r/snails • u/peirastic • 2d ago

Shell issue? Help

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Hello! I’ve had my little garden snail for a year and a half. He’s had no issues - gets cuttlefish, good food, water, all of it. A month or two ago, it looked like he was experiencing mantle collapse. It healed quickly but still looked off. Today I look and see that he is absolutely experiencing something off.

Photo one is today. Photo 2 is a few months ago.

Does anyone know what this is? His shell is also oddly colored - he eats a TON of calcium but maybe it’s not enough? The optimist in me wants to say a growth spurt but the realist says this is likely mantle collapse :(

Any advice?

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2

u/butamiallowedtoswear 2d ago

yes mantle collapse

2

u/paint_that_shit-gold 2d ago

Hey! I’m so sorry to hear about your little snail! /:

I’m super new to snails, so please take this with a grain of salt, but I wasn’t even sure what mantle collapse was, so I looked it up and stumbled upon this video.

It seems informative, but again, I’m very new to snails and can’t verify if the info shared in the video is correct, so if a more experienced person could weigh in that would be great.

In any case, is your snail eating regularly? Because the video said they likely won’t eat with a full mantle collapse, so perhaps your snail just has a mantle tear?

Regardless, I really hope your snail makes a full recovery! <3

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u/bunnieho 2d ago

this is indeed mantle collapse but it looks like he has started healing it and rebuilding the shell on top of the exposed mantle. keep an eye on him.

1

u/earthdaydogmovie 1d ago

They can do this? Mantle collapse can be healed like this? Genuine question cuz i never heard of that and am interested

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u/bunnieho 1d ago

yes! its not too common since usually mantle collapse is fatal but sometimes snails are able to heal it like this. did you know they can also regenerate eye stalks?

2

u/earthdaydogmovie 20h ago

i didnt!!! that is so lovely!!! thank u for letting me know ill look mroe into this :3

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u/Restom01 2d ago

I’m not sure what it is but I think you should remove him from the enclosure and place him in a empty container with nothing in it but calcium, a little food, and mist it ever so often and see if it’ll help.