So this is concerning

[sammyslimeyboiz]

So my oldest snail which I've had for a full year (mated with another one at some point and I had to get rid of the mass amount of eggs) has been burying himself in dirt which I understand can be from temperature issues and other things. I regularly feed them lettuce, spray the tank and I keep cuttlefish bone in the tank as well. I also got him a little hide so he can well, hide. He has stayed in there for probably a good couple montha, I've sprayed him with water and put him on top of his food, changed locations and temperatures over the course of a couple months and eventually just let him chill out. He wasn't dead because I could still visibly see him and he didn't smell dead either. However today I checked on him and he is completely sealed off with a white layer. The skin that puffs out at his mantle is normally very yellow but I'm telling you it's CONPLETELY white and hard. I've been spraying him and letting the water soak in but I'm very confused as to what's happening.

Edit: so after 2 minutes of spraying him and waiting he came out and I very gently peeled off the white thing from his skin which he pushed off of himself and he seems to be chilllin now

[morningcoffee]

Jul 9, 2020 20:20:00 GMT sammyslimeyboiz said:

So my oldest snail which I've had for a full year (mated with another one at some point and I had to get rid of the mass amount of eggs) has been burying himself in dirt which I understand can be from temperature issues and other things. I regularly feed them lettuce, spray the tank and I keep cuttlefish bone in the tank as well. I also got him a little hide so he can well, hide. He has stayed in there for probably a good couple montha, I've sprayed him with water and put him on top of his food, changed locations and temperatures over the course of a couple months and eventually just let him chill out. He wasn't dead because I could still visibly see him and he didn't smell dead either. However today I checked on him and he is completely sealed off with a white layer. The skin that puffs out at his mantle is normally very yellow but I'm telling you it's CONPLETELY white and hard. I've been spraying him and letting the water soak in but I'm very confused as to what's happening.

The hard white layer is an epiphragm, which means your snail is aestivating. This could mean that the tank conditions aren't right, for example too dry or too wet. Try picking up a handful of substrate and squeezing it firmly. If no drops of water come out, it's too dry. If more than a couple of drops come out, it's too wet.

Here is some info about the epiphragm in snails - en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphragm