Ill snail? Pics added

[sonicsnail]

One of my snails is acting quite strange recently. The other day, I found him on his back in the food dish. His eyes were out (rolled out on the stalks) and were all floppy. The rest of his body was out of his shell and didn't respond to much.

I placed him on his own with a bit of lettuce. For 24 hours he had been in the exact position that I left him in. It takes him about 15 minutes to move his head from side to side. Whilst a healthy snail would do this within a couple of seconds. He is acting like slower than snail speed! Almost as if he is in slow motion.

For the past 3 days I have only seen him go into his shell once. Apart from that he just sits there with his body and eyes out. He looks quite normal apart from the first floppy eyes thing. It's almost as if he hasn't got the energy to move about or do anything.

I found him on his back this morning in the food dish again. Normally snails self right themselves, but he just sits there. I think he tries to get back up but like I said all his movements are in slow motion. As if he hasn’t got the energy to move. Does anyone have any advise to what to do and why has he gone like this?

[Paul]

Sounds like the symptoms of asphyxiation although in a tank situation I can't see how that could be the case. Do you have adequate ventilation? A snails weight and body mass is dependent on moisture so I could envisage a situation where a snail in 100% relative humidity for too long could absorb too much water and loll out of the shell, perhaps even affecting movement. If you think this may be a problem, get him out on a tray or something and sit him beside you. The dry air may lower the water retention and hopefully he'll respond.

Also, there is another hypothetical scenario. It is known that snails extend from lack of air or through drowning. If the air is totally moisture saturated perhaps this is causing apshyxiation by virtue of there being too much moisture across the pulmonary veins inside the pneuomstome (this would be the equivalent of our lungs filling with water). I'm not sure if this is even possible but it seems plausible and if it is, then this would have to be corrected in the same way.

Death from pasta or millet cause blockages internally that result in water retention and again can cause over extension, slow movement and bloating. Some snails would look more severe than others depending how much they have been affected.

However, in all of the above cases you would expect to see other snails kept in the same tank, suffering similar symptoms at least in a small way and as you don't mention that it leads me to wonder if it is just a one-off, that he is ill or old or has been poisoned in some way. Any more details, size, age, how many in the tank, what they seem like etc?

[sonicsnail]

Oh he's doing it again....eyes all floppy and body out swollen and just sitting there. The ventilation is sufficient, I have over 430 holes in the lid. No other snail seems to be suffering from the same symptoms. He's not that old....Well he looks younger than what he is. This is because he is refusing to eat cuttlefish and thus, his shell isn't growing. He had a nice shell until he stopped growing. I spray the tank every day to every other day. The only thing I can think of, is that the room can get quite cold at night. This does explain why other snails aren't that active. But none of them seem to be acting as this snail is....

[Paul]

The only thing you can do is experiment. If you think it is the cold, try keeping him somewhere warm to see how he responds or give him a warm bath. It'd be worth buying a min/max thermometer. They cost about £1-2 and that'll help you find out just how cold your room gets over the course of the night.

It'd be really helpful to see pictures if you can get some. I think you need to get him out of the tank environment for a while, to a warm, dryer room to see what happens. At the very least a dry room should prompt some action from him, if only to retract.

Is there anything else unusual about him, sores or blisters on the feet, anything to indicate infection or chemical "burning"?

I'm sorry I can't help more, I think the only thing to do is try various conditions to see if he responds.

[sonicsnail]

Ok pics coming up a.s.a.p.

[sonicsnail]

Ok here are some pics...Sorry if they are not as clear as they could be.

He is looking kind of normal now, I took him out of the tank and he became a bit more active. Lets hope that he doesn't do his floppy act thing again. This is him atm.

What's the white mucus stuff??

[Paul]

I can't really make out anything from the pictures. The stringy bits just look like normal congealed mucus to me. If he has been overproducing mucus that would explain why it has built up so quickly.

If he responded to being out of the tank and is looking more normal perhaps there is something in that.

[sonicsnail]

It's always the way isn't it...When ever I want to take pics of how he was he suddenly looks back to normal. He still stays in the same position for ages though....When I said he's a bit more active, I was meaning that it no longer takes him 15 mins to move, only 10 mins now. Still a long time just to move his head. Paul, when you say that you can't make anything from the pictures, is that because you can't see anything wrong with him, or that they could be of a better quality?

The pictures don't do him any credit towards his shell. It is much nicer than that, until the latest part of his shell, where it stops and starts growth.

[Paul]

sonicsnail said:

Paul, when you say that you can't make anything from the pictures, is that because you can't see anything wrong with him, or that they could be of a better quality?

Well both really... I tarted the pic up to get a better look at it:



He actually looks the opposite of bloated to me, like more wrinkly than normal. The mucus does look excessive, give him a good clean, peel the congealed bits off and see how quick it builds up. It could be as simple as a defensive reaction by the snail because it is ill and is being handled a lot. Just persevere, try and get bathed and eating because in my opinion eating is the major factor. If a snail is still eating then I don't think you have too much to worry about.

I have a few snails with that shell problem, yet they eat plenty of calcium, and other snails in the tank don't suffer the problem. I was chatting to Raphael from Achatinidae.com. He was saying that he's had many similar problems and regardless of what he does to try and correct it, nothing improves it. It would seem to be a dietary or environmental problem beyond our control or a genetic deficiency. That doesn't mean we should stop trying though, but it's not something exclusive to you.

[sonicsnail]

So...do you think he looks underweight?? The picture is misleading for when he used to fully come out of his shell he would look a normal length. Currently, he is on a piece of orange. (Only because I put him there, he didn't move to it.) He is once again in slow motion. His mouth isn't moving as snails mouths do when you see them eating. He is just sitting there not moving at all.....as is frozen in time.

[sonicsnail]

Ok I think he is going to die...he's deeply retracted. If he does die that would mean 3 snails have died in the past month! I'm so unlucky, the month is meant to be happy, it's going to be Christmas soon. I hope he doesn't die...

[pixie]

keep your fingers crossed! don't worry it sounds as though it's not your fault so don't blame yourself
what type of snail is the poorly one?

[sonicsnail]

The one in the picture is poorly, I think he is a fulica.

[pixie]

yep looks like one, just has nice stripes so i wasn't sure. I hope it gets better!

[sonicsnail]

pixie said:

I hope it gets better!

That’s no longer a possibility.

[LisaLQ]

Awww no I'm so sorry