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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 20, 2015 18:04:17 GMT
Hello! My name is Naomi, and this is my first time on this forum, or on any snail website, really. My mom works at an airport and found a large snail (I suspect it's Achatina immaculata) who traveled as a stowaway on a plane from Réunion. The poor thing has a badly broken shell, of which a large piece came off. I patched it with an egg-shell membrane and plan to add a piece of snail shell on top, but I would like some advice. The housing he's currently living in is temporary, and it's the best I have, I believe. I'm reading up on snail care. He's relatively active, nibling on a banana piece and looking about. If anybody can give some info, such as to its species (if I got it right), or its age, or some basic care I would love it. Thank you!
    
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Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
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Post by Cashell on Mar 20, 2015 19:37:38 GMT
Keep it in a container with a low ceiling height (not too low that it can't move), access to calcium like a cuttlebone or crushed egg shells, food, decent humidity and it should recover.
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 20, 2015 19:45:06 GMT
Thank you! I'll go snail supplies shopping tomorrow if possible.
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 20, 2015 19:55:42 GMT
Also, he is looking more active, has gotten crushed eggshell and soil.
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Post by Jade on Mar 20, 2015 20:11:23 GMT
Aww, he's great. It doesn't look too badly damaged so hopefully with some calcium and some love he will recover.
Just incase you didn't know, he will need to be kept warm at around 24c, if you live in a cold country it is best to buy a heat mat.
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 20, 2015 20:15:26 GMT
Thanks! For the moment, I have a pocket warmer under his housing, but I will buy a mat. I live near Paris.
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Post by Selena on Mar 20, 2015 22:40:46 GMT
He's cute, and Lucky he's with you now, poor snail lost with a damaged shell. don't forget to rinse the cuttlebones (if there is a salty layer on it) eggscales are difficult for them to eat. but if you have nothing else at the moment its the best i think. A vegetable with a good ratio of calcium is endive (rinse extremely well before you give it to him)but they need different kinds of food (vegetables and fruits, soaked fish flakes, chicken layer pallets, soaked cat and dog food) and a waterdish to bath and drink.
The damage is on the front of the shell isn;t it? they could repair that definitely and quick. he also need an humid environment and a soil layer of 10 -15 cm so he can dug holes. You can use coir. Don't use soil for the garden and house plants with pesticides and fertilisers, it not healthy for the snails. don't replace the soil often, they need an amount of bacteria to stay healthy.
I don;t know what specie it is, but its definitely not an immaculata, the shell is to pointed. It lookes like a normal A fulica, maybe his body is not his normal color. If he lost weight, the skin gets more dark. Maybe when he recovered more, the Original color appears. But maybe some people over here know better what specie it is.
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 21, 2015 8:14:58 GMT
Thank you!
If he's not A. Immaculata, then he's probably A.fulica as those seem to be the two species on Réunion. I checked the soil for fertilizer, and there seems to be none, but will change it ASAP.
I'll give him endives; I have some in the fridge.
He also has a crack in his shell but he should be ok. He lost about an inch of shell in the front.
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Post by Selena on Mar 21, 2015 10:02:33 GMT
Hi, a fulica seems most likely then (benefit: if you deside to buy a friend for him once, a. fulica are most available of all species and very cheap. i saw the crack, i think he is able to recover it, but i haven't got much experience with shell fractures. I have heard stories about snails who recovered from much more damage then he have, so i think he will be fine. i have red somewere: if a snail have a damage on its bodie, he take a period of rest in the soil and will not eat or move much un till the fracture is healed. But i'm not very sure if it occurs with all species and if it will happen with a shell crack, maybe somebody else over here know better what you can expect. You can find much information here: www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/broken-shell.html#start |
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Post by etana on Mar 21, 2015 10:59:36 GMT
Welcome to the forum Naomi! Poor snail. I'm glad he has a home now. I love his banana eating face, he must be a little starved! If you get a heatmat, make sure to stick it to a wall of the tank, not under it. That way he can burrow away from it if he wishes. I hope you can find cuttlebone or limestone flour, even pretty bad damage to the growing edge can be repaired by the snail if he has a good calcium source and a chance to rest safely. Keep us posted about how the snail is doing.  |
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 21, 2015 14:31:16 GMT
Hi!
Thank you everybody! He's doing good. I got the cuttlefish bone and coir. The heat pad and vivarium are on their way. I'm keeping him warm with a hot water bottle under a third of the box.
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Post by morningcoffee on Mar 21, 2015 14:42:57 GMT
Hi! Thank you everybody! He's doing good. I got the cuttlefish bone and coir. The heat pad and vivarium are on their way. I'm keeping him warm with a hot water bottle under a third of the box. Don't put a heatmat or heat underneath a snail tank. They should always be attached to the side of the tank. |
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Post by etana on Mar 22, 2015 5:20:49 GMT
As for his age, I can't tell from the pics if he's sexually mature (he will have a bulge on his right cheek (not pictured here) suggesting he's ready to mate, usually this happens from 5 months up, depending a bit on the indivudual snail). How long is his shell, if you take the longest possible measurement?
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 22, 2015 13:09:33 GMT
Day 3, still ok.
I'll stick the heat source on the side from now on.
He's eaten large pièces of the endive (the yellow part), and I have given him another leaf. Thanks for the suggestion Selena! He's already nibbling on the new leaf.
His shell is about 7 cm long, but was more like 10 before the fractured piece broke off.
  
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Cashell
Archachatina puylaerti
Posts: 1,124
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Post by Cashell on Mar 22, 2015 16:30:08 GMT
Nice, it seems like your snail is doing quite well.
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Post by etana on Mar 22, 2015 18:17:55 GMT
It's a good sign that he's eating and snailing around. What a lovely foot he has, if he's fulica he's surely an interesting colour that I haven't seen before. Though with fulica and me, that seems to happen quite a bit, hehe. Poor thing has a nasty looking white scar on his back too, though luckily it looks like it's healed well. His cheek looks to me like he's sexually mature (only not at all willing right now, which really is no surprise with the stress and injury), and that shell size means he could be any age from 5-6 months up but I don't think he's very old, since his shell doesn't seem to have that much wear on it. Fingers crossed that he starts the shell repair soon and will be your snaily friend for a long time. |
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 22, 2015 18:43:49 GMT
Thank you! I think the scar might have been acquired when he was a little wild snail as it looks a little old. Right now he has piped down as is sitting on the wall, with one antenna/tentacle out. Since he lost a large piece of shell, I'm wondering if the foot looks so large because he's a little "too big" for his shell. Time will tell, maybe he'll look differently proportioned later on.
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Post by muddydragon on Mar 24, 2015 20:14:27 GMT
he looks like he's starting to rebuild be very careful when handling the new growth is very delicate try not to touch the front of his shell. losing the front part even a piece that large is OK as they can rebuild but the new growth can often be poor and rough to start with.
He is an Achatina immaculata you can see the pink columella in some of the photos this is one of the main ID points that's not variable (such as body/shell colour or shape).
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Post by etana on Mar 26, 2015 8:00:19 GMT
How's the snail doing?
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Zorst
Achatina tincta
Posts: 734 
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Post by Zorst on Mar 27, 2015 12:12:56 GMT
Yes how is the Snail doing? I've repaired quite a few snails shells as my rug rats end up rescuing them from everywhere. Some with breaks so bad you wouldn't think them repairable. The growing edge is always extremely fragile, I also add protein to their diet as this also defiantly seems to help improve he strength n speed of the shell growth.
This can be in the form of fish flakes, cooked finely chopped unseasoned meat, good quality cat food or bisects and hard boiled egg or scrambled egg unseasoned n mashed up. Along side this I always give them a good selection of fresh veg, sweet potato, courgette, sweet corn, apple, tomato, sweet pepper,endive, mushroom, dandelion leaves, cabbage leaves, broccoli and cauliflower, carrots, cucumber, squash, berries. I just give a few of these items as there always around for us to eat. The cucumber I do limit as its not of high nutritional value and snails seem to get over fixated on it.
Hope that helps you a bit more.
Also I do in some cases of snails with damaged shell's use some micro pour tape which is a white paper type plaster tape to fix damaged shell's this cut into small pieces can be stuck on a clean dry shell to repair breaks or cracks. It just stabilizes the shell and holds it in place for the snails own body to make the shell repair. The great thing about this is that after a week or so it naturally gets wet and comes away from the shell leaving the newly repaired shell beneath and no harm to the snail.
Zorst
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 27, 2015 18:36:19 GMT
It's been a week since I have him and he's fine! The shell is Healing and I got a vivarium set up with a heating pad on the side, coir for substrate and a hygrometer (it reads 80% right now). I'll give him protein, but right now he has apple, radish, lettuce, carrot and banana. I'll post pictures when I can!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2015 2:15:22 GMT
That's awesome!! Hope he can recover soon.
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Post by etana on Mar 28, 2015 6:27:55 GMT
It's been a week since I have him and he's fine! The shell is Healing and I got a vivarium set up with a heating pad on the side, coir for substrate and a hygrometer (it reads 80% right now). I'll give him protein, but right now he has apple, radish, lettuce, carrot and banana. I'll post pictures when I can! That's so good to hear. Take a pic of his habitat too!  |
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Zorst
Achatina tincta
Posts: 734
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Post by Zorst on Mar 28, 2015 10:28:41 GMT
Great to hear he's doing well.
Zorst
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Post by giantsnailpail on Mar 28, 2015 13:32:53 GMT
There you go!
The hydrometer is at 90% and he's pretty active.    
The white stuff on the shell is bits of egg membrane than I put on to protect the fracture |
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