My GALS won't eat, but my garden snails will

[aquaguy]

Why?

I have just started to keep garden snail, too, and the first night I put them in the tank they ate a lot of food, but my GALS still won't eat, and will not come out.

I mist 'his' tank, I change the food everyday, I keep 'him' in partial shade, the temperature may be a little cold, but it is still fine for an Achatina Fulica, so I really do not understand the problem.

'He' just slithers over to 'his' food, and sits on it. 'He' will also sometimes move it around the tank without touching it, but will still eat the cuttlefish.

'He' will not even come out at nighttime.

Now, this is even weirder, when I take 'him out' he seems really active, but will STILL not eat what I put in front of 'him'.

If 'he' isn't eating, how can he have the energy?

Some people asked me on here whether 'he' eats some at nighttime, and the answer is, "He doesn't." I have checked, and I am certain he does not.

Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks.

[Sarah]

Was your A.fulica eating properly before you introduced the garden snails? What food are you giving him? Have you tried mushing up banana or other soft fruit with some porridge? remember A.fulica needs 18-19% protein in their diet, so supplementing their veggies with soaked fish flakes or pellets, or a paste made from mealworms/seeds is always a good idea

Also, when snails have a growth spurt they tend to quieten down for a few days.

[shaydeesnail]

Snails can go a while without eating so don't panic! You have some time to figure it out. Do however keep an eye out for weight loss. Have you tried feeding him mushy foods? Some people make soups for their snails and others buy powdered foods to be rehydrated into a mush, often snails go mad for this.

Snails sometimes go through a cycle of eating dirt, then food, he may be temporarily filling up on substrate and calcium.

Hope he gets hungry soon!

[muddydragon]

is this the same snail as in the thread here? petsnails.proboards.com/thread/13004/snail-eating

If he's the same snail and still alive and sliming about happily and you haven't seen him eat since then, then he must be eating something or he would have lost a lot of weight or be dead by now. How have you checked that he doesn't eat at night?

What temperature do you have him at, the lower the temperature the slower the metabolism the less food they eat.

Also how big is he?

[aquaguy]

Yes, he is the same snail.

I have checked that he isn't eating at night by looking exactly how much food there is in the tank before I go to bed, and it is always the same in the morning, and I don't put much in anymore as he isn't eating very much, and it just wastes food. I always end up throwing loads of food away the he won't eat.

The temperature is just general room temperature (on average around 18 degrees C, but because it's summer now, it can go up to about 25 degrees C) but he still doesn't eat, or is even active, no matter how warm it is.

This is REALLY confusing me, as, like you said, if he wasn't eating he would have lost weight, but he looks the same as usual.

[muddydragon]

Other than being a bit on the cold side for him what are the other conditions in the tank? it may be too dry or too wet or the substrate may irritate him. can you say again what foods you have offered him

[aquaguy]

Jun 18, 2013 8:45:30 GMT muddydragon said:

Other than being a bit on the cold side for him what are the other conditions in the tank? it may be too dry or too wet or the substrate may irritate him. can you say again what foods you have offered him

As far I can tell, the tank seems to be humid enough because the substrate is always damp, and I put a cover over half of the tank because it is near a window, so it doesn't get too bright in there. The substrate MAY be a problem, but as far as I know, it is just the right kind of soil (I use generaly purpose compost) to use for snails, even GALSs.

I have offered him: Cucumber, tomatoes, peaches, bananas, watermelon, apples, lettuce, dandelion leaves, bread, grapes, and a few more things.

Last year, when I got him, (the other baby one I got from my friend got retracting shell syndrome)he was eating fine. He wouldn't eat very much, but he could easily eat 4-5 pieces of cucumber a day. Now, however, he just won't eat.

Occasionaly, he will nibble, for example, a tiny bit of tomatoe, but after a while of sitting on it, and deciding not to eat anything, he wil slither off back to his plantpot and stay there for a couple of days, and then come out after I ligtly mist his tank, for 10 minutes, and then hide again.

One thing I noticed is when I clean his tank out, I will run him under a tap, and I know he likes it as he turns his head towards it to drink it, and after that he is REALLY active, but that's all. He still will only nibble his food, if anything.

[scarral]

I'm no expert, but I heard that fulicas don't like it as wer as other GALS. It might be worth buying a hygrometer and make sure the humidity stays between 70 and 80%

Other than that, you could try bathing him more often. Maybe he'll start getting more active with time.

Does the compost you're using have any fertilisers? That could be a problem. When I used compost, I bought it in the pet shop as compost specifically for terrariums, with no fertilisers. Now I changed to coir because the soil I had had too much sand for my taste and was getting in my nerves. Now I can say, I prefer the coir 10000 times!

[aquaguy]

I will try bathing him more often, I think, and see if he becomes more active.

Also, the soil doensn't have any fetilizers, or anything un-natural.

Thanks for helping.

[muddydragon]

Try sweet potato or fish flakes. If he is still quite small he won't eat much in one night and it's possible the small amounts he is eating are going unnoticed.
There are many types of general purpose composts, some are peat based, some are the ground up stuff for the recycling bins some are god knows what but you find all bits of sharp wood and things. is it a fine texture or more lumpy? He could be eating partially decomposed things in the compost especially in the case of cheaper general purpose composts. The quality of compost has gone down in recent years. If it's a good quality peat compost then it may be too acidic for him and upsetting him. I really would recommend moving onto coir or putting him in a tank with no substrate for a couple of days and seeing if he will eat then (make sure to provide things he can hide in/under). Can you tell us what type of general purpose compost it is. such as the brand/make, what it says it is made of if possible (e.g. peat) etc.

[aquaguy]

Jun 18, 2013 20:23:35 GMT muddydragon said:

Try sweet potato or fish flakes. If he is still quite small he won't eat much in one night and it's possible the small amounts he is eating are going unnoticed.
There are many types of general purpose composts, some are peat based, some are the ground up stuff for the recycling bins some are god knows what but you find all bits of sharp wood and things. is it a fine texture or more lumpy? He could be eating partially decomposed things in the compost especially in the case of cheaper general purpose composts. The quality of compost has gone down in recent years. If it's a good quality peat compost then it may be too acidic for him and upsetting him. I really would recommend moving onto coir or putting him in a tank with no substrate for a couple of days and seeing if he will eat then (make sure to provide things he can hide in/under). Can you tell us what type of general purpose compost it is. such as the brand/make, what it says it is made of if possible (e.g. peat) etc.

Last night I bathed him a little bit, I put him back in his tank and after about an hour, everything was messed up and the plantpot, waterdish, log and other things had been moved across the tank, but he still hasn't eaten.

As far as I am aware, he is as big as he will ever get, although I have seen pictures of snails quite a bit bigger than mine. Maybe that is just a different species, though.

The compost is quite thick and lumpy. It definitely not very fine.

It is called Burush, multi-purpose compost. It has nutrients and trace elements (unspecified.)

[muddydragon]

hmmm. Is it bulrush? (i googled burush and didn't find anything) bulrush multipurpose contains peat (acidic). If it's lumpy he could well be eating other things in there. The nutrients and trace elements are added fertilizers for plants (mostly water soluble). I would imagine these would irritate him but it could be possible (I'm guessing here) that he's getting some of these nutrients through his skin or via eating the substrate and so feels full. The fact he's active after a bath may suggest the added fertilizer irritates him. I really really would suggest trying a different substrate like coir.

[aquaguy]

Alright, thanks you. I will see what I can do. If it is the substrate I will change it.

[muddydragon]

Jun 20, 2013 9:11:57 GMT aquaguy said:

If it is the substrate I will change it.

well you won't know until you try

[aquaguy]

Haha, me again. Sorry if I'm annoying...

I have not got around ot putitng him a tank without substrate yet, as I am waiting for it to get warmer first, because I don't want to disturb him when it is cold, but another strange thing: He keeps moving everything around in his tank. The strangest thing is, he keeps making the log fall on top of his food, and goes and eats the log instead.

I won't forget to test the soil when it gets warmer, though. I really need to find out what's wrong with him...

[aquaguy]

I think you were correct about it being the substrate, because I decided, instead of waiting for the weather to get warmer, to put him in a tank with no subtrate in, anyway, and it has only been a few hours and he is already eating quite a bit.

At least I know the cause now.

Thanks.

[muddydragon]

this is fantastic news .