Stinky cuttle bone

[etana]

Thought I'd post this as a warning... They say you shouldn't let your cuttlebone get wet, because snails might not like to eat it then. Well my snails didn't seem to mind, so I didn't take measures to keep it dry.

And now it stinks of dead fish. Even after I washed it with a dishwashing brush and had it outside drying. Goodness. It's awful!

One reason why I love snails as pets is that they hardly have smell to them if everything's well, but argh. Keep your cuttlebones dry, people!

[Zorst]

lol! Yep I also learn't that lesson the hard way with in the first month of keeping snails. Now I always have 2 lots of cuttle fish bone going per tank n change them over every 72 hrs, leaving the dampish one outside in the sun to dry. It works n no more smelly cuttle fish bone. Another one to remember if the weathers wet outside I put them on top of the cool part of the range or on a baking tray in the cooker after I've used the oven. That tends to dry them out well when its damp here.

Zorst

[etana]

Great idea, I'll definitely do that!

Btw... Will enough sunlight/ovening take the stink off the pieces that currently stink? Or am I stuck with this side effect until my little friends eat it all away (which will take a while, ugh..)?

All these weird things that snail keeping brings to your life, haha...but it's so worth it. <3

[moon]

I noticed that the cuttlefish in my outdoor run smelled fishy today for the first time ever.

Probably because it's been raining heavily for a few days. But my snail children seem to be drawn to it. Maybe they like the taste?!

[etana]

Snails seem attracted to many things that we find gross. Luckily enough gross things aren't mandatory for them.

My snails seem hesitant to eat the fishy smelling cuttlebone. They do have a non-smelling piece and they rasp at that one, so I'm not too worried, but the smelly piece is much bigger and I wish they'd use it. Hmm. :/

[muddydragon]

if you always place the cuttlefish newxt to the heatmat this sometimes helps prevent it from getting to this state. But once it's pinkish looking there's not a lot you can do but chuck it really.

[etana]

Oh... won't the snails eat it at all, or is it just unpleasant to the human senses?

[Cashell]

Weird... I have a piece of cuttlebone that got a bit damp and has been washed, brushed, and air dried a few times, but yet it does not stink?

@ muddydragon
Seems like that might be the reason why it's not smelly yet, so I'll be sure to watch out for that.

[muddydragon]

the pink colour is probably bacteria. E. coli forms pink colonies for instance (before you panic we all have E.coli in our gut its just very occasionally that they turn "BAD") but apparently quite a lot of bacteria from animals can form pink/red colonies. that with the smell i suspect it's bactrial growth - obviously not really a probem one as ive never heard of snail problems related to a funky cuttlefish bone but i doubt they'll eat it mine never have when it has started going pink.

[etana]

Oh. I really must check the colour when I get back to my snails. Thanks for the info.

[etana]

I couldn't wait so I checked with my snail-sitter about the previously stinky cuttlebone (The fishy stink went away as I dried it up in direct sunlight for several days). He said it was just bone white.

My snails had growth spurts earlier and ate lots and lots of cuttlebone, now they seem less interested in it but I suppose they filled thheir calcium reserves.

[kookosmeloni]

Sometimes my cuttlefish bones stink of urine when they're wet.
That doesn't really bother the snails so I'm not too worried about it.