Are my snails small for their age?

[ratticus]

I have three Giant African Land Snails, Achatina fulica as far as I know, bought from a friend in about June, when they were around two weeks old. Well, it's now November, and I'm not sure that they're the healthiest snails in the world. The smallest's shell is about an inch long, the largest about two inches, and even for snails the two smaller snails seem rather sluggish.

They caught Riccardoella limacum mites in late July, which I treated with a three-week course of Hypoaspis miles. After this, they seemed fine, and so I transferred them out of their original small tank (Plastic, 12x7") into a much larger terrarium (Glass, 24x14"). I also bought a heat pad for them, for the winter. They live in about three inches of potting compost, which I buy from Wilko's then heat in the oven for a couple of hours to sterilise it before I give it to them (Obviously, I let it cool back to room temperature before putting it in their tank). I've been feeding them mostly kitchen scraps, and things from my allotment that other snails have been at - Lots of red peppers, apples, cabbages and the like. Everything gets thoroughly washed before they get it.

About a week ago, I noticed that the mites were back.

Anyway, all this backstory aside, are they small for their age? Is there any better way of getting rid of the parasitic mites? Do they need anything else to get them through the harsh Yorkshire winter?

Any and all help is appreciated, and will be recieved with thanks. I'm really worried about them. I'll get a couple of photos of them up by this evening, if that would help.

-Ratticus

[Cross-posted at Reptile Forums UK]

[Katie]

Im not sure about the sizes as i have been asking about my 2 snails with basicaly the same problem, my mites have been coming back aswell.
i should think that to help them get rid of them you should clean out your tank with boiling water (aslong as ur tank will not melt)
Order some coir as this helped me alot .
Give all your snails a shower as mites can escape still water but can not escaoe running water, the temperature of water should be luke warm.

To help your snails survive the winter, you should keep the heat mat, this will help aa lot, spray your snails with warm water 2 moisten your tank warmly. give the snails at least 1" of soil so that they can bury them selves to get warmer.

- katie xxx

[ratticus]

Cheers - I hadn't thought of using lukewarm water to spray them with.

If the worst comes to the worst, would putting them in an airing cupboard, with all the hot pipes and things help? Or do they need the light more than the warmth?

[Arno]

I think they are small for their age,especially the one inch one,the other one is smaller than average but nothing to worry about.As long as they are eating and lively they'll be ok.
What you are doing and Katie's advice is all good,so that leaves the mites.
I had some success with using my vacuum cleaner in a low setting to suck up the mites(I know that might sound strange,but it helps me getting rid of a lot of mites quickly).
Warmth is more important than light,imo.

[vikingsnail]

My Fulica is about a month younger than yours, and his shell is just under two inches long, but I've been having mite problems too, and I think mites can stunt snails growth a bit?

Try giving them some sweet potato and maybe a little cooked chicken/beef - apparently they're good for building up strength (I'm going to make mine a mini shepards pie with sweet potato and mince tonight - minus the gravy )

And as for the mites.. giving the tank a really thorough clean out (use disinfectant, and make sure you rinse everything out really really well) and put in clean subrstrate regularly (that is if you don't have Hypoaspis already in there).
I was reading another topic on here about mites and heard about 'smoking' the mites out with sage - at first I thought it sounded pretty mean, but my mites came back and my snail was pretty inactive and I was pretty desperate, so I wanted to do something about it quite quickly, and tried it yesterday. Today, he's up and about, very active and eating lots... don't know what other people think about it, but so far it seems to have helped alot.

[ratticus]

How does smoking work? Is it literally a matter of getting a sage sprig and setting light to it in the cage?

I've ordered more Hypoaspis, but since they're so inactive at the moment, I'd really like to try something before the mites get here.

[vikingsnail]

Have a look here petsnails.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=pests&action=display&n=1&thread=4504

But yeah, I got some dried sage (just the stuff you get from the supermarket in one of those shaky pots lol) put some on a plate and lit it so it was smouldering, then held my snail above the smoke for about 30 seconds, bathed him and then repeated it. He didn't seem to mind much, and I'm not sure if it's got rid of the mites completely yet, but he's definetely more active and is eating again.

Before you do it, give him a nice warm bath/shower to get him awake, so the smoke can get in to where the mites will be, and give him lots of nice food afterwards to apologise!

If you can, give your snails' tank a really thorough clean to try and get rid of any mites in there too, and put a thinner layer of substrate in than normal for when the Hypoaspis arrive, so it's easier for them to hunt out any mites. Also, getting rid of a water dish when you introduce the Hypoaspis is a good idea, because the little white mites can swim, whereas Hypoaspis can't. Although, a water dish can help you see if there are still mites in your tank as they seem to like collecting in mine...

Another thought - someone on another snail forum reccomended putting a woodlouse in the tank, because they can help prevent any unwanted nasties, aswell as tidying up waste and snail poo, and they can't climb the tank walls so they'll stay put, quite happy in your snail's tank

[ratticus]

Well, looking at them now I'm ever more worried. I've just got some more snails from Spook, and compared to them they're really, really unhealthy. They're retracted, extremely shy, they're not eating much, their shells are dull and they just seem to lack the joie de vivre of the others. The Hypoaspis arrive tomorrow, so fingers crossed for that, but otherwise I'm out of ideas. Nothing seems to be making them better.

[Rachel]

it does sound pretty bad, i'm afraid that in young snails mites can kill a lot easier than fully grown, I don't actually know where i stand on smoking but, it does work and if the hyaposis does not it might be your only option, its sort of a last hope, as most wouldn't do it unless they have to, even though it gets results. when i came back from holiday i found my mate had done it to her snails and mine as hers gave mine mites ( no shes not snail sitting again ) and i must admit it worked with no side effects, but i think the juries out on that issue.
good luck, let us know how it goes.

[vikingsnail]

I'm sorry to hear your snails are this ill - I hope the hypoaspis work!

I must admit I felt a bit mean doing the smoking, even though my snail didn't seem to be bothered. I was pretty desperate as he was going downhill fast and I didn't have the money or the time (wanted to do something straight away) for hypoaspis - and I must admit it seems to have worked, and my snail seems fine. It was definetely an act of desperation though lol...

[Rachel]

let me know how your snail is viking.

[vikingsnail]

Well, since doing the sage thing a few times aswell as cleaning his tank a few times, I certainly haven't seen any more mites, and he's been alot more active and has been eating more I think he's still pretty small for his age but he's put on a tiny bit of weight since when I last weighed him (early october I think it was) and considering the mites, I think that's pretty good

As far as I can tell, smoking the mites out does seem to work, and as controversial as it may be, I haven't noticed any ill effects from it in the slightest Apart from the fact it stinks the room out! lol

[Arno]

I don't think it's controversial at all,I'm all for using natural products to get rid of pests..........

[Rachel]

what viking means is people are not sure if its morally right to make your snail have smoke in his/her air hole.

[Rachel]

oh yes, and the smell, although i quite like it, lol, i know i'm weird

[vikingsnail]

Yeah, I thought the smell was quite nice - but my parent's didn't half moan!

[Rachel]

parents + snails = moaning

[vikingsnail]

Haha, my parents actually really like my snail ;D

[Rachel]

omg, are they ill. most parents i know hate snails, mine STILL think i'm mental.