|
Post by shysnail on Jul 16, 2019 10:16:04 GMT
This morning, I found a lot of slime on the lid of the tank that houses my two cornu aspersums. I've never seen them produce anywhere near this much before. Picture linkAny ideas why there would be so much?
|
|
simple
Achatina achatina
Posts: 97
|
Post by simple on Jul 16, 2019 15:37:41 GMT
That's weird, my snails have the exact oposite problem, they barely produce any slime! Excess slime usually isn't something to be worried about if it doesn't happen often, but if it does, it may be because of parasites.
|
|
|
Post by GailTheSnail on Jul 19, 2019 1:58:39 GMT
They were probably mating. Is it slightly yellow / green? Any love darts nearby?
|
|
|
Post by GailTheSnail on Jul 19, 2019 1:59:56 GMT
They were probably mating. Is it slightly yellow / green? Any love darts nearby? I just saw the pic. Looks like they may have been scared by something? Kinda odd. Or they were mating. IF they look fine and are acting normal then don’t worry about it.
|
|
tony
Archachatina marginata
Posts: 24
|
Post by tony on Jul 19, 2019 2:54:19 GMT
Snails may overproduce slime when they come in contact with something that irritates them. I've read some people say they wash their hands with soap and water before handling their snails and that's a terrible idea. I'm not saying this is the case with yours, but I think this is relevant timing to point this out. Many people don't realize that after washing their hands with soap, there is still a significant amount of soap residue that has been absorbed into and onto their skin. Then people handle their snails and let them slide along their freshly washed hands, not realizing that their snail's foot is coming in contact and absorbing that soap residue left over. Soap dries our hands out, imagine what it would do to a snail. Snails are very sensitive to chemicals found in the products that we use every day. Using soap before handling a snail is a really bad idea. We should only be rinsing our hands under warm water for a few minutes before handling our snails, not using soap.
Again I'm not saying this is what happened with yours but that's a significant amount of slime that could be the result of your snails coming in contact with an irritant. If you notice them acting different or less active, I'd give them a good rinse with some cool water to wash them off, just in case.
|
|
|
Post by shysnail on Jul 19, 2019 9:39:01 GMT
Thanks everybody for your thoughts and insight! It's not happened again since, and the snails seem happy and healthy in themselves, so I'm not too worried about it. No love darts and no sign of mating otherwise. One of them could have been startled by something, but I can't imagine what, unless it was the other snail gave them a fright It's definitely not beyond the realms of possibility that they'd come into contact with an irritant. Whenever I handle them, I make sure to rinse my hands with water but not soap, but I do touch the tank throughout the day, and it's definitely possible I could have touched it with freshly washed hands. I will try to be more mindful in future, in case that is what happened. Thanks for the insight!
|
|