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Post by rhianna22 on Nov 20, 2014 1:45:09 GMT
Is it possible that my snails are growing too quick for their shell? Over the past week or so I've noticed hair-line cracks appearing in one of my snail's shell, and dent-like cracks appearing in my other's shell. There isn't anything hard in their tub that would cause any damage were they to fall off the lid, so I'm not sure where they could be coming from. The snails, one especially, are growing at an astonishing rate (see one of my previous posts for pictures of them 5 weeks ago). The pictures below show the cracks on both snails.  This is the one with the dents, these have been present for 1-2 weeks.  This is the one with the hair-line cracks. They don't show up very well in the picture, but hopefully you can see the 2 cracks running across the shell. To put into perspective how quickly this dude is growing, the bottom crack was just above the lip of 'his' shell under a week ago, and now it's moved up around 1cm with his shell growth. Could it be that they're growing too fast, or am I doing something wrong with their food/habitat? As you can see they have constant access to calcium which they really do make use of. Thanks in advance! |
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Post by etana on Nov 20, 2014 9:49:33 GMT
Um... I think it is possible. What exactly have you been feeding them, and how frequently?
The front edge of the shell is also very fragile even if the snail eats his calcium like he should. Much attention needs to be paid to how snails are handled, so no pressure is on the shell edge. I've caused a crack like that myself when I wasn't careful enough, and the snail didn't bother to smooth it up because there wasn't anything come loose.
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Post by muddydragon on Nov 20, 2014 9:59:53 GMT
how often do you feed a protein supplement? sometimes too much protein can cause hairline cracks. also is calcium optional or is it sprinkled on their food (forcing calcium via putting it on all their food can also cause problems) Usually small cracks like that are not a problem to the snail just asthetics  |
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Post by rhianna22 on Nov 20, 2014 16:07:56 GMT
I mainly feed them sweet potato, mixed salad leaves, carrot, mushroom (basically any veg I have on hand). And it depends on how quickly they eat it, if they eat it all I'll give them more the following night, but if they don't I just leave it there until they do/it goes mushy. They've only had protein once (fish flakes) and that was around a week ago, they'd never been interested in it before then. And they just have some cuttlebone which they can eat as and when they like, I don't put any calcium with their food. I'm glad that they're not a problem though |
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Post by Liguus on Nov 20, 2014 16:47:25 GMT
If they have only had protein once, in the form of fish flakes, then thats not really enough to cause any unusual growth.
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Post by etana on Nov 20, 2014 20:38:45 GMT
That sounds like a pretty good, sensible diet for snails. Some say that normal growth spurts alone seem enough to cause this kind of mini cracks. It's certainly not with everyone though, like my snails only have cracks that are remains of physical damage that I remember happening to them, so I don't know if it's normal. Either way, little cracks at the front of the shell are easily repaired by the snail anyway and thus aren't dangerous. The one with the dents puzzles me slightly. I wonder what happened. Tell us if more appear, ok? |
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Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
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Post by Cashell on Nov 21, 2014 2:14:59 GMT
Interesting thread. I hear turtles and tortoises can also suffer from shell deformities if they ingest too much protein and not enough calcium. As the posters say, your snail's diet seems fine.
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Post by cliath on Nov 21, 2014 7:49:18 GMT
Yeah, I agree with the others, but they really have grown a lot! I got fulica recently too and I've had them about 2 months, and they've barely grown!  |
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Post by etana on Nov 21, 2014 10:28:02 GMT
Yeah Cliath, my smaller rodatzi is nearing 5 months of age and he's still only about 4 cm long. He's very active and eats well though, and his little shell is smooth and a good colour, so I don't think it's anything but him having a slow growth gene.
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Post by cliath on Nov 21, 2014 17:10:03 GMT
Mine do have bad shells, but that was from their previous home, from what I was told they ate mainly lettuce and cucumber, so that might also have something to do with it...
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Post by etana on Nov 22, 2014 6:26:58 GMT
Aw Cliath, poor babies. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that kind of diet made their shells look bad, since it makes the snails ill in the long run anyway. |
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Post by rhianna22 on Nov 25, 2014 14:32:32 GMT
Perhaps they're just the snaily version of stretch marks! They do seem to just grow overnight, my largest snail with the hairline cracks has grown almost 1cm since I started this thread! I just needed some reassurance that it wasn't my fault or that it was going to bother them in any way. Thank you everyone And Cliath, I'm sure your snails are much happier living with you |
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Post by pilsburypie on Dec 7, 2014 23:56:40 GMT
That "dent" does it look a bit like a chip in the shell? One of those has just appeared in my snail's otherwise perfect shell.
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Post by rhianna22 on Dec 8, 2014 0:42:48 GMT
It was more like a cracked dent, none of the shell was missing, just cracked and indented (see first picture). It didn't take long to heal though and didn't bother the snail, though I still don't know how it happened (whether it was from a fall or because of some speedy growing).
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