Advice for calcium

[theodidactus]

My snails are prospering in their new tank, but they're still not getting the calcium they need. I'm in a rather odd living situation, so I'm not able to get the usual recommendations (no liquid calcium, no limestone flour, no cuttlefish bone)

So, I started this thread to get suggestions on what to try next. Also to ask: they seem fine at present, but how long can they go without a steady supply of calcium.

Things I've tried that didn't work:
Eggshells (no interest)
Shrimp Shells (no interest)
Coral fragments (no interest)
smashed seashells (mostly no interest...the one that did ate it didn't digest it very well)

Things I'm thinking of trying:
Rolaids (I teach chemistry classes, so I have a steady supply, and have proved they're mostly made of calcium carbonate)
Powdered calcium carbonate (I can get this from a chemical supplier)
Crushed up chalk (I'm a teacher, so I have this in abundance) I'm reticent to try this one, since blackboard chalk is made of calcium sulfate and sulfur is deadly to snails, apparently.

I think the other above stuff will work, but I'd like to know if anyone has tried them first.

The problem seems to be that these guys were caught wild. I don't think they recognize the calcium sources I've thrown in. Any suggestions?

[choco]

Nov 3, 2010 12:47:50 GMT theodidactus said:

My snails are prospering in their new tank, but they're still not getting the calcium they need. I'm in a rather odd living situation, so I'm not able to get the usual recommendations (no liquid calcium, no limestone flour, no cuttlefish bone)

So, I started this thread to get suggestions on what to try next. Also to ask: they seem fine at present, but how long can they go without a steady supply of calcium.

Things I've tried that didn't work:
Eggshells (no interest)
Shrimp Shells (no interest)
Coral fragments (no interest)
smashed seashells (mostly no interest...the one that did ate it didn't digest it very well)

Things I'm thinking of trying:
Rolaids (I teach chemistry classes, so I have a steady supply, and have proved they're mostly made of calcium carbonate)
Powdered calcium carbonate (I can get this from a chemical supplier)
Crushed up chalk (I'm a teacher, so I have this in abundance) I'm reticent to try this one, since blackboard chalk is made of calcium sulfate and sulfur is deadly to snails, apparently.

I think the other above stuff will work, but I'd like to know if anyone has tried them first.

The problem seems to be that these guys were caught wild. I don't think they recognize the calcium sources I've thrown in. Any suggestions?

I've not tried it personally, but I would have thought calcium carbonate would be OK for snails. I know they can eat "natural" chalk but I'd imagine that's different to the stuff used for blackboards in schools. Can you get hold of any chunks or chips of limestone rock, perhaps from a gardening or plant store?
Are you just unable to find any good calcium sources for sale locally, or is it that you wouldn't be able to receive any in the mail either?

Have you tried crushing up the eggshells and sprinkling them over the snails' food? This may help them to ingest some and maybe recognise it as a source of calcium.

Try giving them foods high in calcium as well, to make sure they're getting some. Brocolli, kale, carrot, tomatoes, acai berries, strawberries and almonds all have a reasonable amount of calcium.

[theodidactus]

Natural chalk, or CaCO3, should be perfectly alright for snails.
Chalkboard chalk isn't actually made of CaCO3, it's made of CaSO3 almost everywhere. I'm worried the "S" there will do them in (that's Sulfur)

I've tried asking local gardening stores for limestone, but whenever I try to ask, they look at me like I'm from space. I live in Taiwan and my chinese is not very good. Chinese is a highly contextual language so you can't just ask for one highly specific thing ("Limestone" or "Calcium") in a vacuum.

[kim280667]

hi for calcium , i give my snails crushed oyster shell and limestone flour which i sprinkle over their food every day.

[theodidactus]

I can't obtain limestone flour...I really wish I could, because all the sources I try are failing.

I can see little yellow lines on their new shell growth, I'm worrying this is from their new calcium-poor diet. Any suggestions? I'm running out of options

[kim280667]

hi i buy my limestone flour from hyperdrug www.hyperdrug.co.uk.

[theodidactus]

yeah...that won't work. Thanks for the help though.
I live in a very isolated city, the postage here, from anywhere, would be preposterously high.

I may have located a bird-keeper a few blocks away, he'd have to stock cuttlebone. We'll see tomorrow.

[kim280667]

oh thats ok

[AlienSnail]

Yellow lines on new shell growth are normal, they darken as the shell ages, so no worries. It's likely that they will have a store of calcium within themselves and will be getting some from their diet.
If you grind up the fish bones as per your original plan and spinkle them on top of the food it may be all they need

[theodidactus]

Nov 6, 2010 14:15:26 GMT AlienSnail said:

Yellow lines on new shell growth are normal, they darken as the shell ages, so no worries. It's likely that they will have a store of calcium within themselves and will be getting some from their diet.
If you grind up the fish bones as per your original plan and spinkle them on top of the food it may be all they need

I made a class project of it: my class has to spend 10 minutes a'grinding 3 sources of calcium: Fish bones, Oyster Shells, and Eggshells, we'll see which ones they like best.

I discovered tonight that my snails absolutely adore spinach. I placed some in the tank and they all stopped what they were doing and swarmed the food tray. I'm aquainted with the calcium-uptake issues inherent in spinach (I just gave a little lecture on oxalates) but this is definitely something I'm going to have to explore further.

The Yellow bands at the base of the shell are a bit thicker than I expected them to be: maybe I'm just a worrywart. It's good to know they are growing.

[theodidactus]

well, now that I've got a broken shell in the family, this is more important than ever. I still can't get my hands on a reliable supply of eggshells or any limestone flour or cuttlefish, even at stores which specialize in Birds

I found an aquarium store nearby that sells pellets for crabs and shrimp, fortified with calcium. I've sprinkled this liberally throughout the tank...maybe that will work.

Also, one of my fellow teachers has a copious supply of baby formula. Anyone ever tried that?

[theodidactus]

I recieved a Christmas present from myself: a massive upgrade of my chemistry lab. One of the thing I've invested in is a large container of industrial calcium carbonate (for precipitation reactions). This is the principle composite of limestone, I think it's more or less the same thing as limestone flour...but I don't want to take any chances.


has anyone ever tried something like this before? Any unforseen consequences that I may be overlooking?

[AlienSnail]

I can't imagine it will do any harm. I'll try asking around. I know in human terms the different types of calcium are absorbed slightly differently, making a difference in the useful quality of Calcium tablets, but as far as I'm aware it can all be ustilised to a degree.
Is that all it is in there? Litterally just the calcium? If so there shouldn't be any problems.

[theodidactus]

All chemical supply quantities have a small amount of impurities, which are listed along the side; this is an inevitable part of the manufacturing process. In this case, the listed impurities are Iron, Sulfate, and Arsenic, but they're present in very small quantities (.001% of something like that). This is my concern at present, but given that I live in an industrial city and these snails were wild-caught, I expect they've had more exposure to heavy metals from the air in this town.

[theodidactus]

okay, 4 days an no one's dead...I guess this works.
They were certainly enthusiastic to eat the stuff.