Ongoing Snail Illness Research

[kanin]

Nice snail and nice pics. Based on whats visible in the pics I would say it's an achatina fulica.

[cookilicious]

Thanks! now i can tell him where he comes from

[fabrizio]

He has a beautiful "torulose" shell, with each whorl swelling out... no many fulica get such a beautiful shape!!

[cookilicious]

Haha i won't tell him he'll get a big head lol

[cookilicious]

can someone tell me whats up with brian? the last few days his mouthparts have been insanely puckered but he has still been eating. It looks really horrible and im worried theres something wrong? The humidity is the same i dont know what it could be? i wonder if its something to do with the fish food? he only gets it once a week and he loves it?

[cookilicious]

[cookilicious]

His face goes back to normal after water spray but i still spray him down every day same as usual?

[coyote]

It's possible that is the onset of swollen mouth, but if he is still eating, I don't think that's what it is. A snail with swollen mouth cannot eat. I'm not sure what else it could be, though.

Has anything else changed? New food, new substrate, new items in the tank he could have rasped on?

[cookilicious]

everything is the same?! he had a recent clean out but the substrate i used is the same as always no new items in the tank just everything had a good rinse off. Has a new cuttlebone but i washed and soaked it before use incase of any salty residues. all i can think of that is different is the fish food but he hardly has it in huge amounts just once a week? He is now not eating i dont know what to do???

[coyote]

I'm not sure there is anything definite you could do, other than keep on offering favorite foods (maybe withholding the fish food for a while just to be on the safe side), spraying him, maybe also try some green tea? Some people have said using green tea is soothing for snails, but I have never tried it myself.

If it turns out to be swollen mouth, there is nothing that I know of that can be done to treat it. The cause is unknown.

[cookilicious]

Thanks i think im going to remove all his furnitue and just keep him on substrate for a while in case anything aggravates his mouth. Il crush cuttlebone for his food

[cookilicious]

I have removed everything from Brians tank now just left substrate and food i am going to try green tea in a little dish and ive read that aloe vera may help but not sure how to offer it or use it as a topical application?

[coyote]

When my first snail had a mouth problem, I offered aloe vera. There is an aloe vera plant growing next to my back door, and since I know it is pesticide-free, I offered the snail some of the pulp from a freshly-picked leaf. The snail nibbled a little bit of it, but unfortunately she then reared up and twisted away violently as though it only irritated her mouth even more. Poor little thing passed away not too long after that.

Having said that, that does not necessarily mean that aloe would not help your snail just because it did not help mine. My snail had burned her mouth grazing on the bark of a pine branch, so perhaps nothing would have been able to soothe it.

If it was my snail, I'd be trying the green tea, and seeing how the snail reacted to it, especially if it seemed to want to drink it or get it on its mouth area.

[Bumblebee]

Thats sad that your snail got problem with its mouth Hope he will be ok.

You could also try and give him some mashed up food, since it maybe is easier for him to eat that than solid foods.

[cookilicious]

Hey peeps Brian is still with us! I tried the green tea and he did take some in, but afterwards he seemed to exude a lot of fluid from his airhole?!!! i was really scared he looked like he was ready to give up and die but i tilted him over so it would drain and like 2 hours later he ate some food so i dont know wether it helped or not to be honest. His mouth still looks swollen on and off so his tank is still empty but plenty of cucumber mash! Wonder if the tea caused massive fluid loss? it is a diuretic? who knows im just glad he is still here for now! Thanks for all the advice xx

[coyote]

Interesting about your snail exuding fluid from his air hole. IIRC, green tea has a diuretic effect in humans; I don't think anyone knows if that would be true for snails as well. It may just have been a coincidence. I hope Brian continues to show signs of improvement.

[aerliss]

From what I've been reading (between 3 and 4am... so I may have things mixed up) terrestrial snails 'urinate' through an opening very near to the mantel cavity.

[crossless]

I found one snail that has dots on his eye stalks. Stalks works normaly, healthy active snail almost year old. could be inner mites, cancer you never can know. I'm not wirried at all. I know it's just pet that don't live for ever, I'm just so interested to see how this goes on. His mother Femi has eye problem too, I know they genetic part of snails is complicated but how we can be sure that some illness can go generation to generation and then some time comes and makes snail ill.

Well here's best pic that I could take at the moment. You can really clearly see some dark dot in stalks. If you would be here you can notice dots quite far. img689.imageshack.us/img689/9148/dscn1293x.jpg

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If snail is sick and won't eat you should try honey water. Reptile keepers use it for sick reptiles to get some energy while they bath and drink. I'll give it ago when I need to get sick snail wake and get energy.

[crossless]

Well well, now I have update to post. Dots are now darker and both stalks are "full of them". No other problems yet, now his brother started to have dot too. Heres some better pictures.

[crossless]

Yes, well I'm keeping myself some company in this topic. Now these two sick snail have been moved to their own container. Tank where they were is now cleaned with disinfected cleanin product, peat has been changed, plants removed and one plant is with sick snails one will be staying as houseplant.

I decided to remove those sick snails 'cos I heard it spreads in Finland to other snail to nother. And soon sick snails have been died, I have to buy some own sponges for sick snails so it won't spread back to clean tank. Hope this situation some how comes on end. I have to see what to do if those sick snails recover, do I risk others and put them back with them time will tell.

[coyote]

I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. Do you know what it might be?

I think you are taking good precautions to isolate those snails. Good luck with them!

[crossless]

I have heard from other keepers that it might spread some how. Touching or feces maybe?
Some other keeper has same situation with me now.

So I just in case moved sick ones to nother side of room, tomorrow I'll buy them own clean sponges.

I tried to think really hard first it could be some kind of cancer, but if it spreads from snail to snail it could be some kind of infection more likely. Then those who told me about it that snails had died to this too there's was nothing really what could be done maybe they noticed too late.

Really mysterious snail deaths have been recently anyways. If this spreads to my other snails have to see how quick it is so I can see do I put them down or let them live as sick ones separately and healthy ones in their own.

If it's some infection or virus, I started to think were it could come? They haven't eaten anything dangerous or I haven't seen any mites in tank. I have kept hygiene good as it can be with snails. I think it has to come somewhere else than snails it self it don't make sense that hereditary illness would be virus. Or illness that spreads comes out of no where

[crossless]

Today I decided if these few ones will not get well and starts to weaken really slow I think then I would put them down. I don't like to pet suffer almost half dead like someone does "just make sure is it really sick", better them leave with little bit of dignity. I'm always home, just away when they are sleeping at daytime so have plenty of time monitor their every move. Once to twice a day I look everyones stalks if see is anyone else starting to get any dots. We can't know in what way it could spread so I keep those sick ones in their tanks and minimize touching so not too much bacteria would starts to circle in air.

[coyote]

I hope your snails recover. Please let us know how they do.

[crossless]

Yes. I monitor them and see if dots starts to fade, I asked one other forum too of this. Someone just though it could be pest or some kind of injury if snail has been fall down. I think if they now don't fell and dots don't go away there's something going on and something going to happen. I will tell you when development happens.