What's wrong with my garden snail

[magda]

I found a garden snail on the lettuce that I was giving to my tortoises. I took it in thinking my daughter would like having a pet snail. I have to admit, I didn't think it would live very long but when it was still alive after a month, I bought a proper little terrarium and did a bit of googling. Snoopy has now been with us for almost a year and he's been doing great. But then two things started happening and I don't know if they're related nor what either one means.

Lately, he's been shutting himself up with that white shell-like thing they do. I open him up and wet him and stick him on a bit of fresh lettuce and within an hour or so, all seems normal. This continues for several days to a couple of weeks, and then he shuts himself up again.

Nothing's changed. I use the same soil I've been using since we found him and I spray the soil with water every day.

The other thing is that his shell has changed. It used to be a nice glossy brown but now it's become very dry looking.

Really appreciate any help.

Many thanks

magda

[snaileyhammy]

Hi! It might be that his terrarium is too dry. Try misting it twice a day, but don't make everything soggy. You might also want to start feeding him more variety like carrots, apples, kale, stuff like that with his calcium. I hope all goes well for you and your snail!

[magda]

Thanks. i think his terrarium is fine because I do mist it every day, if not twice a day. I'll try giving him a more varied diet.
What do you do for calcium? I just use the powdered kind that you sprinkle on the food.

[snaileyhammy]

no problem! I usually use cuttle bone or reptile calcium. The thing about reptile calcium it that it contains D3, so they can only have small amounts of it. If you do use reptile calcium I would advise that you buy it without D3. You could also use cuttle bone or egg shells. You can crush either of these up and put it in a small bowl for your snails to eat out of or put it in whole chunks. If your humidity is good then I think he just needs a different diet. I hope this helps!

[magda]

Many thanks!

[pasi9]

Try not to sprinkle it on the food either, put it in a separate bowl. If it's on the food, they can't control how much calcium they're eating and it may be too much or too little. It's better to have it in a separate bowl so they can eat it whenever they need it.

Could also be the water you spray. Depending on where you live, the tap water may not be very good for them.