Help! My snails has a cracked shell!

[larschus]

My snail (of the garden variety, I haven't yet decided on which one as his shell markings are very weak) fell while I was cleaning his container and cracked his shell so, so badly!) His shell is very frail, I found him in a spinach bag and have kept him ever since. I have tried feeding him calcium since then with various results. I absolutely love him to bits and I'm heartbroken! It seems he has lost quite a big part of his shell (the outer part, like, the outermost layer) and so some of his body that is usually under the shell is exposed.
I have transferred him to a smaller container so he can't climb as much, but he still insists on hanging upside down. He climbed and was very active after the break, but now he has calmed down - not retracting, but just being still on the lid.
I am freaking out! Do you lovely lot have some words of advice, or consolation, or similar experiences?

Awwwww, I am just so sad and afraid of what is going to happen with my little baby...

[starcrazy19]

This sounds very similar to a situation another member had recently, the topic is here petsnails.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=problems&action=display&thread=13011 (hope that link worked) or you can see it on the problems & help page as 'injured snail - need help urgently'. I hope it doesn't freak you out too much as that snail did not survive but without pictures, it sounds like your guy has had a similar mishap - some of the outer whorl/s breaking off. He probably needs the same advice as was listed on that thread.
There have been successful shell repairs mentioned before using the original shell, part of a different shell, or even eggshell but it seems a little controversial especially with smaller species. Without pictures, it would be hard for anyone to advise if you should attempt it or not... here is a link (I hope) to the 'broken shell' section from the parent website of this forum, petsnails.co.uk. www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/broken-shell.html#start
Good luck!

[Johnnywho]

Have you tried a diet with more calcium in it? Perhaps you could try out a calcium filled diet to help with the healing process, however if the condition does get any worse I'd highly recommend you to the 'Broken shell' page on the petsnails.co.uk site as I'm sure with care and patience he will be all right, let me know how it gets on

[larschus]

Hi you two! Thanks for the advice and quick replies! Since I got him I've obsessively read everything here and at the petsnails page - I just had to voice my concern in the forum as well. Since I found him in a spinach bag, his shell has been kinda frail - almost see through in places. What has happened now is that he is still very active, and now the outermost layer of the shell has completely come off. I think that's better for him, because now that part of the shell is not in the risk of being caught in anything in his container - he's able to move around more freely. Thing is though, that towards the opening there is no shell, only soft tissue - though there is a shell covering up his vital organs. So it kinda looks like he wears a shell that's too small for him, if you know what I mean?
Poor baby. I took a picture with my phone, and I'll try to figure out how to upload it.
Thanks again!

[starcrazy19]

If only part of his mantle is exposed, and not too much of his organs etc as you say, he may be able to form new shell over the gap - seems like this has happened before with partial mantle collapse. Different problem but still results in the mantle being exposed when it shouldn't be. Keep him damp, lots of calcium, all the stuff you're doing and what people say in the other thread :) If he is young, his shell would still be pretty thin even if he his healthy - that's my experience of cepaeas and helixs anyways! They get crushed/broken shells so easily :(

[Paul]

This may also be helpful...

www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/rescuing.html#start

[Lady Escargoth]

Good luck !
Best wishes of recovery :/

[snailwhale]

Hello.

Im very sorry to hear about your poor little fella.

I think the problem I had with the snail I recently found with a broken shell was that he was way too active, causing more bits of shell to crack/fall off unfortunately. (i was the one that recently found an injured garden snail as seen on the link that someone posted above) He was in a small container but that didn't stop him climbing!

But I think if all of his organs are covered by shell the only thing you can do is provide him with cuttlefish bone (shavings) on some nice tasty food, and keep misting him gently.

I personally wouldn't try to fix the shell, purely because garden snails are quite small! And I would be afraid of damaging him further or hurting his organs. But it really does depend how big your garden snail is, because some are quite large!

I hope your guy will be okay. I hope you can post a picture because then maybe people will have some more advice for you.

Good luck, all my best wishes are with you and your little guy
Snailwhale xxo

[larschus]

Thanks all! This REALLY is the greatest corner of the internet! It seems like almost his whole mantle is exposed. I've attached a pic that hopefully shows you what I meant in the previous post, the added crack in the shell? I'll add one more that shows you the mantle. I think he's full grown, his body is about the size of my pinky. He is a survivor, seeing that I found him in my fridge in a bag of spinach that had already been sprayed and cleaned! I hope he gets through this as well....
Thanks again all!
Snailwhale, I'm sorry your little guy didn't make it - but I'm sure he had a comfortable last days with you! It's so good that you tried helping him!

Attachments:

[larschus]

And here's a pic of the mantle. There's some poo stuck at the edge - I carefully tried to rinse it, but it wouldn't go. I'm trying to handle him as little as possible because I figured that might add to the stress and/or have an effect on the mantle... But do you think I should try more to get the poo off?

Attachments:

[snailwhale]

Thank you Larschus.

Looks like he had quite a fall, but considering that he looks rather in tact (if you know what I mean!). He doesn't look like a super big garden snail, so I personally wouldn't try to fix the shell, but it really depends how confident you feel about doing that.

With regard to removing the poo. Maybe you could try a well moistened cotton bud ( the ones for your ears I think they are called that!)? I don't really know how well that would work though and I'm sure you are very weary of hurting him more. I just figure this way you wouldn't need to actually hold/pick him up.

He is beautiful though that's for sure. And he is certainly in the best hands

Sorry I'm not much help, hopefully someone else will know more! Great that you got pictures up though.

Snailwhale xxo

[larschus]

Thank you snailwhale!
He looks a bit better now, his mantle looks less swollen. (It might be wishful thinking)
I just came back from work and shaved some cuttlefish in his container, he is absolutely loving it and gobbling it up, bless him! The poo was off when I came back, and I can see from his orange droppings that he has eaten some of the boiled carrot as well. I guess, now we'll just have to wait.... Is too much calcium bad for them, by the way? What about the paper I have in the bottom of the container? It's made to be used in the kitchen so it holds water well without dissolving, but I'm a bit worried he might eat some of the paper while gnawing for calcium?
Will that be bad for him?

[larschus]

Oh, there's one more thing: I noticed that he has a white, kinda rubbery substance on his body (you can see it in the pic), it seems to be coming from within the shell, perhaps? Is this him trying to fix it, or is it something else? Thanks again, lovelies! Snail-loving people are just so COOL and FRIENDLY!

Attachments:

[morningcoffee]

May 2, 2013 22:00:38 GMT larschus said:

Oh, there's one more thing: I noticed that he has a white, kinda rubbery substance on his body (you can see it in the pic), it seems to be coming from within the shell, perhaps? Is this him trying to fix it, or is it something else? Thanks again, lovelies! Snail-loving people are just so COOL and FRIENDLY!

Could it be poop? If it's white then that probably means he's been ingesting lots of calcium.

[starcrazy19]

Paper towels aren't great for them, but they can digest paper, so as long as there aren't any excessive dyes and chemicals in it, for the time being its probably fine! And again, they CAN get too much calcium and it's generally not recommended to mix it with everything they eat but they should be allowed to eat as much as they want, and especially this little guy under such acute circumstances!

[larschus]

Morningcoffee: Thanks! It might have been, but it didn't quite look like it either. I've only seen it yesterday and it's gone now.
Starcrazy19: Thanks! This is paper we humans can use in the kitchen to wipe exessive fluids of steaks etc, so I hope it's safe for him. I figured it would be better for him than cotton, if the cotton started to "fleece" and he got some into the crack of the shell.

He is so, so cute, first thing this morning I shaved some more calcium into his container, and he was hanging from the lid (I wish he wouldn't because I'm afraid it will "stretch him" too much, the weight of the shell and all, but I have to trust that he knows what's bad for him and not...), and as soon as he smelled the calcium he jetted down to munch it!

I'm taking pictures and trying to log his shell to see if there's a healing process going on. I think there might be? It is very badly cracked though, but he acts like he normally does, which is good, right?
I have kept the outher layer of the shell and keep debating weither I should try to glue it on or not. He is very small, so I'm not very confident about it, and I also think that might confuse him while dragging around his shell. I think it's mostly because I want to cover up the crack that's there - and then it's because of egoistic reasons (out of sight, pretend out of mind), but I think it would be better if he managed to seal his shell by himself, and that I would be able to see the process. Perhaps if I put something on there, it won't heal properly?

Gosh, snails are absolutely awesome. I'm 28 and all my friends think I'm totally weird, but I just love my little snail to bits! I might send the spinach company a letter of thanks for messing up their cleaning routines and sending him to me! (In Norway, finding a snail as big as a helix in your store bought spinach is very, very, very unlikely!)

[snailwhale]

Hey there.

Looks like your little snail is a fighter! He seems very happy considering his shell. Thats just great

I would personally leave the shell. He is very small and if you got some glue on him accidently it wouldnt be very good for him (as you know!). They can heal their shells very well themselves, it just takes time.

But as your little snail is demolishing the calcium I think he will manage to repair his shell just fine

As someone said too much calcium can be bad, but in your case it differs. Your little guy needs that bit extra to repair and rebuild his shell.

You could try not having anything on the bottom of your container. With our one we tried to help we didnt put anything on the bottom, but kept wiping up excess water puddles to stop him being completely drenched! And cleaned some leaves we clipped from one of our plants so he had something to hide under. Dont know if thats something youd want to do.

If you have any more questions I would be happy to try and answer them or at least have a go!

Seems to me as youre doing everything you can right now. The healing process will probably be slow, but I think he will get back to normal from the way he is behaving right now. His shell might just look a bit weird!!!

Best wishes
Snailwhale xxo

[snailwhale]

And youre not weird - snails are amazing! hehe

Snailwhale xxo

[larschus]

Thank you again, Snailwhale!
I feel like the paper towels are good to have on the bottom, as they cushion the fall if he should slip and fall (although I've only seen him do that once, when the crack had just happened), and it also help in keeping the moisture level up. I've spread out a salad leaf more, and now he only gets calcium on that, and his carrots - he isn't munching on the paper sans calcium.
I've decided to leave the shell, too, it appears he knows what to do, the little tough guy.
He isn't retracting into his shell, but I suppose it's natural behaviour for now and he won't do it until his shell has healed? Thanks for the tip on the leaves to hide under! He is not really big on wanting to hide, though, I think he's an attention-seeker. Once I get him into his big container again I'll try to put some extra leaves in!

We just had a quick bath-time where I carefully brushed his shell and VERY carefully the crack to make sure there's nothing there that shouldn't be - and he has already started healing quite a lot! I think he's going to make it! <3 <3

I was really worried because it looked like the crack kinda squeezed into some of his flesh - I've tried to find out more about snails' anatomy and I think the crack is juuuust around where his lung ends, so just between the lung and the liver! But since the fall happened on Wednesday evening and it's now Saturday, he has been breathing quite a lot, so at least his lungs should be fine?

Also, I think he is not a Helix something afterall, but perhaps a Cepaea Hortensis? What do you guys think? (I know this belongs in the ID section, sorry...)

Thanks a lot again! This forum has really helped me out when I was panicking for my little Lars!

<3 , larschus

[snailwhale]

So how is your little guy getting on? Good I hope!!!
Snailwhale xxo

[starcrazy19]

He definitely looks like a cepaea something! Not a helix aspersa :)