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Post by kenjiman on May 22, 2011 2:04:19 GMT
It seems as if my snail is getting rid of its shell, tossing it to and fro. Is this normal, or am I picking it up wrong? (Sometimes I'll pick it up by its shell. Please help. P.S. What do you think I should name him? I got him yesterday.
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on May 22, 2011 5:42:05 GMT
Hi kenjiman, welcome to the forum. It's not a good idea to pick up a snail by its shell. See here for how to handle a snail. What kind of snail is he? That may help figuring out a good name for him.
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Post by kenjiman on May 22, 2011 7:31:54 GMT
Thank you for the advice on picking it up. Also, I don't know what to call it. I found it in my garden, it's brown, and it's big.
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Amy
Achatina achatina
Posts: 43
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Post by Amy on May 22, 2011 13:48:14 GMT
CALL IT JIM
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Post by pickalilly on May 22, 2011 17:12:41 GMT
Henry?
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Post by ness on May 22, 2011 19:56:12 GMT
Hiya and welcome How do you mean by tossing the shell too and fro? Snails move their bodies around as they crawl - as in their bodies will move and sometimes turn in one direction and then their shells will 'catch up' and this can look like the snail is twisting it's shell around. Sometimes the shell-twist can look fairly fast too. Is this what you are seeing? This is completely normal. The snail moves, the shell catches up, the snail moves, the shell catches up..... and so it goes. If the snail became completely detatched from it's shell it would die. It would be a slow death, but it would definitely die. Partial detatchment can also cause a slow death if the snail is not able to heal itself. Picking the snail up by the shell is often ok IF the snail is simply sitting on some soil, but if the snail is stuck to something such as the tank-side, a branch or anything else the snail will use it's suction to hold on and try to resist being picked up. This can cause the body to rip or detatch from the shell, usually just a bit, but it can be enough to be fatal. If you need to remove your snail from the tank-side and do not have the time to wait for it to crawl onto something else then the method I use is to nudge the snails's body until it lets go and then it can be safely picked up without without any pull. Hope that helps
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