Worms...

[AlienSnail]

Not come across anything useful yet, though the write-up on this other parasite is amusing. www.ubergeektheatre.com/?cat=20

And if you're allergic to house Dust Mites then you have a higher chance of being allergic to snails (when eaten)... www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119115698/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Still not helping though.....

Could it be Rhabditis maupasi?
looks like someone's been working on creating a substance that inhibits the maturation of the worms... www.biolbull.org/cgi/content/abstract/152/3/406
Probably not, as this article state more about this parasite www.jstor.org/pss/1540428 and mentions that the parasite stays on the snail after it dies, going through the last stages and only emerging when it has consumed the entire snail. I think most of us remove dead snails before that happens!
Or then again this study is on the helix aspersa, which inhibits the final stages of larvel development anyway. I can't find any article on the nematode's usual life-cycle.

This brings up some interesting things about snail farming, population and breeding etc.
www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/srb96-05.htm#Pests

Argh I'm worried now, I'm off to check the tanks for worms and get the de-wormer in!

I always thought these little worms in my tanks were common in snail keeping, I've seen mention of them several times but not in that they're causing health issues. However, I'm going to do my best to get rid of them, just in case they're a harmful type.

[snailcrazy]

Gonna try and get some spring tails from somewhere. Tried feebix suggestion and nothing yet. The trouble with them is they soon breed and take over. I had that trouble last time and it was a nightmare getting rid of them.

Would a piece of muslin over the top of the tank work to stop flies. It should still let air in.

[AlienSnail]

I imagine it would help to stop them from getting in

[AlienSnail]

Do ALL nematodes require a host?

No, just found this - most are free-living and are found in most habitats including soil and rotting vegetation etc, as this article states... cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/nematodes.htm

I suspect (after my panic) that these are just harmless afterall, giving that they don't appear to have had any effect on my snails as far as I'm aware.

[crossless]

I have had flies I go rid of them by changing juicier fruits more often like nectarin etc and don't give again in long time.

I noticed too that if u have in your home some market herbs what u have planted to pot. If u keep it soil always moist they r huge source of flies u can get rid of those by letting the herb grow outside on balcony for sometime.

[MasterOfArts]

Worms, worms, worms.... We need them more than they need us.

I thought I would reincarnate and old thread for a couple of reasons...

1/ I love studying tiny critters especially ones that cant be seen with the human eye.

2/ I have found some tiny worms.

3/ hopefully help people understand them a bit more, feel free to sticky if you see fit.

So you come across worms on your snail, on the poo or just on the soil, what do you do?

Well before nuking your setup and snail read on...

99.9% of the worms you find will be 'free living nematodes', these are different species of what is known as round worm.

Anyone that keeps aquariums may have came across planaria which of course are similar, why well because not even top scientists find it easy to tell the difference.


There are more than 15,000 different species of these worms and due to being so hard to clasify,there are so much more species unclassified, even within your snail setup.

Like it or not see it or not they are in your soils.

The truth is most of them are very beneficial with only a small minority being a nuisance or even parasitic, even the ones found in poo.

Why do I say that? Well one thing ive heard and witnessed myself, over feed/fertilise your tanks and they will show face in larger numbers at some point even if they are the microscopic varients.

So to round it up there are groups that are herbivores, algivores, bacterivores, fungivores, omnivores and then the slight minorty of predators and parasidic members of the group.90% chance what you find is neither of the latter 2.

In my experience worms go where food is and given the feeding groups above im sure you can appreciate our setups are great homes for all.

The only time I have never bothered with them is when I find them within the soil alone.

Find them on poo its 50/50 it could have came from the internals of the digestional tract telling me that your snail grub is working as pumpkin seeds are known to expel worms I.e do a poo and get rid of them and yes chances are the worms or eggs have came from your asda or wallmart products.

OR...

They are the omnivores, algivores etc etc eating exactly that which is of course growing on poo but they have just found the shi*
in your soil full of the types of foid they eat....

And as I say above they are 90% chance thats exactly what they are the 'good worms' of the soils. Even more common in a bioactive setup due to the soils being so rich.

Either way they are not nice to look at and the best and fastest way to get rid of them is to take away its food.

To my knowledge the 'quickest' method to do that is quarantine snails and pumpkin seed diet for a week.

Toss the soil sterilisation of the enclosure and just use a dark coloured paper towels or napkins. The ones I am using are royal blue. This helps you see them easier as a lot of this type of worm is white or clear.

I will say the chances are these are a friendly worm that requires a symbiotic relationship but given most of the top scientists out there struggle to clasify between the good guys and the enemy its best that you dont take any chances.

All in all I dont think any animal is free from a nematode but if we can keep them out our view and under control then at least our snails and its environment will be nicer looking ha ha.

One thing I have learnt also is if your environment is to wet they will explode in numbers.

So watch starwars learn about balance and all symbiotic life can live in harmony.

Wrote after a glass of wine or 4 so expect some typos.

All the best,

MOA.

[jolovessnailies]

That is a fantastic post MOA love and I will read it properly later. I have bookmarked it and put it with my favourites if that is alright with you. I always make sure my snailies are not too wet which is why I do a squeeze out as often as I do. I also collect poop every other day without fail and the sides of the tank are also cleaned.

Hugs
JO xx

[MasterOfArts]

Oct 18, 2017 9:10:22 GMT jolovessnailies said:

That is a fantastic post MOA love and I will read it properly later. I have bookmarked it and put it with my favourites if that is alright with you. I always make sure my snailies are not too wet which is why I do a squeeze out as often as I do. I also collect poop every other day without fail and the sides of the tank are also cleaned.

Hugs
JO xx

Yeah no worries, enjoy.

So today I set off cleaning and the sterilisation of the setup and anything that was inside, took about 2.5 hours to give plenty of time for the sterilising tablets to work and most importantly to super rinse everything out.

The setup at the beginning of the procedure.



I even wore mask and gloves lol.

Once everything was in the cleaning process I them moved on to bathing the 2 snails with green tea. Note this is the first time using green tea as chamomile is my choice but since I have heard so many good things on here about it I thought I would give it a go.

The snails getting a green tea bath and shower...



After everything was clean I proceeded on setting up the snail enclosure with dark blue paper towels. I also grinded up pumpkin seed to help the snails expel the worms.

As mentioned in the previous post if the snails themselves have worms or parasites this will allow me to identify them easier.



I will keep the setup like this for about a week if all is clear I will sterilise it all again including the soil which I microwave for about 20 mins and let it cool down before using. I will then order some new exotic woodlice to start the bioactive setup again.

Will keep you updated.

Here are some more pictures of the snails in quarantine...

[etana]

A friendly reminder to people thinking about regularly sterilising their snail tanks:

(Not necessarily you MOA, but we have a lot of lurkers looking for basic snail keeping instructions, and this is for them.)

Snails lose some of their gut bacteria when they poop, and they get it back by eating the poops and the soil they poop in. If the tank and soil are regularly sterilised, snails will gradually lose their gut bacteria and end up practically starving to death as they cannot digest their food any more.

This was accidentally seen by a group of scientists in a lab. They kept their snails in sterile soil for a different reason, but they had to stop the original experiment and examine the snails who had died.

Of course, with severe parasitic infestations, we may have to take drastic measures because the harm done by the parasites is worse than the stress of a single deep cleaning/sterilisation of the tank. However, it cannot be a normal part of the snail tank's maintenance routine. Plus there are parasites (such as the Riccardoella mite) against which cleaning doesn't help because they breed inside the snails.

As discussed above, there are many little creatures in snail tanks, most of which do no harm, they only look a little weird. We as snail keepers need to of course learn to recognise the harmful ones and how to get rid of them.

We also have to often find balance between what is a bit gross to us but is good for the snails (such as never removing poops that are currently being eaten, and avoiding full soil changes for as long as possible), and what looks good to us but is risky for the snails.

[MasterOfArts]

I totally agree with Etana 100%, this is not something you do on a daily weekly or even a monthly basis.

Our snails not only require the nitrification bacteria (nitrobacter, nitrosomis etc) excuse spelling but also the enzymes for breaking down food.

By doing the above this all has to be reastablished again

I am only doing this because 1 I am a student Zoologist and understand that even the guys at the top with many years of experience find it difficult to identify worms from the good guys to the bad.

I personally could only find worms round fresh poo hence why I am not taking any chances.

If I just found them lurking in the soil it wouldn't have bothered me.

But going by my first post I made in this thread 90% of what you will find are the good guys.

Thank you Etana and well said.

[jolovessnailies]

I only ever do a partial clean out Etana love, there is always at least half of the old stuff left in and mixed with the new. Thanks for the great pics MOA hunni, your snailies are adorable. I hate to think of snailies having parasites inside them. Why are there so many of these bloody awful things?

Hugs
Jo xx

[MasterOfArts]

Well I am pleased to say both 'look' to be parasite free even at x60 magnification.

Here is a picture of fresh poo from each...





No traces of anything anywhere so I have went ahead today and added fresh soil.





Temperature is just slightly under and humidity is in a decent range.

Next week I will add a fresh colony of white springtails and white woodlice.

Both snails also ate during the night and this morning when things where re cleaned and put back to normal.

Ashoka is on the prowl drinking drops of dechlorinated water on the lid and sniffing about. Anakin has made his way back to his favorite sleep spot.

I wonder to help establish the soil a bick quicker should I spray some tetra safe start which is nitrification bacteria in a bottle, more designed for fish tanks. Both soil and aquarium water share a lot of the same bacteria and both go through a nitrogen cycle, anyone ever tried it?

I haven't yet to be honest but interesting if anyone has, here is a link with further info: www.tetra.net/en/en/products/tetra-safestart

[jolovessnailies]

I am so pleased about that hunni, they do look like good healthy poos. Thanks for another great link which will be bookmarked in my favourites. I have heard that this is a good product but I haven't used it myself. Isn't it funny when one snaily decides he likes another snailie's sleeping patch? There is a lot of twiddling and entangling going on and it is so funny. I am never sure who actually wins though LOL!

Hugs
Jo xx

[MasterOfArts]

I have only used safestart when starting a new fish tank or if it crashes. I would be keen to learn if it also works on soils as goid as it does on water.

What I do use to dechlorinate my water even for the snails is tetra 'aqua safe' (pond version, green bottle).

The reason I get the pond version is because it lasts a lot longer than the aquarium version but its roughly the same price and I mean A LOT longer.

Aquasafe link:

www.tetra-fish.com/pond/products/pond-water-fish-care/pond-water-maintenance/aquasafe-pond-water-conditioner-dechlorinator.aspx

[jolovessnailies]

I dechlorinate the water for my hermie tank love, they have one water salted and dechlorinated and one fresh with dechlorination. Thanks again for the link, I use a very small bottle with a blue top and it does last me awhile because I wasn't told to dechlorinate my snailies water.

Hugs
JO xx