i think my snail is ill :(

[Cashell]

Oct 27, 2013 22:32:06 GMT goroh999 said:

Bator enjoys the vitamin bath very much, today he was very confident. He wants to eat, but he is still unable to eat solid food, like lettuce or cucumber. He managed to nom some mashed dogfood (luckily, it is mainly made out of vegetables...) from my girlfriend's finger - which is way far from his normal behaviour.

He really hates the disinfectant liquid, and the treatment made him distrusful. Also, there are nos scars, so we finished treating him with that. But without the bath he would not wake up by himself.

Tomorrow I will try to make him a special cocktail.

Interestingly (and unfortunately) a lot of animals are like that... Birds included (personal experience), but I didn't know that snails also respond like that too.

[lescargot]

How is Bator doing?

[goroh999]

He is very strange. If we do not wake him up, he would sleep for weeks. Of course we don't let this.
He is still unable to eat normal food, I have to mince him grapes, cucumber and dog food. And he only eats this if we feed him.
He is unable to move. The diseased area is OK, but he misses a huge part of his foot, and I do not know whether he will regenerate this. We keep feeding him and giving him the vitamin bath, but after one or two hours he goes back to sleep. Since the disease we haven't found any excrement, which I beleive means that he should eat more.
The good thing is that he does not seem to be too weak, or sick. We hope, that he will slowly recover, until that the only thing we can do is to feed him, and care for him.

[muddydragon]

I'ld recommend keeping a weight log for him so you can keep an eye on his general condition (i.e. if he's loosing or gaining weight)

My snails went into hibernation once (faulty heatmat) and when they came out of hibernation they weren't overly keen on food and were also constipated, i found keeping a dish of water next to the heatmat helped them no end and they would bathe themselves in it (some slept in it! so i had to put enough for each snail in!) and it really helped them - once they were back to normal they stopped using them.

[lescargot]

Nov 1, 2013 11:37:32 GMT goroh999 said:

He is very strange. If we do not wake him up, he would sleep for weeks. Of course we don't let this.
He is still unable to eat normal food, I have to mince him grapes, cucumber and dog food. And he only eats this if we feed him.
He is unable to move. The diseased area is OK, but he misses a huge part of his foot, and I do not know whether he will regenerate this. We keep feeding him and giving him the vitamin bath, but after one or two hours he goes back to sleep. Since the disease we haven't found any excrement, which I beleive means that he should eat more.
The good thing is that he does not seem to be too weak, or sick. We hope, that he will slowly recover, until that the only thing we can do is to feed him, and care for him.

For as long as he eats, let him be. Hand feeding is encouraging. Bator knows he is very much loved he will recover, just little time is needed.

My vet told me when my cat lost his appetite with his illness, "no compromising on eating, hand feeding, syringe feeding, just feed him. There is no medication which replaces food" he said. So, happy to hear that he accepts to be fed

[lescargot]

Any news on Bator

[goroh999]

We were abroad for a few days, but just before leaving Bator had quite an appetite and eat almost as many as during the whole week before! Unfortunately we had to leave, and he sealed himself by the time we arrived back home yesterday.
I am not sure, whether this is good or not, but as he is still not too strong I don't want him to sleep for weeks. Today we will try some new food meshed along with the favourite dog food. I hope we will manage to wake him up.
I will be smarter tomorrow.

Thanks for inquiring about him!

[lescargot]

I am happy to hear he eats He knows without eating no chance to survive. After having good appetite he may be resting now.

I agree, better not to let him sleep for a long period of time. You know best about him.

Good luck, I hope you can wake him up

[Zorst]

Any news on how Bator is today?

Zorst

[lescargot]

I hope everything is ok

[goroh999]

We had quite an exhausting week at work, but we woke up Bator at least every second day.

The good news is that he has a good appetite once he starts eating, he has definitely put on some weight.

Unfortunately it is still not easy to wake him up, spends 15-20 minutes under the tap, and after that he still does not want to eat for a half an hour. He still won't wake up by himself, and he is still not able to eat on his own, which is very sad.

I wonder what if we let him sleep for a couple of days once he gained his strength back. Maybe it would help him to regenerate.

[Cashell]

From that description, it sounds like Bator's still fighting for its life, but still suffers from fatigue?

[lescargot]

Nov 17, 2013 18:14:35 GMT goroh999 said:

We had quite an exhausting week at work, but we woke up Bator at least every second day.

The good news is that he has a good appetite once he starts eating, he has definitely put on some weight.

Unfortunately it is still not easy to wake him up, spends 15-20 minutes under the tap, and after that he still does not want to eat for a half an hour. He still won't wake up by himself, and he is still not able to eat on his own, which is very sad.

I wonder what if we let him sleep for a couple of days once he gained his strength back. Maybe it would help him to regenerate.

Absolutely, let him sleep a little, it should help him to regenerate.!! Don't we all feel good after a good night sleep

Depending on the climate where you are, he may be hibernating. So that could be one of the reasons why it may be difficult to wake him up. It was the same thing with us. I would not worry for the time it takes to wake him up and who wants to jump on the food when being woken up

You are doing everything you can to give good care to Bator. Don't be sad please and don't expect him to be full of energy yet. It will take time to recover. He needs time.

[goroh999]

Nov 18, 2013 12:15:26 GMT lescargot said:

Absolutely, let him sleep a little, it should help him to regenerate.!! Don't we all feel good after a good night sleep

Depending on the climate where you are, he may be hibernating. So that could be one of the reasons why it may be difficult to wake him up. It was the same thing with us. I would not worry for the time it takes to wake him up and who wants to jump on the food when being woken up

You are doing everything you can to give good care to Bator. Don't be sad please and don't expect him to be full of energy yet. It will take time to recover. He needs time.

I just don't want to let him sleep until he is still week. I fear that he will not wake up, as he still eats a lot less than usual. He should put on some more weight, after that I can let him sleep.

Regarding the climate: Bator is in the same room with two other snails, who are just hiperactive, they are always rearranging the interieur of the terrarium. Newerthless, I plan to buy a heat mat for them, but I really don't think that this is the problem.

[lescargot]

Nov 18, 2013 16:49:06 GMT goroh999 said:

Nov 18, 2013 12:15:26 GMT lescargot said:

Absolutely, let him sleep a little, it should help him to regenerate.!! Don't we all feel good after a good night sleep

Depending on the climate where you are, he may be hibernating. So that could be one of the reasons why it may be difficult to wake him up. It was the same thing with us. I would not worry for the time it takes to wake him up and who wants to jump on the food when being woken up

You are doing everything you can to give good care to Bator. Don't be sad please and don't expect him to be full of energy yet. It will take time to recover. He needs time.

I just don't want to let him sleep until he is still week. I fear that he will not wake up, as he still eats a lot less than usual. He should put on some more weight, after that I can let him sleep.

Regarding the climate: Bator is in the same room with two other snails, who are just hiperactive, they are always rearranging the interieur of the terrarium. Newerthless, I plan to buy a heat mat for them, but I really don't think that this is the problem.

You know how to handle Bator from what I read so far. You are one who take care of him. And you are doing very well.

From my experience with animals (not snails) cats & dogs. Currently we have two sister cats and their mother. Two girls are completely different than each other. One is super active, other one looks at you as if she is sick, but, she is not. Unless Bator was as active as the others before. He is still ill, he needs time. I really hope he will recover. Even if he doesn't completely recover, he can continue his life under your care for as long as he doesn't suffer of course.

[goroh999]

Just a short update: Bator is slowly recovering. It is still not easy to wake him up, but we manage. He has a good appetite, although he still has problems with eating on his own. Last week he started to dring the juice of the meshed grape, and yesterday he tried to eat alone. We start to beleive that he got used to the feeding and he is just too lazy
Also, he is remarkably heavier than after his surgery.
We are very optimistic and hope that in weeks he will start to use his foot again.

[Cashell]

The fact that it's been eating is what has kept it alive. Glad to hear the progress.

[muddydragon]

as long as he's getting heavier it all sounds good!

[lescargot]

Great news I am very happy to hear it. Bator is a superman

Thank you for the update.!

[goroh999]

Breaking news!
6 weeks elapsed since the surgery, and today is the first evening when Bator woke up by himself. Absolutely no bathing, no food, no touching, he waited us in his small compartment for the usual dinner. Also, he is more ware showing way more interest for the surroundings than before.
So far he ate only meshed grape with meshed dog food, but by now he is totally fed up with that stuff and started to eat banana (which was NEVER on his list in the last 7 years ). Warm vitamin bathing is still fun for him.
Hopefully in weeks he will be able to eat normal salad and cucumber too.

[muddydragon]

This is excellent news! so glad he's doing better

[lescargot]

I don't get off the forum without checking on Bator.. And this evening, wonderful news on Bator's well being Congratulations .!

[Cashell]

You guys have been phenomenal snail doctors! Patience and persistance is key to a full recovery. Glad to hear the wonderful news.

[goroh999]

It has been a while...
Bator is still separated, but I intend to give him a bigger box. The menu is the same, and he still doesn't wake up without any help.
A few days ago we left him alone with the food after getting tired of holding him and feeding him like a baby. Bator just stood there in his small pool with a sad face staring at the short - yet so huge - distance between him and the banana. But after a few minutes he got bored and started to moove. Yes, he started to use his feet like a real snail.
So we will give him a bigger box to have enough space to run around, and we are also having a small renuion with the other snails at the weekend.

[muddydragon]

that's great news! sounds like he just needs pushing a bit. He could also be getting lazy, i had one snail who just pretty much sat in the same place most of the time once he figured out where the easiest to access food went. he slept there, he ate there, he mated there he laid his eggs there. you get the picture