Snail Losing Weight - Seems Sick, Please Help

[yellowsnail]

Hello, my lovely snail Whopper, who is a Garden Snail (Helix Aspersa) has recently been acting different and looking different. Their name is Whopper because he is known for being a big snail, but recently I noticed weight loss on him, and also I noticed the bottom of his shell is turning white. He is around 8 months old, and also laid eggs for the first time a couple days ago. The eggs did not form correctly and came out as one long string and he struggled to lay them all in one go, too. 

For a while I did not have substrate in my snail tanks, but the white appearing on the bottom of my three snails in one tank happened before I added the substrate (Coco soil), I researched and it said my snails could be dehydrated or not have enough moisture in their tanks, so I added the substrate. I also recently changed the method I give them water, I use to give them water directly from the tap, but have started to boil it and let it stand for 24 hours or use bottled water as recommended by others, I am wondering if this could be causing this? My other two snails in the tank with him seem to be doing ok, but Whopper himself is still declining in health.


A note I think is necessary is; at a couple months old, Whopper fell and cracked his shell. I researched and managed to plaster it up with non-toxic plaster which was recommended to me by other snail owners. This has never affected him, as he has lived this way for 6 months, but over time the plaster is slowly fading, I figured this might be a good thing if his crack healed up correctly, but I am wondering if it didn't and I need to re-plaster it. I do not mind the appearance of him with plaster on his shell, I just care about him so much and worry I asked for help too late. 

Below are pictures attached of the white on his shell and his body incase of any obvious illness. 


imgur.com/a/jkEtJvH < White under his shell which has appeared, the bit on top is the plaster.


imgur.com/a/XCFfoHu < Clearer image of his shell. 

Please help!

[snaileyhammy]

Hello! Thanks fo reaching out!


Your snail appearing to have lost weight, etc, may just be side affects of something else, or nothing at all. You may need to keep a close eye on him for anything else suspicious, that may lead to a health problem. Look for pests, deep retraction, inactivity, not eating, etc. As for the shell issues, the break shouldn't be a problem as long as his insides aren't vulnerable, or open to pathogens. So, bandaging it up shouldn't be a concern. The white spots could be due to lack of calcium, lack of sunlight, lack of nutrients, etc. I will leave another comment today with links you can read through to guide you through all of this.


Hopefully that little spurt of information I gave you mad sense.In conclusion, you should look into the white spots on his shell, and keep a close eye on him for any other suspicious behavior. Like I said I will come back later today and give you some more feedback, and links with information. Let me know if you have any further questions!

[yellowsnail]

Nov 12, 2021 18:02:03 GMT snaileyhammy said:

Hello! Thanks fo reaching out!


Your snail appearing to have lost weight, etc, may just be side affects of something else, or nothing at all. You may need to keep a close eye on him for anything else suspicious, that may lead to a health problem. Look for pests, deep retraction, inactivity, not eating, etc. As for the shell issues, the break shouldn't be a problem as long as his insides aren't vulnerable, or open to pathogens. So, bandaging it up shouldn't be a concern. The white spots could be due to lack of calcium, lack of sunlight, lack of nutrients, etc. I will leave another comment today with links you can read through to guide you through all of this.


Hopefully that little spurt of information I gave you mad sense.In conclusion, you should look into the white spots on his shell, and keep a close eye on him for any other suspicious behavior. Like I said I will come back later today and give you some more feedback, and links with information. Let me know if you have any further questions!

Since yesterday, he has been slightly more active. I moved him to a separate tank to monitor him more. Today I noticed this on his antenna, it looks a little swollen maybe, but I am wondering if you or anyone else can let me know? It seems to be on the side where his genitals are so i am wondering if he hurt it while laying eggs.

Images of antenna (right): imgur.com/a/ud3vZB5 and imgur.com/tgYCfoe 

As for the shell, he has permanent cuttlebone and also gets calcium mix at least once a week, if not twice. He gets a variety of foods (kale, zucchini, carrots, peas, broccoli, potato), but I did notice the other snail tank which sits on top of his might be obstructing sunlight from reaching his tank, so I move it off during the sunlight hours now and hoping it helps. I was just curious if it had anything to do with his illness. Thank you for writing to me  

[snaileyhammy]

That’s awesome! I do not believe that the things you’re seeing are any signs of illness, I would just be on the lookout for any suspicious behavior, like I said.

The antenna doesn’t appear swollen to me, it appears to just be a part of his eye. Here is some info about the spot on his shell; and some more information. Sorry that I did not add to my info yesterday, I hopefully will today. www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/rasping-shell.html#start www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/bad-shell-growth.html#start www.petsnails.co.uk/problems/not-eating-calcium.html#start