank when I got back and all of the other snails were completely fine.

This morning after seeing him deeply retracted I made him a fruit and veggie mush to try to encourage him to eat more. He ate a tiny bit of mushed sweet potato while I was preparing the rest but I didn't see him eat again after that (the mush was sweet potato, carrot, apple, peach, cucumber and cos lettuce, all raw).

Tonight he was on the wall of his tank looking down strangely with his eyes kind of curling. I went into another room for a little while and when I came back he was lying upside down in a plastic lid that he must have fell into from the wall. He wasn't even trying to turn around, he was just lying there upside down. I turned him around and put him next to the bowl (which had juice from the veggie mush in it) but he wouldn't move.

He never acts like that so I got worried and picked him up and he won't move. He pulled his face back when the light was turned on but other than that, nothing. I put him on some lettuce on top of a bit of eggshell paste with his head touching some juice (hoping he'd absorb some nutrients).

He's not moving and I'm terrified.

This is how he looked 5-10 mins ago;



Please help. He's my original snail who I've had since he was a baby. I love him so much and I'm so worried. If anyone can help at all I'll be eternally grateful.

[jembolina]

This is how he looks now;

[tbger]

He probably has become sick from something; maybe there wasn't enough food or water in his tank when you left. Nevertheless -- concentrate on the practical side of things now:

As a general rule, a sick animal wouldn't eat until it heals itself. I suppose you should give him fresh water and fresh air, separate him from other snails (that's also what animals do when they catch something) and hope for good. In addition you should put in some fresh food that he prefers, in case he gets back to normal. Make sure he's in optimal conditions until then (I guess darkness would be better than light for snails ? No idea what's better for them in this aspect)

Curious to see what some more experienced fellas would say.

[jembolina]

He didn't make it. I'm utterly devastated.

Goodbye my sweet, beautiful boy. You were my best friend.

I love him so much and I'm going to miss him terribly. He was the sweetest little guy.

I wish I had come here to ask for help when I noticed he was looking thinner. The others hadn't wanted to mate with him for quite a while too. I should have known something was wrong and done more to help him.

[vallery]

Jembolina,

I am so sorry for your lose.
You can't blame yourself. Our little friends are fragile creatures. It was obvious he was truly loved and taken well care of. Snail obviously had a very wonderful mum in you, and a wonderful home with you.
Hugs
Vallery xxx

[ultrapoi]

sorry this happened jembolina.

@tgber -i think you are bang out of order suggesting this was the fault of the op when she clearly stated there was plenty of food and all other snails were fine.

[malacophile]

Poor Snail... I'm sure he had a happy life with you and his snaily friends, though.

[Evil Angel]

Dont think Tbger meant it like Ultrapoi, I think he was just suggesting reasons of why this may have happened, as, like me, he may simply not seen the line about there being food still in the tank and just been offering up ideas.

Sorry about you snail Jembolina, your little guy certainly seemed to have been one very loved snail!

It sounds as though you have had him a long time, and as all your other snails are fine, I would have thought he simply got old and frail and his time came. Don't blame yourself, everything has it's time sadly.

[tbger]

jembolina,
The fact he's grown up so nicely in your hands indicates you gave him your best. You can tell it by reading your first post ... it's obvious you loved Snail, I'm sorry he's gone.

I think this passion you had for him should encourage you to move on knowing you have plenty to contribute to the snail world.

[starcrazy19]

Very sorry for your loss jem Hope you don't feel you did anything wrong, you obviously did your level best to give him a chance but it sounds like you had him for a long time and he must have been quite old. There is very little anyone can do for animals like this when they get sick, he had food and good care there is just nothing more to ask for.
If it was just old age, you gave him a great one which is more than any wild snail would ever get! It can be awful to see an animal die from old age, it seems sometimes like they just give up but I guess it's really the only way nature can take its course for those that are lucky enough to live so long Since you had him from a baby and loved him so much he clearly was a very lucky snail!

[pinkunicorn]

Sorry for your loss. RIP snaily. It does sound like his life came to a natural end due to old age and frailty. I'm sure he had the best life a snail could hope for, being loved and cared for, safety from predators and a neverending supply of tasty foods to rasp on. Did he leave any offspring to continue his memory (and genetic line)?

[shaydeesnail]

Sorry to hear about Snail
Tbger makes a good point, you have a lot of love to offer the snailies
of the world. I hope you start to feel better soon, I think Snail had a wonderful time with you. X

[jembolina]

Thanks for the condolences everyone. I really hope he was happy here, he was certainly loved a lot.

He couldn't have died from old age, he wasn't old enough. He must have been sick but I don't know what it coud have been.

The other 6 snails are now in 2 plastic containers so I can keep an eye on them for a while and to keep them away from anything that could possibly be somehow contaminated with something. Penelope looked like she was getting thin but now she's looking more normal but Hippo seems to be retracting a little in his shell and he's stopped holding onto the walls at all while he sleeps. He always slept strangely with his face held out in the air but now he sleeps upside down on the ground with his body out and just his eyes in. I don't know if he's getting weak or if he's just being a weirdo. He's always been very eccentric and also tiny so I don't know what to think.

[jembolina]

Hippo is dying

[jembolina]

Hippo has woken up and is moving around very slowly. Any tips on how I can help him? Please. I'm pretty sure he is sick I thought he was dead not long ago.

Update: Now he has gone to sleep stretched out on the back of Potato's shell. Potato is awake and moving around and Hippo's face is dragging along the ground. I managed to get him to eat a little bit before he went to sleep. There has been no poo in Potato and Hippo's home for days

[muddydragon]

on no i'm so sorry to hear about your previous snail and now this guy. I'm haven't kept H. aspera since i was about 3 but i keep a lot of the various other sorts so i'll try to help.
Some of these questions may seem daft since you've got others that aren't unwell but it's worth checking.

I've found snails will sleep like that if too hot, the temperature has gone up outside recently, where do you keep them? could they have got too warm? is it a glass or plastic tank? could sunlight could be shining directly on to it and heating it up (at any point in the day)?

Have they eaten anything different recently?
what foods have they had? thoroughly washed?
What do you keep them on and has it been changed recently could something have got in?
Have they got a high humidity?


i recommend separating any him and anyone else if they look sick, give them a lukewarm bath put them somewhere relatively cool, damp and shaded , and put a bit of their favourite food(s) in and leave them alone. check them late at night and change the food each evening (when they would come out) and just hope.

If you have any fishflakes you could dampen some and offer them to him and any others looking off colour. they're high in protein and easy to eat which can give them a bit of boost.

I hope this helps

[jembolina]

Thanks so much for your advice.

It hasn't been any hotter than usual. It's a lot cooler than it was last month and they were fine then (I'm in the southern hemisphere so its summer). They also never get direct sunlight. One tank is glass and the other is plastic. Snail was in the glass one and Hippo lives in the plastic one. I recently gave them some new sticks to climb on that I found outside as well as some plant cuttings. I boiled the sticks for a while before putting them in the snail tanks and washed the plant cuttings. I've kept them away from all of that since snail got sick, and away from the substrate it was touching (they currently have no substrate while I keep an eye on them).

I've been a little suspicious about some cos lettuce I bought that wasn't organic. The snailies usually always have a much on their lettuce but this one was barely touched in both tanks. I washed it really well but if chemicals get into soil the plant will suck them in. I've been keeping that away from them now too. They haven't had any other new foods that they haven't already had many times before.
When they were still in their regular tanks with their substrate, there were some fungus gnats in the substrate of both tanks. Could they have done something to the snails?

The humidity is always pretty high, especially now that they're in tupperware containers with plastic wrap lids.

I don't want to wake Hippo up but when I see him awake I might let him sit in some luke warm water for a little bit and hope that helps somehow. I've been keeping him moist by lightly spraying him with room temperature water.

I have some turtle pellets (which have similar ingredients to fish flakes) but someone on here warned me that they could have something dangerous in them. I can't remember what it was but I looked it up at the time and it seemed worrying enough to not feed them turtle pellets again.

Potato was just sitting with Hippo for about 2 hours inspecting his face. It didn't seem like a courting thing at all. I think he knows that Hippo is sick Potato will be all alone if Hippo doesn't make it.

[muddydragon]

are they found in the wild in your country? although i don't suppose they're getting too cold since it's not hibernation behaviour. have you had any central heating on?

It could be the lettuce but i doubt it, if it was well washed it should have removed any pesticides. You can get pesticides that are systemic (i.e. taken inside the plant and only activated when munched on but i'm fairly sure they're not used for food humans may eat). The plant cuttings and twigs you introduced could they have had any weedkiller or pesticides sprayed on? (they could be taken up by the plant so any amount of washing or boiling would not remove them).
I doubt the fungus gnats are the problem, the worst i could say would be the maggots accidentally irritating the snails but now you have no substrate they shouldn't be around. Someone told me once that pumpkin seeds make a good safe dewormer for snails which you could try if you're worried that something like that may have happened with another worm (I doubt it but it's not impossible).
You could provide a shallow tray of water (make sure they cant tip it since with no substrate there's nothing to absorb it if they do but that it isn't pot so if they land on it from the room it won't hurt them). so they can bathe as they feel free but do not put hippo in unless he goes in of his own accord.
I would remove potato, when you're ill the worst thing is having people hovering around you and it's the same for animals the attention from potato will not help him to recover and may compete with him for prime locations food etc and generally irritate him. also on a more grizzly note if hippo dies potato will probably try to eat him and then there would be a good chance he would get whatever potato has. (plus i hate to say it but the inspecting his face could well have been a "are you dead yet? can i eat you yet?") so it would really be best to let hippo recuperate on his own

Best of luck

[jembolina]

When I woke up this morning Hippo was dead

I'll really miss him, he was such a character. My poor little guy, I wish I could have saved him

I hope none of the others are sick. I still have no idea what happened to Snail and Hippo but I really hope that is now the end of it and the others are all fine.

Poor little Potato. He's all alone now that Hippo is gone (he and Potato were always separated from the others because of the strange lumps on their bodies). I don't know what to do - I don't want him to be lonely or bored but I also don't want to risk anybody from the other tank getting sick if they hang out with him.

[tbger]

I'm sorry to hear about Hippo.

I would put every snail that's been with Snail or Hippo in a separate tank for about 2 weeks in order to make sure that in case somebody else is sick, chances will be lower others will get it too.

Other than that I would wash the tanks of the previously sick snails thoroughly with soap (make sure no soap is left of course, don't use soap you use for your hands because it might leave smell which might not be good for the snails). I would also refresh or clean anything inside (food and whatever you have there). Then, as I said, I'd put them separated.

Plus, I'd once wash the snails and softly hold and brush their shells.

[muddydragon]

i'm so sorry to hear that jembolina. atleast you know you did the best you could and hopefully no-one else will get ill. *fingers crossed*
i agree with tbger i think cleaning out the tanks thoroughly would be a good idea.