Very poorly snail - diagnosis please

[sazbean]

Hi All,

Apologies if the answer to this is somewhere else, I couldn't easily find it.

Both my fullicas haven't been eating lately and haven't been coming out for anything, they've both gone really weak and brown and skinny-looking. Their mucus has been really dry and sticky. I managed to get one of them to come out onto my hand and he came right out, and was holding his shell up away from his body. He would lift himself up then let out a load of air and his shell would sink back down a bit then he'd do it again. I don't know if snails can feel pain but if they can I think this is what it would look like. I sprayed him with water in case he was dehydrated but he ran back inside his shell and wouldn't come out again. The inside-muscle (can't remember what it's called!) wasn't sticking out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I think I'll need to do something quite urgently if they're going to survive.

Thanks,

Saz

[coyote]

Hi sazbean, welcome to the forum. I'm so sorry about your snails. The behavior you described about the shell doesn't sound normal to me. Do you about how old they are? (Thinking it might be old age catching up with them.) Has anything else changed -- tank temperature / humidity / substrate, food, new tankmates, etc.?

Also, sometimes our snails become ill for reasons no one really understands, and there is little that can be done in such cases. I hope your snails improve, and please give us an update on how they are doing.

[sazbean]

Thanks for the swift reply. They were only bought from the pet shop in the summer, I understand they're 1-2 years old so I don't think it's old age. It could be to do with it turning colder, I don't have a heat mat for them so took to holding them near the heater for a few minutes every day, maybe that did it. They're still really dry but the bigger one came out and had a big drink and a little piece of mushroom, the first thing I've seen it eat in days. He was still doing the huffing/coughing thing. He was turning round quite a lot as though he was trying to eat his shell. He then tucked just his head in (forgot to retract his antennae, looked kinda weird) and has left his body out. Still definitely not very well!

[coyote]

Fulicas are going to need a heat mat during the colder months. They are native to a tropical climate and need hot and humid conditions. They cannot survive cooler temperatures. I'm afraid your snails aren't going to do well at all without keeping their tank warm all the time. If you can get a heat mat set up they will probably come around, but it's best not to delay and get it done as soon as possible.