Bit droopy looking

[cptalbertwesker]

I have two snails they've been alright for the past 6 months, but recently my original snail seems a bit down, unlike my other snail whose going around all the time, and growing all the time my little cornelius doesn't seem to do much except have his head out of his shell but doesn't really extend his eyes much, he's been sitting on top of their piece of cuttle fish for the past few days and hasn't moved anywhere.

Do snails get depressed? Or could he just be having a bit of a funny turn?

[Dusk]

Sometimes they can get slow and eat lots of calcium when they're planning to lay eggs. What species are they and how old?

[AlienSnail]

I don't believe snails get depressed, though i do believe they are capable of suffering, if that make sense. It would be interesting to know exactly what snails can feel.

It could be that he's too hot or cold, some are more tolerant than others, but generally they bury when the heat isn't right. I'd be surprised if they're too cold in this weather though!!

Have you checked for mites? You may see tiny round white mites crawling around their breathing hole. This can cause lethargy as the mites feed on snail blood, and some will be affected more than others.

Have you tried giving him a little bath and offering his favourite food?

[AlienSnail]

Jun 24, 2009 20:25:56 GMT Dusk said:

Sometimes they can get slow and eat lots of calcium when they're planning to lay eggs. What species are they and how old?

Oooh but this sounds like a likely answer Hopefully it's this!

[cptalbertwesker]

they're just standard achatina fulica's, I don't know how old they are because the pet shop that sold them knew hardly anything about them.

he hasn't been eating any of the cuttlefish at all though, just sitting on it, just a tad worried cause the other snail has grown almost twice the size he was when I got him, but little corneilus is only maybe an inch bigger than when I bought him

[Dusk]

If you know their shell size we can probably work out if they're old enough to breed yet. Sometimes they seem to absorb calcium through their feet

[cptalbertwesker]

Roughly I'd say the larger snail is 5 1/2 inches, and my smaller one is maybe 4 or 4 1/2, I have noticed that my larger one's sexual organ-y seems to have been noticeably poking out a little recently, nothing huge, but I'd not noticed it before

[Dusk]

They're definitely large enough to be old enough to breed, if that makes sense And at least one of them has been thinking about it recently. Keep a look out for an odd single egg or two laid on top of the substrate as a 'test' or a huge pile of a hundred buried deep down If they climb the glass, see if you can look inside their breathing hole - you can actually see the eggs in there when they're near laying.

Do keep an eye out for any mites, just to make sure, and check that the temperature and humidity haven't changed recently.

[ade]

you could try grating two pieces of cuttlefish together and sprinkle to proceeds over his food - if you havent already tried this that is .Kind of tricking him into taking more calcium - or try another calcium source