do not seem to be feeding

[aprillinda]

hi all perhaps you can help me and my 2 fulcia,
they are now approx 10 weeks old shell length about 1 cm to 1.5 cm appear to be growing but are extremely inactive and never seem to feed or wander around.
temp 25c humidty 80%
coir substrate
always asleep!!!
i have been spraying and waking them up and then putting on top of food each evening they stretch out sniff the food max 20 secs then go off to bury themselves until i fetch them back out next night
i have tried wide range of foods cucumber each night with a choice of 2 other foods banana, grated carrott,swede,tomatoe,strawberry,grape,melon,kiwi together with cuttlefish and daz's snail mix have also tried porridege and damp brown bread.
the food never seems to eaten no rasps marks the cuttlefish seems unchanged all they want to do is escape back to bury
before having the coir used capillary matting and they still did the same ie running away from food to hide under food dish
when the snails were on matting i have never seen faeces or anything that may have been faeces ( i am not sure what this looks like, much experience with children's poo and 2 irishwolf hounds poo!!! but not snails ;D)
now i have coir substrate i do not think i would notice if they have pooed much
recently added Daz's liquid calcium to spray bottle
snails are easy to wake and have not sealed themselves in just donot want to stay active for longer than 20 - 30 secs a day which does not feel right to me
looking forwards to your advice
thanks aprillinda.

[Moracai]

Hmm.
You say the temp is 25c, so I assume you have a heat mat. perhaps less humidity? Some seem to like it less humid than others. I keep my humidity lower and they like it that way. Not sure what the humidity is, but i have very little condensation on the glass. You would recognise the poo if you saw it, it is quite long and coloured whatever they have eaten.
When mine turn fussy eaters, I give them a bowl of oatmeal. Just put some in their dish, sprinkle with water and mix till it looks like pudding. Mine go nuts for it.
Sorry i can't think of anything else to help.

[aprillinda]

thanks yes i do have heat mat fairly recentently because i thought my problems were down to the fact that they were inactive because they were to cold but no improvement since the heatmat yes i could try it less humid but i have only slight condensation at present i have not seen any poo then, ? I shall try the oatmeal but as i have tried normal scottish porridge oats made with water and another time made with milk i do not think it will make a difference ,is this normal no poo for such a long time mind you i dont think this inactivity would be classed as normal i do realise from reading peoples ideas opinions etc that all snails vary but there must be a minimmum a snail needs to eat to survive at the moment when they are awake they appear to be very healthy alert fairly full bodied and well stretched out looking around then they stoplooking and run off to hide

[Moracai]

it's normal not to see them eat. They usually do their munching at night time. But you should have seen poo by now.
can't think of anything other than keep waking them and putting food in front of their faces.

[Deleted]

Have you tried feeding them lettuce?

[aprillinda]

yes have tried lettuce on several occasions still the same, none or very little interest
i thought they might be eating when i was not around but before i had the heat mat the food looked excatly the same next day no little bits missing, now with increased heat and humidity the food changes but still no bits seem missing
yes i shall continue with the waking up and putting them on or next to food
it would be great to see some poo, i would find this reasuring

[Val]

Have you tried thin slices of sweet potato? All mine seem to find this irresistable. Just keep on doing what you are doing, waking them up, putting them on the food, it sometimes takes a while before they really seem to get going, on sunny days try putting them on a plastic tray, spray them a little and then put the tray in the sunshine mine seemed to love this, often used to slime up the kitchen window.

Val

[aprillinda]

thanks for your advice
tomorrow i shall be off to buy some sweet potato
might try some for myself aswell
shall need to wash the kitchen window first !!!!

[aprillinda]

good news i have seen poo !!!!!!!!
gave them lettuce and chinese pear didnot see them eating but have the much waited for poo so they must have ate soething

[Deleted]

yay ;D it must be a great relief

[aprillinda]

just been reading over my last few messages and thought i would let you all know these snails are now getting so much bigger
i can't believe how much i worried
i do not have to put them on food anymore they practically take my hand off!
and with regards to poo its ......... everywhere!!!!

[sezzy5889]

fantastic news ;D glad they are ok!

[Val]

Brilliant!!! Isn't it nice when they start to get going and you don't have to keep worrying about them. Well done!!

Val

[Moracai]

Glad to hear they are doing well.