Help!!! Early sign of mantle collapse!?

[snerdahmik]

Yesterday I noticed the mantle of the my two bigger snails look different. The part they retract into has separated from their foot. It doesn't cling to their body like it should. It's a little agape, but I can't see inside the shell cavity. This is entirely caused by me, because I usually pick them up off of the lid.

They cling to it, and i'm worried about crushing them when I put the heavy metal lid back on, so I pick them off and place them at the bottom of the tank. They have a strong grip, so I usually wiggle them free before pulling them off. I unintentionally caused this.

If I leave them alone for a few days, will it heal?? Isn't the mantle a muscle? Please tell me if there's any way I can help them. There's no sign of bleeding, they just can't move their shell very well. It hangs off to the side when they walk around upright, but they can move it a little.. Is there any chance they can get better?




How could I prevent this from happening again?? I think a safer way to pick them up would be to gently slide something flat underneath their foot and remove suction that way. Is that safe? 

[snerdahmik]

Please respond to this!! Is there anything I can do to help them?? They're still behaving perfectly normal.

[snerdahmik]

They're still eating and climbing like they usually do, and one of them was sleeping on the lid like usual. Are these good signs?? What do I do? I'm so worried that they'll die. I feel awful.

[morningcoffee]

If you can provide a pic of what you can see it'd be helpful to determine what the problem is.
If it's a partial mantle separation that's not too bad then in some cases it can heal or not progress with care, preventing them from climbing too much if possible (usually temporarily keeping them in a shallow container) and minimising pulling them around or picking them up.

Using a wet finger to gently pry under the snail's foot and lifting them away from the tank wall is generally considered the best way to pick them up where necessary.

[snerdahmik]

Nov 8, 2019 15:07:19 GMT morningcoffee said:

If you can provide a pic of what you can see it'd be helpful to determine what the problem is.
If it's a partial mantle separation that's not too bad then in some cases it can heal or not progress with care, preventing them from climbing too much if possible (usually temporarily keeping them in a shallow container) and minimising pulling them around or picking them up.

Using a wet finger to gently pry under the snail's foot and lifting them away from the tank wall is generally considered the best way to pick them up where necessary.

I'll try! They've gotten much better over the past two days. The mantle is grabbing onto their bodies much more strongly after leaving them alone. I think they'll be better. I'll see if I can take a picture, though. I think it'd be useful information.