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Post by magdalenak on Sept 19, 2010 6:05:00 GMT
Hi guys. I've had my 2 snails ( Cepaea nemoralis and hortensis) for about 2 months now. Recently I noticed that Fasola, (capaea nemoralis) lost some color on his shell- looks like white discoloration. Last week he was also really sluggish and his tentacles were very shaky so I placed him in a separate container and kept him moist and he seems to have gotten better. Because I recently moved and started classes, I feel like I've neglected them a little (haven't misted their cage as often), I also don't clean their cage as frequesntly as I used to. I'm wondering if that could be part of the problem? However, I heard that a super clean environment isn't too good for them either? I've started misting them more often and I'm trying to vary up their diet. I feed them sweet potato, cucumber,lettuce, carrots, grapes, and dust it with calcium but it seems that Fasola only eats the sweet potato (his poop is always orange!), and when i put in other foods he'll just starve himself. I was wondering if any one had any ideas on what's going on with him. I don't know if I'm just paranoid, or if i'm being a bad snail parent . Thanks
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aerliss
Achatina immaculata
Posts: 281
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Post by aerliss on Sept 19, 2010 13:43:23 GMT
What do you mean by tentacles a bit shaky?
Have you tried him with different kinds of lettuce and leaves? Kale is a big favourite with my little guys. I also find they prefer the bits of the plants we don't eat. My babies think cauliflower and kohlrabi leaves are the best thing EVER.
I never see my nemoralis move. Seriously. He spends the vast majority of his time sleeping under the lettuce or buried/laying eggs. I might just catch him eating if I'm up very early and now it's getting cold he's starting to hibernate, which I'll let him do for a couple of weeks before I make sure he has something to eat.
As for the shell discolouration. This happens sometimes, it's not usually anything to worry about.
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Post by crossless on Sept 19, 2010 17:41:41 GMT
Smaller species tentacles wiggle alot when they use them. So it's normal to them.
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Post by magdalenak on Sept 19, 2010 17:53:04 GMT
Like his tentacles were wabbly. I'm not sure if he was just a little weak cause he didn't eat or something? I always worry when he stays a couple days in his shell and doesn't come out. Is that ok or should I make him come out and eat? And i'm gonna try to get different lettuce and veggies maybe that will help! thanks a lot
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Post by magdalenak on Sept 19, 2010 18:33:54 GMT
sorry crossless I didn't see your post earlier! And good I was worried that it was because he was sick . I should post pics of his discoloration cause it seem it is getting worse, i'm not sure if the other snail is nibbling on his shell or what but they have plenty of calcium available so I'm not sure why that would be.
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Post by red608 on Sept 20, 2010 2:42:11 GMT
There are a number of reasons the shell could be discoloring. I believe there was a thread on this that I will see if I can find. Some snails lose color in the shell as they get older, I believe I recall reading that a fluctuation in the amount of sunlight they recieve can effect the coloring if the shell as well.
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Post by red608 on Sept 20, 2010 2:50:20 GMT
With regards to food, do you put all those foods in at the same time or do you switch it up and only offer certain foods for a few days and then offer others? If you are offering everything at once that would be why your snail seems to only eat sweet potato. Snails will always eat their favorite foods and familiar foods before others(sweet potato is a favorite of many snails fyi). To force them to eat other foods you need to take away their favorites. They may not eat anything or much when you do this but trust me they'll be fine if they don't eat for a few days. You should go to the feeding section of the forums and read the thread titled 'Picky snails (formerly nothing but cucumber)'. There may be other threads in that section as well you may find useful with regards to feeding your snails =]
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Post by red608 on Sept 20, 2010 2:55:27 GMT
Also were your snails wild caught? If so you will have to be persistant to get them to eat new foods. Don't give up, persistance and being firm (as in don't cave and give them their faves if they dont eat new foods, they will eat if they get hungry enough) is key. I recently aquired some wild caught nemoralis and I has success in getting them to eat pumpkin seeds, portabella mushrooms and regular potato. Perhaps yours would like those too?
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Post by magdalenak on Sept 20, 2010 2:57:29 GMT
That would actually explain his discoloration they've been a little away from the sunlight but I try to put them near the window everyday. And I've been offering them all at the same time. I guess snails are pretty smart cause he goes straight to the sweet potato! haha Thanks a lot I'll try find those threads!
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Post by magdalenak on Sept 20, 2010 3:01:35 GMT
For some reason some posts don't show up until later for me? sorry guys. Yes my snails were wild caught, the capaea hortensis has no problem eating, but the capaea nemoralis is the stubborn one! It's like they have their own little personalitites! I guess I'm gonna have to be more persistent and I'll definitely try those foods red608 thank youu!
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Post by red608 on Sept 20, 2010 3:03:12 GMT
And don't worry about your snails sleeping for days on end. It's completely normal (during the summer they aestivate and during the winter they hibernate). Wake them up every once in awhile to give them some food (I usually wait a week or two). Maybe they'd even be more willing to try newer foods then too because they'd be hungrier? Another reason they could be doing this is the tank conditions are not totally to their liking, could be too warm or too cold. Have you experimented in the past to see what temps they are happiest at? My snails like it to be colder at night, in the lower 60s (farenheight not celsius) or so.
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Post by red608 on Sept 20, 2010 3:08:47 GMT
Np, glad I could be of some help. And yes the one wild one I know for a fact is a nemoralis is the pickiest of all the ones I caught! Stubborn breed perhaps .....Ah, what I meant by variances is that more sunlight supposedly results in lighter colored shells and less in darker. I belive Coyote mentioned she noticed this to be true with her snails, in the winter when they got less sunlight their shells got a bit darker she said.
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Sept 20, 2010 3:13:38 GMT
You don't want to keep the tank too clean, because snails need to re-ingest some of the beneficial gut bacteria they excrete in their poop. A snail can actually die after a while in a tank kept spotlessly clean. Letting the tank stay slightly dirty is not something you'd want to do with a cat or bird or hamster, but it's necessary for snails due to their different metabolism.
I keep aspersas and milk snails, and their eyestalks wiggle frequently. I think it's just something they do, and not an indication of a problem.
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Post by crossless on Sept 20, 2010 4:07:18 GMT
I heard that smaller species prefer rotting leaves even if next to them would be fresh leaves. So it's nice to time to time give snails food that it's just little spoiled. But if it gets mouldy or smelly then is time to change it.
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Post by magdalenak on Sept 20, 2010 21:50:08 GMT
Thanks guys. I sometimes leave some leaves in for a couple days, I think I'm just gonna have to try to put in one food at a time and see what gets eaten and when. I tried to attach a picture of Fasola (he's the one on top) and his discoloration. Maybe he's just an old man (/woman) Attachments:
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Sept 21, 2010 22:59:33 GMT
It looks like wear and tear on the shell in the pic. If I saw that on one of my snails I would think it had scraped against something in the tank.
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Post by magdalenak on Sept 22, 2010 0:33:24 GMT
I've seen the smaller one, Jasiu, getting on top of his shell before and munching on Fasola's shell but he was chewing on the cuttlebone yesterday so i don't know why he still gets more discoloration. Maybe he is scraping it against something :/ Will he be able to repair that with time?
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Sept 22, 2010 20:30:32 GMT
If the damage is to the periostracum (the outer part of the shell), it will not grow back or be repaired.
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