michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Dec 9, 2019 19:40:08 GMT
Hi all, It's been awhile. Thank you once again for all the kind words. Really appreciate the warmth and friendliness. I still miss Ovi. She was very special to me. Luckily I saved her shell, so she is sitting on my desk. Compared to the other GALS I have, she was really big. I bought a new snail a week or so after and another one a 2 months later. Both of them are Archachatina Marginata Ovum's; one is dark brown and has a black stripe and is called Gremlin. The other one is white (similar like Ovi, but not with black pupils) and is called Mogwai. Both are doing good and I now have a total of 8 GALS. So I have 2 Ovums, 5 Purpeas (or whatever they are called) and one Fulucia (white jade, almost 3+ years now). All are doing well, except for the white jade; he is retraced into his shell almost every day. When I gently touch him he still (luckily) comes out and responds. But I doubt he will be around much longer. Though I hope otherwise obviously! I give him a baths (with camomile tea and bee polls) and I get him out a bit more often then the others. Not much else I can do. He eats, but he was always a fuzzy/difficult eater. More than that I cannot do unfortunately. I was trying to make a XMAS card with my snails on it (not all ofcourse), but the result was not good enough. Will try again next year and start sooner! Here is a XMAS GALS picture: Regards, Michel
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Apr 15, 2019 19:39:33 GMT
Thank you etana for your kind words. It's a shame and saddening, but it's better for Ovi. This is not the way any animal should live.
Yeah, she did that often; it was like she was holding her food. Not always, but often. So fun to see her.
I really don't understand the cause to be honest. It started with a small "peak" mouth (I will look up the pictures I have from back then) in early/mid January. After that things got worse and worse. Oh well. All my other GALS are fine though (thank God).
Ovi is still on my desk, but I will put her outside under glass tomorrow, because I am starting to smell her (not that bad yet).
Sidenote; what's the best way to keep their shells shiny after they passed away (and their shell is empty)? Because I still have a GALS outside under glass, which is as good as empty (died in December), but I want to make the shell shiny and keep it.
Thanks in advance and thanks again for your kind words.
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Apr 15, 2019 7:23:12 GMT
Here is the picture as how I will remember Ovi; the GALS who ate with her "hands" in better days. She was so cute when she did this... Ovi RIP (14th of April 2019)
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Apr 15, 2019 7:20:39 GMT
Well a sad update today.... Ovi passed away, despite everything I tried. Past Friday, when a friend was over to play some games and we were up late, I noticed a full "gut extrusion" once again. I also noticed, what I thought to be, a gammarus (Amphipoda) stuck on her mouth, so I grabbed a pair of tweezers and removed it. However I know think it was her jaw! Sigh. Apparently her jaw also came loose. Afterwards I should have left it, but I really thought it was gammarus (Amphipoda), as I gave it as food a day earlier. I didn't apply any force, so it was loose already, but still... I feel really bad, because she never recovered from it (along with the issues she already had). Anyways, after removing the (what I thought) gammarus (Amphipoda) I once again used a needle and she swallowed everything back. So I thought it was going to be "okay" or at least similar to the days before. Int he morning my girlfriend woke me and she said Ovi was bad again, so I came out of bed and did the needle thing once more. But this time it didn't help; everything stayed outside. Later that day (gut still outside) she was more inside her shell. At this point I thought that she wouldn't recover anymore at all. I put her in smaller enclosure in the main tank, so the other GALS could still "see" her. I also sprayed her several times with water. I went out that evening and when we came back, she looked still pretty bad and I didn't expect her to see her alive Sunday morning. However she still hanged in there until early afternoon. Then she finally passed away. It makes me really sad, but for Ovi it's better. As this was no way to continue for her. I know I gave my best 100%, but still I feel sad that she passed away. This is my 3rd GALS I lost. I can only hope the others will live longer. I purchased Ovi when she was a baby on 3rd of November 2016. So she was not that old. I will always remember her as my first GALS which "hold" her food occasionally, which was really fun to see. I will post a picture after this post. Here is how she looked on Sunday. So maybe it's better that she passed away. I can only hope she didn't suffer that much. That would really break my heart. As you can see for yourself; she was really in a bad shape / condition... Here is a link to all pictures (album) from that day, for those interested: imgur.com/a/jDFxzq3Maybe it will help someone else. To be honest; I don't think the castor oil provided any help. Maybe I applied it wrong, or I got the wrong kind. Who knows. Will search for a better solution, if (hopefully not) this happens again with a different GALS. One "good" thing; she is now with my mother who passed away on early 2018. She adored my GALS and called them her "grand children" as my girlfriend and me do not have any kids. But I am still pretty sad. Especially when you spend so much time and energy on Ovi, like I did and she still didn't manage to pull through...
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Apr 11, 2019 6:59:18 GMT
Hi etana, Thank you for your kind words. Highly appreciated. Okay so this is exactly what you experienced with Darius as well and this is what is meant with a "full prolapse". I never experienced this before. So far I only had experience with "gut extrusion". I don't give Ovi a bath every day or more than once a day to be honest. For example; I leave sometimes a day in between. I think the issue is also caused by the fact she never goes into her shell completely. Like last evening until this morning; she is almost fully stretched out. At first sight it looks like she is dead. And though I understand what you said that they need their sleep, I do touch her to see if she responses to my touch (in order to know if she is dead or not). I afterwards spray her a little with water, so she doesn't dry up. But I will leave her alone a bit more. Maybe she is indeed sleeping (but in a very weird way). This evening (Thursday) I will give her a new bath though. Then I will do it again on Saturday or Sunday. And leave her alone, when I place her back. I can only hope she will recover from this, but I doubt it. Though the evening before she was a bit active for a few minutes and looked more like a normal GALS (still not 100% obviously). However yesteday was again a bad day; she was just laying there. Good to hear that Darius did recover from it. I can only hope Ovi does as well. She is strong though; even in her current condition, her foot is pretty clamped together when I try to remove dirt from it (before I give her a bath). Ovi (before she got ill) was semi-social. She would look up her friends, but not always. She is the biggest GALS I still have and I have 6 others (2 different breeds) all in one tank. I think the tank that I have is big enough, as they can go anywhere they want without being "piled" up on each other. The tank dimensions are (LxDxH): 75 x 55 x 50 cm. I will keep posting updates obviously when I have the chance. If you or anyone else has some other ideas on what to try, let me know. Regards, Michel
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Apr 8, 2019 18:50:01 GMT
Hi all and especially etana ! Thank you for responding. No worries at all! I am glad you found the time to respond (despite the difficult year; I know all about it as my mom passed away 1 year ago sigh). Anyways, sorry for the late reply from my side. I was on a short vacation in the mean time and didn't check the forums until now! I had a really big animal friend taking care of my GALS when we were away, however the day before I returned things got worse. This was a recent picture I received from my friend when I was on vacation. As you can see it was really, really bad. So I asked my friend if she wanted to stick a needle in there. Though it didn't look like the gut extrusions I have experienced so far with any of my GALS. She didn't mind and carefully did it. First in the pointy part, later in the rest (according to hear it was the stomache as well?). Apparently a lot of fluid came out. Later (or the next day, sorry can't recall) she was somewhat out of her house along with eyes. According to my friend she was more active. She also bought bee polls and chamomile / camomile tea and gave her a bath several times. In the pictures I received Ovi still looked not good imho. But then again, it wasn't as bad as in the picture above or what I had experienced so far... Anyways, a day later she sends me a new picture and according to her Ovi ate some zucchini and sweet potato. However it's still a big guess if she really ate it or the other GALS. However, it was in front of her and it looked on the picture that she ate it. If this is true, it was a pretty decent amount (given her condition). When I got back past Wednesday from vacation; I picked up my GALS including Ovi. The first day (I guess; don't recall exactly) she ate some apple. Really not much, but something at least. But after that she got worse again though. Well worse, she just looks ill. Not normal. Also she didn't eay anything after the apple anymore (approx 3 days or so I guess). Sigh. I stopped applying castor oil, as she has no gut extrusion at the moment. Something I did notice (and my friend told me the same thing) is that she has a lot of lose "skin". Just like a snake has. I think a better word for it is "membrane" here? I can daily pull of several pieces. It's like when a snail goes into there home for sleep and closes his shell, but weaker. But since she is not into her home, I clean it. I am passed being desperate and I am starting to think that she is maybe is better of dead. Don't understand me wrong; I am not giving up on her, but if she is in pain, this is not a nice way to live... It's tiresome and sad to see her like this. I doubt she will pull through. Yesterday I though it was a matter of days, but hen she "improves" a little and gets her eyes out. As a matter of fact, I am gonna take her out now and pet her a little. Charlotte 🐌 thank you for you kind words. Really appreciated in these times.
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Mar 18, 2019 19:48:09 GMT
Well a small update; since 1,5 weeks she is hardly eating. Yesterday, I think she had one or two very small bites from the apple. She is losing weight and getting smaller. Most of the time she sleeps. Sometimes late in the evening or early in the morning she is moving around a bit.
When I touch her "neck" I can feel a very hard lump/bump. I suspect this is causing the issues. I didn't notice this before, maybe it's becoming more apparent now she is losing weight? Or that it is growing. I have no clue what it is, but I am guessing it could be cancer? I did a search on Google about GALS/snails getting cancer, but apparently there is hardly anything on that.
I still give her a bad with chamomile / camomile tea and bee polls, however she just sits in there. I try to give her mashed foods (little warm to help her stomache) with water. Tried the snail mix and so on, but she is really not eating almost anything anymore.
So I am gussing she will die soon. I don't believe in miracles anymore, so... Anyways, I will be going on a short vacation for 12 days. I have a very good friend living close by who will take my GALS in (in my old terrarium). So I know they will be looked after with great care.
I hope Ovi is still alive when I get back, but this is something I really doubt...
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 27, 2019 18:55:28 GMT
As promised an update... Unfortunately Ovi is still not better. She does eat sometimes (apple), but then she doesn't eat for several days. She does poop; big dark brown poop, so I am guessing she is eating dirt? She has done this always and apparently for some snails it's normal? Anyways, I now also have 2 video recordings on her mouth issue. I think her gut is being the main issue. I still rub her every day with castor oil (mouth), but so far not much succes... Even tried a few drops iberogast as mentioned in my previous post. Here are the videos: Video 1: vimeo.com/user89811583/review/320321693/3cc0d2a053Video 2: vimeo.com/user89811583/review/320321715/db2e03aaf2Doesn't look good, I know... Hope someone can give some advice; I was hoping etana to show up. Edit 1: as I am getting more desperate, maybe I should try to stick a needle in that gut when she tries to eat. HOWEVER; 1. I have to act very, very, very fast (as you can tell in the video's). 2. I have no clue if this is a bad idea; I did this before with real gut extrusions, however then the gut was on the outside. I don't want her gut to "leak" inside her obviously. Edit 2: Well something positive just now; I put Ovi in a bath with chamomile / camomile tea and bee polls and I also made some new snail mix (http://www.petsnails.co.uk/documents/snail-mix.html) + fish flakes and she is actually eating it now as far as I can tell. So that's something positive. Especially considering it has a ton of good ingredients in it for her. Maybe she will regain some strength and feel better...?
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 18, 2019 11:42:43 GMT
A small update today. I am getting the impression she is not getting better. She also looks tired and somewhat weak imho. No clue what else I can do to improve things unfortunately. Past Friday late in the evening she was moving around in the terrarium. So I was a bit more positive about the situation... However the last 2 days she didn't move around anymore and she is staying on the same place. I took a few new pictures which shows the issue with her mouth more clearly: The complete album with all pictures I took can be found here: imgur.com/a/goSMh7WSo it doesn't look very well. And here is a picture of how "tired" she looks and how she sleeps: I wish I could do something to improve things, but other then the things I have tried so far, I am pretty clueless. I am really doing my utmost best to get her back healthy, but things are looking desperate at the moment. Sigh. I will give her a new bath this evening with chamomile / camomile tea and bee polls. After that I will put her in mashed food (apple, sweet potato, zucchini and a little scraped sepia over it). Maybe, just maybe (doubt it) she will try to eat, otherwise a little bit will probably be absorbed by her foot. Later in the evening I will apply some new castor oil on her mouth. Though I don't it helps much. That or I am using the wrong castor oil or applying it incorrectly. Really no clue. I sincerely hope she will pull through, but her condition is getting worse. At the beginning of this month (February) she was eating some apple, but after a week or so she stopped doing that and she hasn't been eating at all anymore. Really sad... I will post some news in a few days and hopefully something more positive (crossing fingers). //edit I am even considering a human medicine called Iberogast at the moment. I have no clue if it works or if it's harmful for Ovi, but at this moment I am considering everything to be honest. In case you are wondering here is the product itself: www.iberogast.com.au/en/iberogast/And here is the leaflet with all contents of this medicine: www.iberogast.com.au/en/infocentre/leaflet/As you can see the main contents are various herbs. The only "downside" is that it has quite a high amount of alcohol in it (The medicine contains 29.5 – 32.6 vol.% alcohol). I will wait a few more days, maybe etana will reply to my thread. Or maybe someone else with some experience has an idea? Regards
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 13, 2019 12:20:43 GMT
Update: Ovi is still the same sorta. Her mouth is doing okay; hasn't been as worse as the picture in my 2nd post luckily. Still looks a bit weird. Unfortunately she is still not eating. I will try again this evening with some mashed vegetables and/or fruit. If she doesn't eat, I will put her on the food. Maybe she will get something iside through absorption through her foot. Yesterday evening I gave her a bad with chamomile / camomile tea and bee polls in it. She didn't think much of it. I also put my other GALS in it (the ones who wanted that is). I skipped giving her a mouth rub of castor oil yesterday. Will do it maybe this evening again after/if she has eaten. Will try to update the situation every now and then. Hopefully she will pull through. I took a picture of her yesterday, however you don't see her mouth very well, but that can also be something positive ofcourse. Here is the picture of Ovi yesterday:
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 12, 2019 9:24:48 GMT
Yeah, I already did rad most topics on Gut Extrusion and as I mentioned in my first post, I already have some experience with this in general. Anyways, I am applying castor oil on a daily basis. It hasn't been as bad as in my last picture I took / uploaded (thank God).
Her mouth is "okay", it's not as bad anymore, but still not fully normal. It seems there is tiny lump on her mouth; I don't think it's normal. But then again it was worst past week or so.
I was hoping etana would have come online, but she hasn't been online for quite some while unfortunately (Last Online: Jun 27, 2018 at 10:09am). I hope nothing happened to her? She was a very, very reliable source of information. I even send her 2 private messages and I am hoping they will arrive to her mailbox... But I doubt it.
Anyways, Ovi is doing a (little) bit better; her mouth is looking somewhat normal, but she still has some weird behaviour (looking tired). She does not eat. I tried everything even mashing the food with water so it's easier to eat. I am guessing her mouth is hurtng. Who knows.
The night before yesterday, she was active and moving around the glass. Yesterday evening not so active (looked very tired). And this morning she was active again.
I will have chamomile / camomile tea. I also read this might help. As you can see I am trying every thing. I already lost one GALS December (who had been ill for various months) and I am not going to lose a nother one; I am really doing the best I can...
Regards
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 9, 2019 7:21:35 GMT
Well, I received the castor oil as mentioned in my last post. And I rub it gently on her mouth (she doesn't mind touching it).
But I am not noticing any improvements, though it hasn't got the same / or worse as in my last picture (which was really bad).
Will keep applying castor oil on her mouth area gently.
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 6, 2019 20:10:12 GMT
Okay after my above post, I took Ovi downstairs give her a shower and hold her on my hand. She came out the first and got a similar look as above (not that bad though). After a while she went inside. About 10 or 20 minutes later she came out and she was suddenly pretty "bad" imho. This is the first time she was like the pictures below. Below is one picture, the rest is in this album here: imgur.com/a/hWmdN65Please advice. I think I will order the first Castor Oil (https://www.castorolie.nl/biologische-castor-olie-250ml.html) so I have it at home tomorrow already. I hope to hear back from someone soon! Thanks. Reagrds, Michel
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 6, 2019 19:19:14 GMT
Hi all, About early January (2019) I started to have some problems with one my "older" GALS, which is an Archachatina Marginata Ovum (albino). She's called Ovi. I have had her from day one and I think she is almost 3 years now. She never gave me issues, except for some weird shell grow, but seems to have become stable during the last year. Ovi is my biggest GALS. I completely adore her, though she is pretty shy, which is pretty normal for species as far as I understand. Anyways, back on track. Early January she started to have mouth issues / problems. I took a lot of pictures between then and now, so hopefully someone find them useful and can provide some advice with this. The full album is available on imgur here: imgur.com/a/o3I04W9Here are 3 pictures which shows the issue pretty clearly (I hope the images work, but also be sure to check the full album above). I did read etana 's excellent post and information on " Gut Extrusion" and though Ovi does not have any form of gut extrusion, I am still worried. I do have have GALS which had that before, but apparently that was caused by poor quality ground hemp. Which was my best bet, as better quality I purchased elsewhere did not result into gut extrusion. Here is the original thread about what I experienced with this "bad" quality hemp (was for catching fish): original threadAnyways, since I changed hemp this didn't occur anymore for the past few months with any of the snails. Weirdly Ovi never suffered from this, also not with the (as I call it) "bad" quality hemp. Only the other GALS suffered from it (every time). Anyways, back to the current issue... I have no clue what is wrong with Ovi. It happens every day and though her mouth looks extremely abnormal (she never had this before this January) she eats "normal" (no sweet potato though and imho only softer foods), she poops normal and is mainly "active" during the night. When she is moving around she is pretty normal. However I do get the feeling that her head is shrinking a little and/or getting weaker/softer, BUT not completely sure about this. So this is a wild guess.... Anyways, I read the excellent topic about "Gut Extrusion" from etana. And I also noticed the following and I quote: "I'm going with a wild guess that there is a some kind of inflammation, and rub castor oil on his skin." In the next few days the results, as described by etana, are very good and positive. So I am eagerly to try this out as well. However, I am obviously going to make sure that I get the right product and applying it correctly and thus not "poisoning" the snail. Because what I read about "castor oil" (or also called "wonder oil", if I am not mistaken) is that it's not that healthy when taking it orally (at least for humans, though some say it also helps with congestion). So this is why I am a bit worried. So I hope anyone with some experience with castor oil (maybe etana) can provide some answers to my questions. My first question is; which of the following ones should be safe for Ovi? - www.castorolie.nl/biologische-castor-olie-250ml.html (Organic Castor oil cold pressed) - www.chi.nl/castor-olie-eko.html (Castor oil, organic) - www.lekkerinmnvel.nl/wonderolie (Castor oil French (Ricinus)) - www.heelbewust.com/natural-lifestyle/aroma/plantaardige-olien/bio-ricinusolie (Organic Castor Oil (Ricinus Communis)) I have no clue which one to take...? I sincerely don't care about the costs, I just want what's best for Ovi....! My 2nd question, which didn't become clear after reading etana's topic is how and where to apply the castor oil on the GALS. 1. Do you need to mix it with water or use it pure? 2. Do you apply it on the mouth? 3. How many times should I do this? 4. Will it be harmful for my GALS? Sorry for all the questions but I want to be as well informed as possible. And hopefully someone can give some advice and or help. If you need any other information, details or whatsoever. Please let me know!! I hope this topic will help others also. Regards, Michel
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Jan 8, 2019 18:46:17 GMT
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Sept 11, 2018 13:09:32 GMT
Sorry for the (very) late reply. I had some family issues and completely forgot about this thread. First off; all the snails are doing still great! So my "treatment" worked well. I doubt it has to do anything with the substrate to be honest. In the early days I did replace everything, nowadays I am keeping 30% and refill it with new substrate (same brand). Since I never feeded my GALS the snail mix (since I posted the above) the issue didn't happen again. So I am thinking it some ingredient I have used in the snail mix and I really think it was the hemp seeds I bought (at a fishing shop). I am going to completely re-order everything and redo the snailmix. I will create a new mix (everything bought from a health shop this time) out of: - Hemp seed with shell (biological) - Sunflower seeds - Ground oats - Pumpkin seeds - Calcium carbonate (not much) * * Calcium carbonate (consumer grade) which I also use to mix a few cups with substrate in my tank (I read it somewhere on Germans GALS forum). If interested this is what I am using: diacleanshop.com/calciumcarbonat-23I never used "Chicken mash" as I really have no clue which one I should purchase in the Netherlands. So I am hoping, when I create a new mix, that it was indeed some older ingredient which caused the issues (my bet is the hemp seed from the fishing shop). Sorry once again for the (very) late reply...! Regards, Michel //edit These are the items I have ordered for the next snail mix: - Hemp seed: www.denotenshop.nl/hennepzaad-heel-biologische.html- Sunflower seed: www.denotenshop.nl/zonnebloempitten.html- Pumpkin seed: www.denotenshop.nl/pompoenpitten.html- Ground oats: www.denotenshop.nl/de-halm-haverzemelen-500-gram.html(sorry for everything being in Dutch, but those are the products I ordered for my new snailmix; hopefully I ordered the correct stuff)
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on May 8, 2018 7:28:17 GMT
Hi all, Been a time since I posted anything on the forum, but still active (15 gals). Pre-warning!! The pictures (below) are NOT nice to see. In the end the two gals are fine, but still...Since the following happened again, after feeding my gals the mentioned snail mix (http://www.petsnails.co.uk/documents/snail-mix.html) some snails experienced "Gut Extrusion". I don't feed them a lot of time the snail mix, only on occasion and foremost only when I clean the tank completely (and replace the cocopeat). The first time it happened was about 3 months ago or so. Only one snail experienced "Gut Extrusion". After doing a long search on the forum, I thought I should put the gal in the freezer. Then suddenly I noticed a topic (not etana's though, only saw that one just today) where someone punctured the "gut" and tried to push back everything gently with a cotton swab. Luckily this worked and the gal was perfectly fine afterwards...! Last weekend I decided to clean the tank again and replace the cocopeat again with fresh one. I also decided to give them the snail mix again. For some reason I thought the crushed oyster shells were the issue, so I left that out and replaced it with calcium powder (for consumption) to add the calcium to the snailmix. Anyways, I started cleaning the tank and almost all gals were eating happily... After a few minutes I decided to take a quick look if they were still in their place (you know gals, if they don't eat, they start moving). At this point everything was just fine. So I continued cleaning. Then after a while I came back and I noticed some of them had weird looking mouths (it looked like it was swollen). Due to my previous experience with "Gut Extrusion" I knew this was a starting sign (early beginning) of possible gut extrusion. Most of them were also done with eating. Several of them had "swollen" mouths, not all. The adults (3 of them) didn't have any issues. Also my biggest gal, who had the snailmix several times, never experienced this (and she eats a lot of the snailmix). Only some of the "younger" ones (6 or 7 months old) experience this. I am not sure if it happened to the same one(s) before. It's hard to tell which one is which (especially after the time which has passed in between). So I stopped cleaning the tank and watched them. Obviously I also took pictures of everything (not a nice sight). The last time, only one had "gut extrusion", now suddenly two had this issue. One is a bit bigger, the other one a little smaller. Anyways, I did the exact same thing as last time. I used a clean needle (my girlfriend has a beauty salon, so she has sterile needles). I punctured their gut gently (semi dark/bluish liquid squirted out). The gut decreased in size and the gal went inside. One was normal in about 15 - 20 minutes. The other one took quite some longer. I even had to puncture his gut a second time. FYI: I am no expert, but I don't think it hurts them that much. I think the gut extrusion "hurts" them more, than gently pushing a needle in their gut. But again; I am no expect and it's really hard to tell. So this gal, as mentioned above, took quite some more time to get his gut back. So I forced him to go back in his shell, by gently pushing him. He went almost completely in his shell. In the meantime I gently pet his side. After a while he came out of his shell and everything was back again...! He was a bit scared for the rest of the day, scared for being touched and almost reacted to everything (straigth back into his shell). In the evening I decided to give him some extra gentle attention. Luckily after this he was less scared (and now he is even normal again). Yesterday I gave all my gals fresh food. And they all were eating (also the gals who had the gut extrusion). It's great to see that these little great animals can overcome such things obviously. I don't think I would manage / survive this faith... Since this is the 2nd time this is happening after feeding them the snailmix, I am wondering if I should give the "little" ones this snailmix. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I followed everything to the letter. Even tried giving them the snailmix without the crushed oysters. Didn't make any kind of difference. Maybe the hemp seeds I purchased are not so healthy? But then again, why do the 3 big gals don't experience this...? It seems only to happen to the "little" ones (they aren't that little anymore after 6 or 7 months, but that's how I call them for the time being). All are growing well and they only experience this gut extrusion after the snailmix. Whatever else I feed them (yolk, courgette, pumpkin, watermelon, etc. etc. etc.) they don't experience this. Just and only with the snailmix... They even eat sepia like crazy and they are growing good (very big row of new shell in a few days). I am pretty clueless what is causing this. As mentioned, I took several pictures to give you an idea what happens when they get the snailmix. One time can be a coincidence, but not twice in a row... Warning!! The pictures are NOT nice to see. In the end the two gals are fine, but still...Here several of the "little" ones are enjoying the snailmix (they love it) Enjoying the snailmixAfter a while some of the "little" ones get swollen mouths (as I describe it) Swollen mouthsGut extrusion one of the gals Gut extrusion #1Another shot of gut extrusion Gut extrusion #2Picture gut extrusion from above Picture from aboveTwo gals with gut extrusion Two gals with gut extrusionAnother gut extrusion close-up Gut extrusion close-upIn the end everything was luckily good Back to normal gal #1Back to normal gal #2So hopefully someone can give some insight. I am starting to think it might be the hemp seeds. But then again, why don't all gals experience this? The hemp seeds I purchased are normally used for fishing? I purchased something like this: example hemp seed. This is not the exact one I purchased, but similar. I cannot discover anything bad with it? Thank you for your time and reading this. Maybe I will never get an answer, but it might help someone else... Please keep in mind; gut extrusion does NOT mean you gal will die. You will have to act fast though ofcourse! Please also take a look at these useful stories on the forum: - This was the original post which helped me the first time with gut extrusion- Etana's notes on gut extrusion (only noticed this today)
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 20, 2017 20:05:43 GMT
My Ovum has the same problem. I took a picture of her just now. It looked the same as the topic starter's snail approx. 2 weeks earlier. Now it has some white on it (which cannot be washed of). I am guessing it's repairing itself?? Picture here (front snail obviously): shell picture (front) snailOr copy paste this in your browser: imgur.com/a/Tzqj1 Sidenote; I doubt it's a calcium issue, she eats enough cuttlebone. Though I will receive Oyster powder later this week. Maybe add some to her food?? Thank you for taking an interest.
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 20, 2017 19:06:12 GMT
Thank you for responding HelixPomatia; I already ordered the powder. It made more sense. I also have cuttlebone, but wanted also something else. I also made some limestome bricks. ...but I wanted the Oyster powder for my the Snail Mix. Though one of the snails don't like it.
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 20, 2017 13:58:48 GMT
Thanks!
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 16, 2017 20:15:42 GMT
Well I do have a new snail now, the same as Slakkie was though he is NO replacement. Slakkie was special, just lik the new fellow, which is called Ollie. I hope he will live quite a bit longer. I still have no clue on what happened to Slakkie, but I did want to post a few more pictures about his "state". The picture links below were taken a day before he passed away. Warning though; the pictures are a bit nast imho. Picture 1: imgur.com/a/uL4dg Or direct link (if it works): picture 1Picture 2: imgur.com/a/z35GQ Or direct link (if it works): picture 2Picture 3: imgur.com/a/88Lc2 Or direct link (if it works): picture 3Picture 4: imgur.com/a/DFOxs Or direct link (if it works): picture 4As you can see on the pictures it was a lot of slime / goo in general... I really do hope someone can explain what happened to my beloved Slakkie. It's killing me that I don't have a clue what went wrong, or <gasps> that I may have done something wrong.... I certainly hope not. On a sidenote; I am going to clean his shell (no clue how yet) and fill it with something so his shell won't break or anything and keep it somewhere special or put it in the tank also... Thank you for your replies and kind answers.... Regards, Michel
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 15, 2017 12:49:42 GMT
Sorry for bumping this thread and being (kinda) impatient, but I want to make sure I purchase the correct stuff and defintely not hurting my snails... ...I already lost one. So... As mentioned in my post above I have two options in regards to "crushed" oyster shells. Option 1: grinded (or grit) oyster shells: Option 2: grinded to dust / powder oyster shells: I have no clue which one; the grinded one, with pieces look too hard for snails? ...and what about salt (levels) with these shells? I already bought the wrong oats... Translating stuff from English to Dutch doesn't work always that great. Apparently when you search for the Dutch word for 'oats' (= haver) you get the oat in it's original form? Like this: While I needed oat which is more flakey and/or bran like, like this: Thank you all so kindly for answering and sorry once again for being impatient.... Regards, Michel
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 14, 2017 10:08:56 GMT
Hi people, I am preparing the snail mix as mentioned on the website, however I need some advice on this. So far I have been giving my snail cuttlefish bone. However I have read that crushed oyster shells are better. Now I have found 2 different shops who can deliver this overhere in the Netherlands: 1. www.basboilieshop.nl/Gemalen-oesterschelpen-(oestergrit)This is more oyster grit. 2. www.tkboilies.nl/winkel/tks-ingredienten/tks-oesterschelpen-gemalen/This is more grinded oysters. Notice: in case the links do not work, because of the forum, just copy and paste them in your webbrowser.Are both fine for the use with snail mix, or is one better than the other? And doesn't oyster grit contain salt naturally, or am I being a bit over worried here? ...sorry for the dumb questions.
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 13, 2017 9:21:13 GMT
Hi etana, I appreciate your kind words. Slakkie passed away yesterday evening (around 23:00) . I put Slakkie in a smaller curver box in my original tank. So Ovi could "say" her goodbyes, but I already think she done that the day before (she was laying next to Slakkie). I did leave the curver box open for some air, don't know why though. This morning I checked again and even used a cotton swab with water to see if Slakkie responded to it, but nothing. So I am pretty sure he passed away. I still cannot understand it all. He was really doing fine, eating was a bit of an issue, as he wasn't a big eater and not every day (unlike Ovi), but when I feed him snailsticks, he would always eat. Got a great timelapse him eating a snailstick. It went all downhill Wednesday all of the sudden. I didn't know at the time, because I thought he was just having one his moments. It only made sense Thursday (or Friday) evening when he was really deeply retracted (well not as deep as he was when he died). I can take some comfort in your explanation though. I certainly hope that was the issue, because I really would like to think I made his life better and it wasn't caused by me. As you said and I quote "uncomfortable looking positions in their shells". This happened to Slakkie a lot of times. Ovi never had this behaviour. My GF said maybe he is just kinda weird, but I told her that it didn't look normal or natural. Also you said they will stop growing. I must admit; I thought his body actually did grow, but his shell (after looking back on some earlier pictures) had hardly grown in the past few months since I had him. Where Ovi's shell clearly grew when comparing shell "drawings". I didn't give it much thought then. Slakkie seemed happy though. I still think and I quote "A snail pushing the edge of his shell with his face is pretty normal, if I understand you correctly." wasn't normal, but then again I could also be mistaken of (more probably) my explanation was a bit off. When Slakkie did this, is also didn't look natural. Ovi never does this and it's really hard to explain. I will give it one try more again; Slakkie would push his "foot" outside and it would look like it was bending and then after some pushing his head would come from underneath his shell. It just looked off, it didn't happen much, but still it happened sometimes, same with his really weird positions. When he was in a weird (and very unatural) position) it took him some time to get normal again (in the end he always got normal again). He died not completely shrinken, but I think his organs, heart or whatever just stopped. He died as he was in the state in the first picture I posted (http://imgur.com/a/K6eZF). I still cannot comprehend that he went downhill so fast... It saddens me even more that I only could enjoy him for less than 4 months. He was so sweet... Once again thank you etana, for your kind words and explanation. I really take comfort out of it! Here was my last picture (2nd of February) of Slakkie (bottom) together with Ovi: imgur.com/4w2hT35Here is one more cute one (mid-Janaury) of Slakkie (left side): imgur.com/QipfJVIAnd this is my new background, which is one of my favourites (Slakkie in the fron), when I just cleaned and redid their tank (7th of January): imgur.com/a/a6pEa(the image links are not working as it should; instead of clicking on it, copy and paste the links into your browser...) I will do a forum search on how to clean the house of Slakkie, so I put something inside it (to fortify his shell a bit more) and place it bank in the tank as a reminder. Don't know if that sounds silly though... Thanks again. Regards, Michel
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michel
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 25
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Post by michel on Feb 12, 2017 19:13:52 GMT
Well, first off; excellent useful and informative website/forum. I already read several posts as of yesterday...! I only recently started with my two snails (mid-October). The first one I bought is a Achatina fulica white jade (Slakkie). And 2 weeks later I also bought an Archachatina marginata ovum albino body (Ovi). Ovi is the shy one, but great eater. And Slakkie is the more active one, however from time to time a bad eater. He does eat snailsticks, about 2 or 3 at a time, but only when I hold them partially. He loves cucumber, but I stopped with that because they aren't very nutritious. Instead I give them zucchini which is Ovi's favourite and Slakkie only eats it sometimes (but he eats it). Slakkie also loves to give "kisses" as I call it. It might sound silly, but... Anyways, Wednesday I noticed Slakkie was acting a bit differently, more scared than normally. But I didn't give it much attention, after all it's animal. From there it went kinda downhill. After Wednesday he didn't came out his house anymore at all. He was inside is house all the time. Even when I rubbed him gently (normally he would always come out his house if I did that)... At that moment I thought; maybe he isn't feeling well, could be, we humans also have a few bad days. However on Friday it got even worse. He was fully retracted into his house, not as bad as now, but still very retracted (more than normally). Now (Sunday) it's not much anymore. He looks kinda dried up, small, but is still alive... I don't know if this is humane or not, but I willing to fight for every single second. Maybe it's silly or stupid. But I don't want him to be in pain. I just looked now again into his shell and you really have to look very good inside to see him... A few minutes before that, you could see his "foot" (I don't know the English word for it). Shaped in a 'V' and when I touched it (gently ofcourse) he retracted himself. Obviously with a lot of squishy sounds. Maybe I am crazy, but I think I also some white goo here in there and other goo stuff. In the meantime I already had discovered this wonderful site and forum and I started to read about the "Deep Retraction Syndrome". I guess Slakkie has this, well, I am pretty sure now. As Slakkie is also an "Achatina"-species. Also I just smelled Slakkie and he really have a bad smell on him. I have read you can smell them when they are dead... Though he smells really bad, I still think he is "alive"... What should I do now...? I am spraying a little water every time and gave him a nice place between the moss. I am pretty sure he will die in the next few hours (hopefully sooner for him). I just don't want him to be in pain (anymore). I am really sad, because though I only had Slakkie for a few months now, I was really fond of him. Especially because he was so active and always giving "kisses". Man I now really feel weird, because typing this makes me drop a tear. And I am 37 year old adult... I also noticed something off with Slakkie, almost from the first week I bought him. He was, how we called it, kinda stupid. Not every day, but some days he was upside down in his house, I cannot explain better, but it looked nowhere near normal. But, since I don't have a lot of snail experience, I thought that it might be normal, though Ovi doesn't have this at all. Also sometimes it was looking like he was pushing his head under his house; at least it doesn't look natural. Like he was "stupid" (yeah not correct word)... Looking back at some pictures. Like one from the 4th of November. I am looking at his house, but the size is almost identical to his house now. IMHO I don't think he grew much, unlike Ovi, you can clearly see that her shell has grown quite a lot. Slakkie still is very retracted, but his "foot" is patially out (sorry if I cannot be any clearer on this). On several occasions I thought he died already, because he really does smell at the moment (as mentioned before), but still reacts when I touch him. After that he goes even further in his shell... I do spray a little water on him... No clue if it helps at all, but it does ease my mind... Note: sorry if my post seems kinda messy. Wrote this a few hours back, but my account was not approved. Also I thought Slakkie had died on me, but apparently is not (read last paragraph) and another reason is that English is not my native language... It seems so weird, a few days ago he was fine and now.... this...
/small update Here are two pictures of Slakkie. Fair warning; it doesn't look nice... First picture is how is in his shell/house after some "rest" time, here (http://imgur.com/a/K6eZF) And the 2nd picture is when gently touch him, he retracts. So, after all this time, he is still "alive" (http://imgur.com/a/GCgL2)
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