Please help - we found two very large garden snails last summer, and they have been happy pets who produced 46 offspring (also pets). A very mean, naughty classmate has seriously injured many of our snails, and I am having trouble finding information about how to treat their injuries. Any input, advice or assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Not wishing to sound patronising, but have you tried Google? A quick search for "snail injury" brought back quite a few promising-looking results that might tell you want you need to know, or lead you to websites or forums where you could ask for help or find a local specialist vet.
I have spent hours & hours using various search engines to locate resources online, including anatomy/morphology charts so that I can identify the organs I am seeing, as well as heart rates, etc., to be able to track stress, shock, etc. (I can see the heartbeat with a light through the shell). I have also read numerous academic articles online, then tried to contact the writers. I did find one PhD with specialty in garden snails - he's in Europe - but he said that there just isn't a lot of information because most folks don't care to doctor or treat snails. Cracks and small shell holes seem pretty easy to fix - we've even successfully treated a couple from "roof falls" (which led to habitat re-design). However, I have a larger snail (about the size of a good-size walnut) with a hole in it's shell that is slightly bigger than a 10-year-old's finger; the mantle is about 60% detached from the shell, and I can see the snail's lung through the open hole. So I am reluctant to use the standard, old-fashioned gauze-and-plaster-of-paris "fix" over internal tissues/organs that may be abraded. I am only using sterile water & very dilute tea tree oil, as I cannot find any confirmation regarding what medicines (anti-microbial, analgesic, lubricating, etc.) are safe for snails. Any suggestions welcome!
try a local hardware store for a hole repair substance you will need one that doesn't generate heat while curing you could also use a larger piece of another shell, sterilise it and super glue it over the hole don't use too much glue
Would nail glue be safe to use? It's ridiculously powerful, and submits to no substance except acetone. I've had a look online, and it just said to keep the snail well misted, give it cuttlefish bone with its food, and take it to an exotics vet with snail experience. How you would find such a person, I have no idea. Another site said to patch the shell with a piece of eggshell or plastic, and to use a non-water-soluble non-toxic glue
Sounds abit too fishy to me but i agree ith agile gibbon. Using a non toxic glue stick a portion of egg shell over the hole. However ive seen inverts survive with plenty of deformities, if it doesnt look too bad then the shell will heal around the edges and as long as the enclosure is moist the snail should be able to behave normaly
HELP -- snail injury If you're using egg shell anyway, why not use egg white as the 'glue'? It's non-toxic and sets hard.
Tbh if it is living atm, the best bet might be to leave it for now but to give it plenty of cuttlefish to allow the shell to reform naturally. A hole in a snail is no real problem if the humidity is correct.
I have read that only breaks around the edge of the shell can heal, the parts further into the 'spiral' will not mend by themselves
