Whats wrong with my snails?!

[snailywaily]

Over the last few months, some of my snails have kept trying to go into hibernation (they seal up), I always wake them up gently and they eat, but after 2 days, they seal up again!

Originally it was always my 2 new margies (who I got from BugzUK......) and 2 of the Blondes, but now its just 1 blonde and the smaller Margie. The blonde wakes up (ie. comes out of its sealed up shell and begins eating) pretty quickly but the Margie takes ages! Its just taken me an hour and a half of trying to warm him up enough for him to come out! He has eventually come out but seems very shy and I dont catch him eating very often.

I dont know whats wrong with them! All of these snails are in one huge container with the 3 adult Fulica. They are on decent compost which is always dampish (ie. never dry), they have 3 cuttlefish bones, regular changing food, a big dish of shallow water and lots of pots etc. All the rest seem happy except these 2!

I thought maybe they're too cold or dry/wet etc. but then surely all of them would try to hibernate?!

Any ideas?

[section8angel]

My blondes and margies like their tank much wetter than my other species.
What temp is their tank at? Mine are at 21/22C now the weather is a bit colder but they're all still fine.
Try spraying them more often and see if that helps. If it does then it was probably aestivation not hibernation.

The only thing with spraying them more is that the fulica probably wont like it at all. fulica like it drier than other species so you might have to move the fulica out, or move out the blondes and margies.

They wouldn't all necessarily seal themselves, my biggest margie will seal himself randomly when all the others snails are fine lol.
Also, some margies are just slow and shy (my big one is anyway!) He takes ages just to move a cm and even longer to come out and say hello so I wouldn't be too worried about yours.

I'm a little confused though, you say margies but in your sig it doesn't say about any?
I think tigers like it pretty wet as well though, so the spraying more might still help

[snailywaily]

Yeah - unfortunately I bought what I thought was "Tigers" from bugzUK but actually after coming on this forum, they turned out to be Margies...... Haven't bothered to change the sig yet!

Their container used to sit on a landing on my stairwell (so I could look in on them in passing all the time!) where they have been fine up til now. I have just moved them to my bedroom which is probably the warmest place in the house (and we keep our house pretty warm). I have taken out the specific Blonde and Margie who are sealing up and put them in a pot near our AGA (not too close of course) which is definately warm. The margie has NOT gone back into his shell so maybe he was too cold? But the Blonde has, but then it began sealing up as soon as Id woken him up and he'd eaten last time. Ive decided to leave the Blonde for a few days to let it get hibernation out of its system!!

Yeah, I did think maybe it was the moisture issue. I know Fulica like it drier than the others, its just impractical moving them! And I do use really decent compost which is never dry (its always dampish) and they have access to a big bowl of clean water - so I just hoped the Blondes and Margies would go in there if they felt dry.

Are Margies shier than other species? Ive noticed when handling mine, they shoot back into their shells quickly if scared, whereas my others are far more chilled out, even my baby fulica are braver than these Margies!

[section8angel]

Ahh I see lol.

Damp wasn't damp enough with my dimis are margies. I'd call their tank a lot more than damp lol. You have to remember though that now you've moved them to a warmer place, they will need spraying more often anyway as the compost will dry out quicker as it's warmer.

It does sound more like the temp though as they've been fine until the last few months and now you've moved them one has perked up. Maybe it's a mix of both?

As for the water bowl, I had one in with my margies and they never used it. AT ALL lol. I've heard everyone say their margies love water so put a bowl in... but noooo not mine

Yes some are quite shy. Most of the time it's more slowness than shyness, but my big margie is very shy. I would think in the end they would get used to you, but as they're hella slow it might take a while lol.

I don't really know what to suggest. Can you maybe divide their tank up somehow? So the fulica will be in the same tank, but can't get sprayed as much as the others?

The only other thing with spraying them more is that the compost might start to smell sooner? I haven't used it in ages so am not sure lol