Blisters on shell, Parasite or illness?

[Doll]

I discovered something on my A. achatina and it looks like blisters on their shells.
I scraped on one of them and water(?) came out and the snails does not seem to care.

They eat and runs around as normal.

Is it some parasite or are my snails sick?
Could it be something wrong with their housing?

Or what is it?

I'm grateful for some help!

[crossless]

It could be just dried pureed food, dried soil/peat, dried poop etc. Snails shell get messy sometimes when something dries on it. I wash sometimes their shells it's nice that they don't have to have dried poop/food on them. I think it's normal that they have loads dried dirt on them..

[ness]

Do you think you could please take a picture of one of the blisters before and after you scrape it?

If the shell looks normal after you have cleaned the blister off then it's likely to be as Crossless says - dirt.

If the shell looks damaged then i don't know what to think, I've not come across it before.

[Doll]

Snails are pretty messy But i take them out and wash their shells once biweekly...
This look more like a blister and not dried poop or anything else... :/

I took a picture yesterday... when i had skraped one of them.
I'll will try to clean it of today and se what happens.

(I dont know if the picture will show, but i'll fix it later...)

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[ness]

Oh! Clicking on the picture I see what you mean.
I hope someone can help, I'm sorry that I can't.

[spook]

To me it looks like the very thin outer layer of shell that's coming off in places.......do they have plenty of cuttlefish in their diet or any other form of calcium??.....

[Doll]

They have cuttlefish shells/bones in the terrarium, but i dont mix any of it in their food.
Once a week i give them banana pudding with calcium powder and hemp seeds.

Do you think i need to give them more calcium?

[cherryblossom]

Im sorry Im no use when it comes to advising what is wrong... I just wanted to say what a beautiful shell your snail has! The markings are lovely.

[Doll]

Thanks cherryblossom.

I talked to one person on another forum that had the same "problems" with her snails and their shells.
And it had spread to her other snails, but in the end it just disappeared...

So i guess i just have to wait and se what happens... And keep my fingers crossed.

But i would really like to know what is causing this? ><

[red608]

You probably already thought about this but since I don't recall reading it, Have you changed anything in their tank recently or introduced anything new(like food, substrate, etc)? It's possible its some kind of reaction to something like that. I wish I could be of further help but that's all I can think of. So long as they continue to eat and act normal I'd think they'll be fine like the person's on the other forum.

[Doll]

I cleaned the terrarium for about a week ago, but i put everything back the way it was before.
And i dont use any cleaning products, just warm water.

But i dont think it's beacuse of that. Since it spreads between the snails...

Maybe something i gave them to eat, but i cant recall what it might be... ><

[red608]

Agreed a simple cleaning couldn't be the issue if everything is the same in the tank (same type of substrate etc). Well, hopefully they get better real soon ;D

[Doll]

It seems that the "problem" have disappeared now.

The snail, which i had scraped away the "blisters" on, has bright spots on the shell.
The other snails does not have any marks on their shells at all.

So i hope that it wont come back... Whatever it is...

But tanks for all the help anyway!

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[coyote]

I'm glad the snails are okay, and I hope the problem doesn't come back.

[aerliss]

Weirdly, it looks like an acid burn. It doesn't necessarily have to be a strong acid, could even be vinegar or citric that just sat there for a long time, over night.

It's probably not... but that's just what came to mind when I looked at the spots and then back at the blisters.

[Doll]

I have no idea of what it could be, i dont give them any citrus fruit...

But it is gone now and they are all well.

[millza86]

Is the shell softer where the blisters have been? If so there may be a weakness in the shell, liquid from inside the shell would be slightly higher in acidity so if any leaked out it would cause a 'stain' on the shell.

This is not the answer, its just what I think, similar to if the snail has a tiny hole in its shell, it forms a membrane that fills with fluid, such as a cyst, and the fluid comes from the abdominal cavity. But they are fine now anyway which is good, very bizarre problem indeed, glad that they are ok

[Schnäggli]

I've never come across anything like this with snails before, so I cannot speak for sure, but it reminded me of something similar occurring in other animals... could it be maybe a fungus/yeast infection of some kind?

You said it "spread" to other snails - does that mean that at first only one snail was affected and then it appeared on others as well? How long did these symptoms last on your snails? Any info could be useful. thanks.

[Doll]

No, their shells wasent softer on those spots.
But again, i dont think it has anything to do with acids since it spreads between other snails.

I think it must be some sort of fungus/yeast or parasite... that maybe has something to do with the humidity and temperature.
Thats all i can think of for now...

It lasted for about 4-5 days.
When i discovered it there was more on one of them and one didnt have any. The second day all my achatinas had it more or less, on the third day my marginata suturalis had it.
And then it disappeared and left spots on the ONE i had skraped the blisters off. The others didnt have any marks after this.

I did nothing special when i discovered this. I didnt clean the tank, i just checked on them a few times a day to se if they where ok and that they where out and eating.

[Doll]

And maybe i should add that none of the snails appeared to be sick or affected of the blisters.

[crossless]

Hmmh.. My one snail broke it shell and now when it's prepairing it or making cover to part that don't have shell it looks loads like blister or something else weird at the moment..

[Doll]

hm, i think ive read somewhere about broken shells, and that it would be some sort of film/membrane (cant find a proper translate) that protects the snail while it build up its shell.

But i cant find the artikel it right now...

I hope your snail will be ok soon!