Post by etana on Mar 28, 2018 9:28:44 GMT
So, unfortunately I am currently dealing with my first ever case of Gut extrusion syndrome.
If you're not familiar with it, the main symptom is that some of the snail's internal organs hang outside his mouth, inside a grey sac. The snail is obviously unable to eat and drink. The only treatment that has been known to work at all is to puncture the sac they're in, drain it a bit, and then try to push it back in.
As snails' illnesses are not very well known, I think any observations could be helpful for future snail keepers. So, I'll type down what I have noticed and how it possibly differs from what I have read.
I'll begin by noting that we have no clue if the cause is always the same. I have seen people hypothesize that cleaning too much might contribute to this, as it can cause bacterial imbalance. Well, here I have an anecdote where cleaning too much CANNOT be the cause. I only ever do partial soil changes, I never ever sterilize anything (edit for clarification: Except for things that are going into the tank for the first time ever), I never use anything anti-bacterial, and I let poops sit in the tank quite a bit. If not cleaning enough was the cause, I suppose I'd have more than one ill snail at a time. My other snails are strong and active. This snail was very big and strong too.
There are definitely no Riccardoella mites, only some other kinds that I don't ever see running into the snails' breathing holes. Some springtails, a few fruit flies.
What is particularly interesting is that the condition seemed to develop over many months. The snail started sleeping with his mouth open, his face stretching long. It looked odd as nobody else did that. Maybe a week ago, I noticed that when the snail was asleep, a blue-grey object was protruding out of his mouth. I now know this was part of the sac that is now hanging outside his mouth. I woke the snail up and he swallowed it right back. He also spent a bit of time stretching upwards, but not in the way that snails do a stretchy dance when they smell food, as he was stiff as a statue.
Today there was the full extrusion. I have pictures and even a video, but they are quite awful. I have punctured him, fluid squirted out just like it would on the TV or something, that's how much pressure there was. I couldn't really do anything to help him get the organs back in, as he would retract when I tried, then come back out much later and make very intense eye contact with me.
He seems very tired. No wonder, as on top of everything else, at this hour he's normally asleep.
If you're not familiar with it, the main symptom is that some of the snail's internal organs hang outside his mouth, inside a grey sac. The snail is obviously unable to eat and drink. The only treatment that has been known to work at all is to puncture the sac they're in, drain it a bit, and then try to push it back in.
As snails' illnesses are not very well known, I think any observations could be helpful for future snail keepers. So, I'll type down what I have noticed and how it possibly differs from what I have read.
I'll begin by noting that we have no clue if the cause is always the same. I have seen people hypothesize that cleaning too much might contribute to this, as it can cause bacterial imbalance. Well, here I have an anecdote where cleaning too much CANNOT be the cause. I only ever do partial soil changes, I never ever sterilize anything (edit for clarification: Except for things that are going into the tank for the first time ever), I never use anything anti-bacterial, and I let poops sit in the tank quite a bit. If not cleaning enough was the cause, I suppose I'd have more than one ill snail at a time. My other snails are strong and active. This snail was very big and strong too.
There are definitely no Riccardoella mites, only some other kinds that I don't ever see running into the snails' breathing holes. Some springtails, a few fruit flies.
What is particularly interesting is that the condition seemed to develop over many months. The snail started sleeping with his mouth open, his face stretching long. It looked odd as nobody else did that. Maybe a week ago, I noticed that when the snail was asleep, a blue-grey object was protruding out of his mouth. I now know this was part of the sac that is now hanging outside his mouth. I woke the snail up and he swallowed it right back. He also spent a bit of time stretching upwards, but not in the way that snails do a stretchy dance when they smell food, as he was stiff as a statue.
Today there was the full extrusion. I have pictures and even a video, but they are quite awful. I have punctured him, fluid squirted out just like it would on the TV or something, that's how much pressure there was. I couldn't really do anything to help him get the organs back in, as he would retract when I tried, then come back out much later and make very intense eye contact with me.
He seems very tired. No wonder, as on top of everything else, at this hour he's normally asleep.
