Help! Possible Mites (Unidentified black insect)

[SuspiciousBagel]

Yesterday i was taking my snail from its tank but i dropped it and it fell around 60cm (2ft) . I was terrified it had hurt it self and when i picked it up to take a look i realised i had cracked the poor guy's shell   it began bubbling out of fear which it has never done before and i saw an air bubble underneath the crack on the 'curl' of its shell (see picture). I was concerned something internal was very wrong because for a while afterwards it wasn't emerging from it's shell as much as it usually would but it quickly went back to its active self temporarily, having a drink of water and climbing around its tank. For about an hour before when i went to sleep though, it was just sitting in the same spot with an eye out, not trying to sleep or eat despite it usually sleeping most of the time its left alone and it not eating at all yesterday and being provided with its favourite foods (brocolli and strawberry). At some point in the night it did do its usual habit of burying itself and is currently still asleep. 

I would take a picture but I really don't want to distress the snail more than it has already been. I've marked a drawing of a snail with approximately where the cracks are, though. I know the one near the shell's hole is not especially delicate but don't want to mess with the other one since i'm worried it could damage the organs if it breaks. I've also added extra cuttlefish to the tank and removed anything it could fall on to further damage itself.

imgur.com/a/QC9BoWE

Edit: I'm really not having much luck with this guy. Just went to have another look at it and there were small black insects on its shell which scuttled off very quickly. The snail is still alive thankfully but i'm worried about whether they'll get into the crack (they are tiny, maybe 1mm long). I tried to get a picture but my phone camera is too bad to get a clear image at all. They weren't on its food or any other part of the tank, and I don't know if its on the body of the snail since it is still sleeping. I believe theyre mites (too round to be a springtail) and Im just now realising i'd seen them yesterday too (before the snail had its accident)   . 

[snaileyhammy]

Hello, I am truly sorry about what happened to your snail. So, first off do the bugs on your snail look clearly black, and are they near the pneumostome? Second, the area where you located the cracks in your snail don't look awful. However, the one that is where the mantle is could be bad because he/she could have a mantle tear or mantle collapse so look out for symptoms of those two. That is also where the lungs are located so be extra careful. I was just was dealing with a snail who had shell damage in similar places, here's what I did. I had to do it rather quick but, I took pieces of tea bag and wash them out and placed them over the damaged area. Then I took egg shells and cover the damaged spots and covered the egg shell with more tea bag. It actually helped protect the damaged areas and my snail is all better now! You could try this, but it may be different depending on what kind of snail you have. remember to give your snail lots of calcium and super nutritious foods like peas. Keep up the good work, and I hope this helps!

[SuspiciousBagel]

Thank you for your reply!
I didn't see the bugs on it yesterday or today so I'm hoping they could have just gone by themselves but they were at least a dark grey if not black from what i can remember. I'm looking out for them and I'll try to maybe kill one so i can at least get a better photo of its size and basic shape. I didn't get a good look at whether they were in the breathing hole since the snail was always asleep when the bugs were on it and therefore mostly inside its shell, plus it was buried in the substrate. Could it have anything to do with leaving food in the tank too long? I had left a piece of zucchini in there for 2-3 days, around the time they began to show up, since it hadn't been going bad and the snail enjoyed it, however i hadn't seen them on the food at all, only the snail.

As for the crack I will try that method you mentioned. It is still eating and drinking and acting honestly perfectly normal which I'm glad for. I left some spinach for it last night since I heard its high in calcium and it has had a bit but since i feed it or at least leave it food every day its not the biggest eater. Do you think I'm ok waking it up to patch its cracks up? It sleeps almost constantly and the only reason I actually know its still alive is the fact its nibbled on food or moved sleeping spots at some point during the late hours of the night  . I was considering getting it a friend to be more active but that'll probably have to wait until its all healed up and I'm sure the insects are gone.

[snaileyhammy]

Ok awesome! It should be fine for you to wake him or her up. You could also try and give him a green tea bath. As for the food, I would change the food out ever other day or whenever it looks moldy. Those can attract fungi gnats or other unwanted pests. Spinach can be good for your snail but because it is high in calcium try and not feed it often. It can also affect your snails calcium intake. Hope all goes well!

[snaileyhammy]

If they are mites they will look like this ⬇️
youtu.be/N-cd7GG2mEM

[SuspiciousBagel]

I've performed their 'surgery'! It was rather difficult since it was moving around so much and evidently i was off about the crack on it's whorl (?), which was actually on the bottom of the shell rather than the side. I don't have any green tea right now but I'll go out and get some as I'm sure it'll help.

Still no sign of the bugs which is rather perplexing since they've basically just disappeared. It's not like I'm complaining though!! They did look like those in the video I believe? At least they were a similar size but I couldn't see any details.

Here's an image gallery of the procedure. It was rather a painstaking process, especially for the crack on the bottom, as flipping it over made it perk its head up and cover up the crack but I'm glad its protected now. Any idea how long these will have to be on it and if itll have any long term effect on shell growth or health in general?
imgur.com/a/sQYm1Pk

[snaileyhammy]

That's awesome! It should take somewhere between 8-10 days depending on the snails. My snails took less then a week, because I had a garden snail lol. I would just check on it every few days, and change it out if it is dirty. Did you add egg shells in the bandage? Since yours are not huge breaks you don't technically have to put egg shells, put it may help. I am glad that my snail bandage is being used to help someone! I'll pray that there are no mites on your snail and their shell heals quickly!!

[SuspiciousBagel]

I did use egg shells, but the top layer of teabags was a a bit of a struggle since id underestimated how much i needed. I'm glad its a quick healing process since i thought it'd be weeks until it healed up.

Thank you so much again for your help, I will give an update when its all healed up!

[SuspiciousBagel]

Uh oh! The bugs have returned! Using a phone with a better camera than my own I've managed to get them on video. They are absolutely miniscule, as my snail's shell is only 5cm in length. What can I do to get rid of them?!

imgur.com/a/39FNwHI

[snaileyhammy]

Hey! No problem, I’m happy to help! What kind of snail do you have? Just wondering. So, I don’t think those are mites, they could be fungi gnats but I’m pretty sure they would be flying around if they were fungi gnats. They shouldn’t be a threat to your snail whatever they are, but just to be safe replace some of your substrate. Also try giving your snail a bath to wash the bugs off. If you do happen to see little white bugs crawling on your snails body then those may be mites.

[SuspiciousBagel]

I'm glad so they're not mites ! Are you sure they won't pose any threat to the snail even if they only go on the snail and not anything else in the tank? Or at least, not the food. If they are in the substrate I doubt I'd be able to see them.
Also, it's an albino Achatina Fulica Jadatzi! I've only had it about a week and a half. I did post a question about their species on this forum a few days before I got it on a different account but couldn't get back into it.
Immediately after my last reply I put it straight into a shallow dish of cold green tea for about 15 minutes, which they very much enjoyed and sort of glided around in. I've also removed a portion of the substrate where the snail usually sleeps and therefore probably has the bugs in it. I guess now the only thing to do is wait and see, though harmful or not I really hope I've gotten rid of them.
If its any use I do keep a lot of plants in the same room as the snail so something from them could be causing the problem. Though, I don't think they're fungus gnats because as you said, they don't fly at all.

[snaileyhammy]

ok! If they are harming your snail the best thing you can do is give your snail a bath everyday. Changing the substrate may help too if needed.

[morningcoffee]

Apr 18, 2021 19:51:59 GMT SuspiciousBagel said:

Uh oh! The bugs have returned! Using a phone with a better camera than my own I've managed to get them on video. They are absolutely miniscule, as my snail's shell is only 5cm in length. What can I do to get rid of them?!

imgur.com/a/39FNwHI

These look like harmless bugs that are often found in soil (they often appear in houseplant soil too). They're unlikely to bother your snails. If significant numbers of them are building up, you can change most of the substrate and clean the tank, however they're very likely to return over time.

[snaileyhammy]

hey! how is your snail doing?

[SuspiciousBagel]

Hi! The snails doing alright! Its been rather inactive the past week but definitely still alive, I woke it up a day or two ago because I was getting concerned but it was fine and ate a ton of food before going back to sleep. It is rather cold right now and though it has a heat pad its favourite sleeping spot is on the other side of the tank to it, so that probably explains it. It'll be warmer in the next few weeks so hopefully it'll be more active.

I have decided I'll get it a couple of friends along with a larger tank with more enrichment in case it'll help. I'll take a picture when I have the chance, but the crack on the mantle has been doing great and the shell's actually started growing a little! Nothing much has changed with the other crack but I don't think its bothering the snail at all.

As for the small bugs they're still there but less prominent. Maybe the tank change will help.

[snaileyhammy]

Hi! That’s awesome! I’m so glad your snails shell is healing and everything is going well! Hopefully the annoying bugs leave with the tank upgrade.

[SuspiciousBagel]

Hello again!
At this point the thread's gone off what it was originally about but I purchased an Archachatina Marginata and an Archachatina Ventricosa to go with my fulica. I've seen a few places say that Marginatas and Fulicas can be kept together if you're careful and since where I got them from (bugznbits) had both Marginatas and Ventricosas listed as needing the same temperature and humidity needs I got them. Just now I've been told that they, in fact, can't cohabitate but I'm unsure because I can't really find out why not?

[SuspiciousBagel]

I keep missing the fulica awake and really don't want to wake it up again so unfortunately the pictures will have to wait

[snaileyhammy]

Hi! awesome! Sadly live somewhere where those snails are not allowed so, I am unsure if those two species can stay together. I will try and find out though. I hope I can learn more about giant African land snails and such.

[snaileyhammy]

morning coffee talks about keeping those two species together in this post petsnails.proboards.com/thread/17742/which-species-live-breeding

[SuspiciousBagel]

Thanks! It seems they're able to then but I'll be careful with the conditions. I got myself a thermostat which I really should've had all along but at least now I can monitor the temperature much more accurately. Do you live in the US? It must be frustrating they're not allowed there but considering what damage they can do to the environment I understand why.

[snaileyhammy]

Awesome! I’m glad that your snails will have a friend! Yes I live in the US, it’s so frustrating! I wish that I could do something to make that law change.

[SuspiciousBagel]

Update!
Its been little while and I'm very sorry for the lack of response. Unfortunately Squidge (The fulica, i realised i never mentioned their name) began to sleep.. i was told it was a growth spurt after one week of it which eased my mind but it reached over 2 weeks of inactivity (this started before my last posts, i just hadn't realised it was an issue yet) and so i went to check and they were actually estivating due to a lack of humidity (i'd begun misting them once a day instead of twice and the temp was a little too high because of the way my thermostat works) but after amending those issues the next morning they'd shed their estivation layer and are now doing really well!

Here they are just a few minutes ago
imgur.com/a/8QU2hEd

[snaileyhammy]

That’s great! This is the one that had the crack before, right? That is such a cute name btw!

[SuspiciousBagel]

Ah! Yes this is the one that had a crack before. I was going to mention the other snails but completely forgot. The crack on the mantle I don't think is even an issue anymore and the other crack hasn't done much ( I have a feeling it could be permanent ) but it doesn't seem to be separating from the shell or anything and as long as the snail doesn't mind I don't. It'll just always be there to remind me to be careful when i hold them!
I ultimately decided to keep the snails separate. Sources differ on whether you can or not and considering one of the reasons Squidge started being inactive was higher temperatures I don't want to risk always keeping them at 24 degrees or similar (the other snails were kept at 24-26) as thats basically the highest fulicas should be at and the lowest the others would be comfy with.

They don't have proper names yet but here are they are enjoying some 'snupper' a few days ago
imgur.com/a/35cWIK9

This might be my last post on this thread as its really gone off topic lol. I can't thank you enough for the great advice you've given me though!