chompie
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 32
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Post by chompie on Sept 25, 2015 10:31:16 GMT
Hi there, I have a family of Helix Aspersa they came out of their long summer sleep about 10 days ago.
The second day Sweet pea was "wandering around" very slowly. Next day - even slower - body had turned grey and eye stalks were bent backwards at a right angle - when I put food in front of him he bent down to eat and then slowly lifted his head up and pressed it back into/under his mantle with a scrunched up face, turned away and wouldn't eat anything. That night was barely holding on to the surface. I gave him a bath and held him in my hand and stroked him for about an hour and his body felt softer and weaker and he just lay there without moving - the eye stalks permanently bent backwards at 45 degrees.
He had moved during the night and was even less attached to the wall. I gave him a bath and some affection again. By night time his body had turned a strange yellow grey green colour and his head was completely inside his mantle. I placed him in a shallow bath and the water started to turn a shade of green ... I realised he was dead!
Obviously the whole tank was cleaned thoroughly and for the last week there has been no other illnesses - until yesterday when the same thing started to happen to another of my snails - Chestnut. He is eating a little and pooing but he is losing body mass, he is extremely soft and weak and his eye stalks are bent back at 45 degrees. His whole upper body is under his mantle. He is resting completely on his back. Looks like it will only be a matter of hours before he is dead too.
I really hope someone can help - I can't stop crying - pathetic as it sounds.
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Post by etana on Sept 25, 2015 13:42:33 GMT
Very sorry to hear this is happening to your snails. And it's not pathetic to cry, it shows you care about your little friends. The only thing I can think of is to try to feed them something very soft and mushy, smoothie-like, made out of things like sweet potato. I don't know what else to do, I'm so sorry.
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mangoandlemon
Achatina tincta
Animals are not a choice for me. They are a lifestyle!
Posts: 671
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Post by mangoandlemon on Sept 25, 2015 15:39:51 GMT
Really sorry. I would just keep doing what you are doing.
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chompie
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 32
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Post by chompie on Sept 25, 2015 20:25:55 GMT
Thankyou Etana and Mangoandlemon for reading my tale of woe. Hopefully someone might have seen this before and have a suggestion. Chestnut has been completely inside his mantle all day and lying on his back - so I put him in a bed of fresh lettuce. Just cleaned up a bit and given them all their favourite food ... see what happens tonight. He was always the eager, nosey and most playful one of them all. (The fact that his eyestalks are permanently bent backwards is so sad.)
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Post by giantsouthamerican2n on Sept 25, 2015 20:41:20 GMT
Are they doing any better? I'm really sorry about Sweet Pea. chompie
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chompie
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 32
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Post by chompie on Sept 25, 2015 21:01:29 GMT
Thanks for asking Giantsouthamerican2n - after watching for most of the afternoon I can't bear to look any more ... have just changed their food and water and will look in on him later. Going to try mashing up some carrots with calcium and put it next to him. Just going to let him rest.
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mangoandlemon
Achatina tincta
Animals are not a choice for me. They are a lifestyle!
Posts: 671
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Post by mangoandlemon on Sept 25, 2015 22:08:30 GMT
Really sorry.
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Post by giantsouthamerican2n on Sept 26, 2015 3:34:57 GMT
Can somebody notify a moderator about this please? I think they might have a better idea if what might be going on. This is really unfortunate. etana
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Post by giantsouthamerican2n on Sept 26, 2015 3:50:31 GMT
I'm looking up everything I can. I'm doing my best to help in any way possible. Try to separate all of them or at least the sick ones in case it is parasites. I'm really sorry that you have to go through this.
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 26, 2015 7:42:08 GMT
Can somebody notify a moderator about this please? I think they might have a better idea if what might be going on. This is really unfortunate. etanaboth I and MC have been PMd already and spoken to chomipie so no need to do this. Unfortunately we have little help we can offer.
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 26, 2015 7:44:39 GMT
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Post by etana on Sept 26, 2015 14:37:12 GMT
Can somebody notify a moderator about this please? I think they might have a better idea if what might be going on. This is really unfortunate. etanaAh, thanks for the tag, though you all are just as equally capable of notifying the mods as I. Not that I wouldn't do it for someone, just saying that you don't have to wait for me.
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Post by giantsouthamerican2n on Sept 26, 2015 17:52:53 GMT
I know but I had notified muddydragon earlier about something else and didn't want her to get annoyed. etana
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Post by giantsouthamerican2n on Sept 26, 2015 17:54:25 GMT
It might be 90 days disease. Not much is known about it, but it affects Helix aspersa.
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chompie
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 32
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Post by chompie on Sept 28, 2015 7:59:23 GMT
Hi everybody - thanks for your concern and help. I have read the full thread about Freya - I am so sorry Muddydragon - and think there are definitely some similarities - but not as horrid as the decaying flesh. My other snail Chestnut is still alive - you have helped me to remember that she is always too busy playing to eat and it's very rare I see her stop and not simply slide over the food. She has always sleept A LOT (sometimes for weeks) and for the last day and a half she has been resting / sleeping in her shell. The problem is that she doesn't appear to have any mucus at all... she is trying to adhere to the tank wall but can't and eventually ends up resting on her back with her "tummy" exposed. She didn't touch the mashed carrot and calcium I made up for her - but the others didn't seem to interested in it either. Does anyone know how to help them generate mucus? is it a lack of protein?
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chompie
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 32
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Post by chompie on Sept 30, 2015 13:52:17 GMT
-update ... Chestnut is still in the world of the living. She started moving again last night so took her out and laid her in a pool of warm water and placed food all around her in a circle. I've noticed she often just rides over the food as if she doesn't know it's something to eat and I was wondering if maybe her sense of smell is not that acute. She didn't seem too interested but every time she wandered off I moved the food in front of her. Finally she ate a tiny tiny bit of sweet potato and water melon, but nothing else. I found her this morning out and about on her own ... eating some sweet potato and playing with some lettuce - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she is going to pull through. Worried about the lack of mucus -I went to the local pet shop yesterday with the intention of buying more fish-flakes but decided on something else - "Herbivor" food supplement for reptiles and herbivors (www.sera.de) ...they are fighting over each other to get it (it also smells a whole lot better than the fish-flakes). If they were humans I swear they would have been sick at the rate they were gobbling it down and pushing each other out of the way. Fingers crossed it might help. Any suggestions about lack of mucus??
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mangoandlemon
Achatina tincta
Animals are not a choice for me. They are a lifestyle!
Posts: 671
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Post by mangoandlemon on Sept 30, 2015 16:04:54 GMT
I am soooooo relieved! I don't know how to help with the mucus though.
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chompie
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 32
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Post by chompie on Nov 8, 2015 19:11:10 GMT
Happy, happy, happy to say that Chestnut is still around ... eating, pooping, sleeping (sometimes for weeks) and even growing a little! Less playful than before the illness and slower and still has big problems adhering to the walls or ceiling and is always either slowly sliding down or worse - falling down! She also seems unable to secrete the thin opaque layer they make when they want to attach themselves to a flat surface. Not sure what the problem is - intuition tells me it's a dietary deficiency - .I'd welcome any suggestions.
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mangoandlemon
Achatina tincta
Animals are not a choice for me. They are a lifestyle!
Posts: 671
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Post by mangoandlemon on Nov 9, 2015 13:19:06 GMT
Glad hes ok, maybe some protein would help?
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chompie
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 32
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Post by chompie on Nov 11, 2015 0:03:47 GMT
Hi - I am giving them all some protein I bought a few weeks back - something the shop assistant recommended for herbivors - it come in pellet form and you should soak it well before giving it to them - they LOVE it - crawling all over each other and even lying on top of it so the others can't get any!!! "Sera reptil" - herbivor loops ...made by a German company Sera - and mainly sold for lizards, tortoises etc. I am giving them plenty of calcium as well. Over the last 24 hours or so I noticed her poop had changed slightly - looks like she may be having difficulty - looks like she might be a little constipated??
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mangoandlemon
Achatina tincta
Animals are not a choice for me. They are a lifestyle!
Posts: 671
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Post by mangoandlemon on Nov 11, 2015 0:10:03 GMT
Glad she likes it. I don't know what could make her constipated.
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