Infant Snail Advise

[Joedy]

Hello, I've kept Helix Aspersa snails for a good three years now, and I was wondering if anyone had any pointers on better nutrition for newly-born/growing snails. I do offer them cuttlebone, and they take to that nicely, but I still have problems with shell thickness. The babies tend to have much thinner shells that my WC, even when they reach maturity. I find this concerning, and haven't kept any batches of eggs since I noticed this after two or three. Their diet range typically consists of Romain lettuce, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, flowers from my garden, and peaches on occasion as well as over-ripe strawberries. I don't know what vital component I'm missing from their natural habitat. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and their remedies they've found effective for it. They live in a fish tank that I have in store-bought dirt with no fertilizer with various plastic plants for them to crawl on. They also love to sit on soaked paper towels that I provide for them.

thanks,

Joedy

[Deleted]

Maybe in the wild there is chalk/calcium in the soil, and they either eat the soil or absorb the calcium in it through their body. I can't imagine how else they'd get calcium in the wild.

Maybe you could mix calcium into the substrate? grate cuttlefish in it and mix it up maybe.

[Joedy]

Alright, thank you. I'll try that. I'm just concerned, because I have a few batches on the way, and I'd like to keep some of the eggs this time.

[coyote]

Some people have claimed to have had good results using liquid calcium. That might be worth a try.