What happens if a snails shell cracks

Jun 5, 5, 2 62 44 Podunk, Va. Real Name Larry. It will heal on it's own but there will be a ridge there, you can also super glue cleaned egg shell to the cracked area if you want it to be covered during the healing process. Jun 5, 9 0 1 Resurrecting this topic because I'm also having a shell cracking problem, hope that's okay. My son's science teacher sent home a mystery snail from a chain pet store back on Nov.

I don't remember if he had cracks in his shell when he came home, but I found a photo from Dec. Here is how he looks today Feb. He lives alone in a 1. I can try the vacation fish feeder blocks suggested above how much and how often? Is there anything else I can do? We have a separate 5. Thanks so much! May 11, 38 I've had this problem with my Apple Snails. Kale is very high in calcium and my snails go bonko when I feed it to them. Between those two things and hiding egg shells under stuff the problem has stopped.

BettasOnVacation Registered Member. Feb 12, 1 0 1 Last edited: Feb 12, Tevys Registered Member. Dec 3, 1 0 0 A teaspoon of baking soda for ten gallons of water can achieve this objective. I would also suggest that you get yourself a kit that could measure the pH, ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites in your tank.

That affordable bundle measures the desired parameters within minutes and lasts for hundreds of tests. Water changes are crucial to the health of a mystery snail. They will keep the tank clean and reduce the concentration of toxins like ammonia and nitrites. Temperature fluctuations will slow the recovery of your mystery snail and stress your entire community tank.

I also reviewed it here. Keep a calcium test kit on hand. Snails need calcium to maintain the health of their shells. Many aquarists use cuttlebone to increase the levels of calcium in their mystery snail tank. If you have never heard of cuttlebone, go to a fish store and ask for some calcium supplements. These act as an aquarium supplement and will enrich your water with calcium while efficiently balancing the pH.

Other creatures, such as Bettas, Crayfish, and shrimp, will also benefit from those. While the calcium content in the water is essential, snails also require calcium in their diet. This is why aquarists feed their mystery snails blanched kale and cucumbers.

These creatures will eat the algae in your tank. However, you are still encouraged to supplement their diet. You can use everything from pellets and flakes to algae wafers, leaf lettuce, and zucchini squash. The more you enrich their diet, the more it is likely that their shell will recover. Mystery snails are relatively peaceful.

They should be kept with suitable tankmates such as guppies, shrimp, and corydoras that will coexist peacefully with them. Snails are likely to die if their shell is severely cracked. A severe break in the shell is a danger to the snail because the creature is at risk of drying out. However, if the shell is cracked but is still relatively intact, the snail will survive, especially if treated properly.

In other words, it depends. Snails rely on their shells. A mystery snail cannot live outside its shell, and any snail that is separated from its shell will ultimately die. That is to say, the health of the shell affects the health of the snail. Snails whose shells have been broken beyond repair die slowly. All creatures are worthy of life and love. Thank you all for sharing your stories. He went inside the remains. I keep him in a small box with a lot of moisture and near a cuttlefish.

I feel so bad. I dropped my pet garden snail and it lost nearly all of its shell. I am keeping it in a soft plastic well ventilated box and he seems content. I will keep going as long as I know it is not suffering pain.

Its environment is very moist and has cucumber and leaf veg in. The snail never liked fruit. It is eating and seems ok. Does anyone have any helpful,positive suggestions? Thanks very much. I will not euthanise the snail unless I am certain it is the only thing to do. After reading a forum about a snail with no shell surviving for 3 days I had a bit if hope.

As long as you give the snail somewhere to hide upside-down they can suffocate without a shell because the breathing hole collapses i think the snail will live and eventually grow a shell back. No doubt if you are reading this page you have either accidently stepped on a snail or have found one that has been partly crushed or cracked but not killed. Because of this, the following information is a mix of whatever research is possible and available, theory and hypothesis, logical thinking and the result of various discussions with a large group of snail owners.

It is with the help of the community at large, that these problems can at least be documented. Where possible I have tried to link to example incidents. Hopefully, we can find some effective solutions to the majority of these problems but for now I'm afraid you'll have to be content with various suggestions and discussion.

No doubt if you are reading this page you have either accidently stepped on a snail or have found one that has been partly crushed or cracked but not killed. Snails are very resilient creatures and can recover from some pretty bad breaks but it is hard to know which will survive and which won't.

If the shell is cracked or chipped or there is a hole, but the overall integrity of the shell is reasonable, the snail will probably recover. If the shell has split into pieces but still covers the body it may even survive that.