Help - Stepped on a cepaea hortensis

[bustermx]

Hi there!

I know nothing about snails but I am an animal lover. I just stepped on a cepaea hortensis in the garden and the shell is completely crushed but the little fellow is still alive, what can I do? Can I take him in and nurse him back to to health or is it too serious? I would be very appreciative for any advice.

Best Anneli

[bustermx]

Hi again!

I have now taken him in and he lives in a little plastic container and I put a stone, some cloves and moisted it a bit with water. Is this a good thing? He is very active and moves alot so perhaps he would be better off outside. Appreciative for any advice on the matter.

/Anneli

[coyote]

Hi Anneli, welcome to the forum. Sorry about the snail. It's good for you to try to help it, but a completely crushed shell is going to be very difficult to heal. The snail will need lots of calcium to rebuild the shell and other kinds of specialized care, and even an experienced snail keeper might not be able to save it. Based on your post, I would say it is a very serious accident, and if it were me in that situation, I would probably euthanize the snail by putting its container directly into the freezer and leaving it there for a day.

There is no guarantee that even an experienced snail keeper would be able to save such a seriously injured snail, and many if not all of us have been in the position where we have had to euthanize a snail because it was simply the best thing to do for the animal, given the circumstances.

It's good you have a kind heart and want to help the snail, but some injuries are too serious to heal, and this may very well be one of them. I'm so sorry, I wish I could give you better advice.

[bustermx]

Dear Coyote,

Thank you so much for your advise.
In the end I let him out again the next day since he just seemed like he wanted to get out. He didn't want to stay in the slightly moist green stuff or the stone I'd put out for him and he just sat by the air holes on the lid of the container seemingly wanting to get out so I let him out near to where I stepped on him. He quickly went and hid underneath one of my mother's pots and when I had a look a bit later I only saw his shell left on the ground so perhaps he'd been eaten. If I had read you reply earlier I would have done what you said. If it happens again I'll know what to do although it is sad to have to euthanize them. However, I will be extra careful where I put my feet in the future. I already make an effort not to step on them but this little fellow was in my mother's patio on a very hot and sunny day so I was really taken by surprise I heard the crushing sound underneath my foot as I was rushing out to re pot some flowers for my mother. Normally they are everywhere on rainy days but not sunny and hot days. Anyway, it was sad than nothing could be done for him, he was really cute. I am glad I found the forum though and nice to know there are people interested in having little snails as pets and caring for them. Perhaps I'll consider keeping them for the future, I know now where to find information. Again, many thanks for your advise.

Best Anneli

[coyote]

I'm so sorry about the snail, but as I said sometimes there really is nothing we can do for them. And I think almost all of us have accidentally stepped on snails; it's hard not to feel bad about it, even though it was an accident.

You're welcome to hang around here on the forum and participate if you wish. And if you ever get a pet snail, we will look forward to seeing some pics!

[bustermx]

Thanks again for the advice and I will definitely post some photos and use the forum for information if I get som little petsnails in the future!

Cheers Anneli