Post by AlienSnail on Sept 5, 2010 9:29:10 GMT
PESTS AND DISEASE
Diseases are rarely a problem with most snails, though Fulica seem prone to sudden illness, stunted growth, sudden death or slow decline whilst relatively young. The jury is out on the cause though it may well have more to go with inbreeding than actual disease, or perhaps genetic weakness have made them more vulnerable.
The main pest to affect snails are little white mites. These are blood suckers and at best irritate the snails, at worst kill the small ones / babies.
The best defence/treatment is to : -
Keep looking out for them, inspect your snails regularly
Quarantine new snails for a couple of weeks to allow for pests including mites to show up
If found bathe snails, change the soil, wash the tanks and ornaments and introduce a colony of Hypoaspis Miles predatory mites, easily purchased on-line from sites such as www.defenders.co.uk. These are sold as Sciarid Fly control. Sciarid flies may live in your snails soil but will not harm them. However they are likely to eat any seedlings you are trying to grow indoors! (grrr).
Signs of Illness
The snail regularly retracts into it's shell, sometimes quite far in. - possible causes include disease, old age, mites, cold and/or dry conditions
The snail is slow to wake up and possibly has to be encouraged by bathing it in warm water - see above.
The snail is losing weight - Not eating enough due to illness / disease / poor conditions - see above and the sections on housing, heat, humidiy and snail hygiene.
Spends most of it's time burrowing - many snails like to burrow during the day and come out at night. - if it disappears for longer periods then it may be too cold, dry, or ill. See above.
Mantle tear - part of the body has come away from it's shell. - sometimes the snail can heal itself, it is worth keeping it in a cleaner container, with damp kitchen towel instead of soil to prevent dirt from getting into the wound. Have it's food right next to it so that it does not have to strain itself crawling. Spray regularly as it is more likely to dry out. Severe tears and mantle collapse may result in death due to suffocation.
Shell cracks and breakages - same treatment as above mantle tear.
White bubble followed by stringy 'thing' coming out of mouth - gut expulsion - This is fatal. The best option is to euthanise the snail quickly. Forunately this is relatively rare, but the cause is yet unknown (to the best of my knowledge), however it is suspected that it's a reaction to parisites, poison, or something else that has severely irritated the snails's digestive tract.
HANDLING and HUMAN HYGIENE (safety for snails and people)There are precautions to be taken here.
DO NOT simply pull on the shell. If you do this may damage the snail’s body, even killing the snail.
DO slide your hand gently under its body, or if you can wait long enough encourage it to climb onto some food or other removable object, then pick up the object with the snail on.
DO NOT wear hand-cream. Snails are very sensitive to many chemicals.
DO NOT hold or squeeze the lip of the shell where the new growth is. This is often frail and is likely to break.
Bearing these rules in mind snails are easy to handle. Some species will retract when picked up, others are not at all shy and will immediately explore your hand.
After handling snails it is wise to wash your hands, although snail slime IS very good for your skin!
Wild caught snails may harbour a parasite caught from rat faeces. If ingested by humans this can cause illness, and possibly even meningitis. The parasite uses the snail as a host during part of it’s life cycle. For it's next stage the parasite MUST find a mammalian host to survive, so after a few weeks (a few months being on the safe side) it is believed that the parasite will die.