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Post by donnaraine on Dec 20, 2007 17:30:34 GMT
my biggest snail munch has gone into hibernation. its the first time any of my snails have and im not quite sure what to do. i know i havent to damage the film across his shell. i gave him a warm bath today when i cleaned the tank out and he never came out. ive popped him back in the tank near the heatmat on top of the soil, should i have buried him? how long should i leave him in hibernation? i have weighed him and he is 94grams at the minute. im just not sure what is the best thing to do for him
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Post by AlienSnail on Dec 20, 2007 17:34:26 GMT
It's a tricky one.
If it's warm and humid he shouldn't have gone into hibernation in my opinion. I've had snails that have done this and it's hard to know whether to force them awake and plonk them on top of food in an attempt to get them to build up some energy, or to leave them to it and let them reserve their energy until they wake up.
Are your other snails active? or are they slower than usual? It may be worth raising the humidity and heat perhaps? xx
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Post by donnaraine on Dec 20, 2007 20:20:40 GMT
my heatmat is on all the time and they get sprayed every other day, my other snails are fine, gaz went a bit quiet but hes out and about now, im going to keep an eye on his weight and if it gets too low i will have to wake him up but how do i do this? i tried giving him a hot bath and it didnt work
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Post by spook on Dec 20, 2007 20:27:00 GMT
If he has sealed himself in then I'd be tempted to break the seal gently then give a warm bath.......my old fulis used to do this when they got cold,even though they had a heat mat all the time,when the weather got chillier they would let me know by hibernating! is it possible for you to put a heater on low near their tank and see if this improves things!?
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Post by donnaraine on Dec 20, 2007 20:38:09 GMT
no we dont have central heating in our house, i think the tank is about 19degrees, all the other snails are active. i darent break the seal as i read somewhere not to do this
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Post by kab on Dec 20, 2007 20:52:32 GMT
if mine do it its usually my margies , i just sit them in a shallow dish of warm water , if that does not fetch them out again i remove the seal carefully while running them under some lukewarm water
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Post by Vida on Dec 20, 2007 22:09:15 GMT
Same here. I wake mine up now several times a week to make sure they get food. I don't have central heating, don't really need it here, so I guess it gets nippy here, although I do have a couple of heaters and their heatmat and lamp on.
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Post by Val on Dec 20, 2007 22:11:25 GMT
19 degrees is a bit chilly particularly as the nights get colder, can you get a bigger heatmat to raise the tank temp? I would heat the tank to at least 24C and also increase the humidity. Val
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Post by AlienSnail on Dec 20, 2007 22:20:15 GMT
Yeah I'd have it warmer. Most of my tanks fluctuate between around 23 and 27 degrees. The Margies appreciate the heat, Tigers and Reticulatas have it a little warmer.
Even my Limicoloria Flammae are kept at approx 25 and are very active.
Are your tanks plastic or glass? When I tried putting the Margies in a plastic tank I just couldn't get the temperature warm enough for them, even though the heatmat was larger than the other tanks. I can't seem to get the set up right with plastic tanks, though other people have,
xx
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Post by Vida on Dec 20, 2007 22:32:44 GMT
Mine is a glass tank and gets down to about 19ÂșC too! Not much more I can do I'm afraid.
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Post by spook on Dec 21, 2007 7:29:10 GMT
My Fulis are in with my tigers at the moment and the temp is up near the 30 mark.........they have a huge heatmat but i've also plugged in a small heater that sits on the outside of course,at one end of their tank.They all seem to be thriving and are eating and active,and they have a cooler end anyway if they get too warm,but i think they're all appreciating the extra heat!
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Post by Val on Dec 21, 2007 18:03:11 GMT
These African snails really do seem to appreciate warmth, I also much prefer glass to plastic. Val
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Post by manxminx on Dec 21, 2007 18:20:38 GMT
Without a heatmat, my tank hovers around 22 - 23 degrees (with just under 20 in the early morning), with humidity in the upper 80's. The Retis are fine, but the Margie Ovums are a bit lethargic. They wake up easily enough when given a warm bath, but do love to burry themselves and sleep a lot. They definitely are not as active as the Retis.
Ali.
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Post by donnaraine on Dec 21, 2007 19:22:54 GMT
well i prodded him a bit lastnight and hes out again and active as ever! these snails will be the death of me, causing me all this worry. thanks for the suggestions and i will know what to do if it happens again
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Post by AlienSnail on Dec 21, 2007 22:58:04 GMT
Yippeeeee!!
Glad he's ok now ;Dxx
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