please help, broken shell

[erica]

shuffle (babyish fulica) was burrowing for 24hrs so i carefully moved the soil to check she's okay coz she's never stayed still for that long.

anyway, i found a gap over half a cm wide and long where the new shell groth is attached to the previous whorl. she'd damaged there before which is why i moved her from the last tank, but has had a lot of growth since then so i thought she was okay. also, about 3mm of shell growth all around is transparent and incredibly fagile looking.

the bigger break part shows signs of new growth but it is a big break (none of her insides are showing). i've got her out and plonked her on top of a piece of cuttle, which she's not moved from but i'm so worried about her.

i feel like i've failed her in some way but don't know how. between the two of them there are three cuttle and i've started putting crushed oyster shell mixed in with oatibix in the tank. she's been eating okay, and since the last little bit of damage she's grown about a cm.

she was fine on weds, the last time i saw her before she burrowed. in the past i've occasionally picked her up and plonked her on cuttle to make sure but generally i thought she was eating okay.

what else can i do? i feel really terrible. he shell's in such a bad way and i can't even take a pic because the camera on my phone's too rubbish.

please can someone help?
a very worried erica

[LisaLQ]

Dont suppose you've seen any mites on her? When mine had mites, they chewed their shells in the same place you describe, I initially thought it was damage from a fall or a knock but when they carried on growing they kept doing it. Have a close watch of her and see if you see anything really tiny crawling on her. She's probably fine, but mites are pretty common sadly.

Might be worth trying her on capillary matting or a bare tank (or as I use sometimes - damp kitchen roll) to see if she improves off the soil? You could always put moss in for her to bury in. Even if it's not mites, which it probably isn't, I've found mine recover more quickly off soil. I dont think they like getting the bits/grains under their shell when it's broken?

[erica]

no mites that ive noticed. there were tiny flies but i think i've got rid of them. i still find the odd one but didn't think they'd be too much of a problem?

[Tigs]

I will pop some liquid calcium in the post if you like.

From everything we talk about every day i really cant think of anything you have done wrong. Maybe take out the water bowl for the time being incase she tried to bungy from the top of the new container.

I will have to suss out what to put the calcium in.

Hug?

[erica]

she's really munching on the cuttle now. still not moved from it. perhaps i should buy some liquid calcium? maybe then she really couldn't avoid the stuff?

thanks for the hug. got any cotton wool to wrap shuf up in too?! now i know how parents feel

[LisaLQ]

Ooh I never thought of that Tigs - I use liquid calcium in my spray bottle, and they get sprayed daily with it. Great for increasing and improving shell growth in growing snails, so should help

As for worrying over them - just goes to show how well loved they are, and you're not doing anything wrong - dont worry These things happen, I've got a fulica here with a really badly damaged shell (ridged and weak), but even he has improved with liquid calcium

[grant2006]

Hi
Where can i get some liquid calcium
my fulicas shell are not great any ideas

[Tigs]

I bought a litre off Ebay but the only other place i know is www.invertsupplies.co.uk but i would email Daz first as they have been having server problems.

[LisaLQ]

I'd say Invert Supplies but it looks like they're a bit unpredictable now Lots of probs at home.

So your best bet is probably Ebay. Only get pure liquid calcium though, not the stuff with added vits for reptiles. Failing that, I've heard folks use limestone flour which is really easy to find on Ebay in the pets section. Either in a bowl or sprinkled on food

[erica]

okay, just ordered liquid calcium from invert supplies (go to petsnails.co.uk - directory - misc supplies - invert supplies are in there somewhere)

tomorrow i'll try and get some cappillary matting (garden centre?) and clean out the tank so there's only a little soil at one side. overnight i'll remove the water dish, but even that's nt that hard or deep.

does that sound right? she's still munching away on the cuttle.

edit: previous two posts have flashed up. did i do wrong to go to invert supplies?

[Tigs]

Email Daz and see what the timescale is.

I found a small bottle so will pop some in the post. Iv got limeflour as will send some of that.

Went mystery shopping at the post office today so the stamps were free anyway ;D

[gastropodgirl]

I saw some of the liquid calcium we use on ebay the other day it may be quicker to buy from there if the server is still down on invert supplies,just a thought.

[erica]

the order went through okay and i've just gone back to the site and sent a message to check... will go cut up some mango to make the three of us feel better... at least i know i'm not under feeding them. thanks for all the support

[gastropodgirl]

I'm sure Shuffle will be fine especially with you looking after her.

[erica]

thanks, i hope so although i'm not sure i believe it.

by the way, are you loops?

[gastropodgirl]

Yes I am or should I say I was. ;D