Injuries and diseases

How to check the general condition of your snail

Unlike with pets such as dogs and cats, it can be quite difficult to determine when your snail is not feeling well. They do not make sounds and have behaviors that can be difficult to read in connection with mood. If you are worried that your snail is not feeling well, you should first think about what is giving you that feeling and start from there. If you worry, for example, that it has lost its appetite, it can immediately be linked to either physical problems or completely natural things, such as the fact that it is almost hibernation time and then many snails start behaving differently. I will now highlight some common things that often worry snail owners I have been in contact with, and explain when you should be worried and what the different things can be.

Lack of appetite

For a long time, I have been in contact with owners who were worried about their snails and almost always it was about the snail having or suddenly having a bad appetite. I usually then answer that this is very rarely actually something to be worried about. 

A snail does not lose its appetite or stop eating because they are mentally ill like humans can. This because their emotional systems are not that complex. However, poor appetite can still be linked to the psychological by referring to the fact that the snail will soon hibernate. Then both appetite and energy often drop a lot and the owner has to get ready to check on a dormant shell a few months ahead.

It is not particularly common for kidney problems to be noticed through a lack of appetite, as the snail often has die before it is noticed, but problems with the kidneys can be a physical defect shown by poor or no appetite.

Kidney problems

It is not particularly common for kidney problems to be noticed through a lack of appetite, as the snail often has die before it is noticed, but problems with the kidneys can be a physical defect shown by poor or no appetite. Kidney problems are sometimes in the genes and can rarely be ascertained but only guessed at, but they can in some cases be avoided through a good diet unless you are careful that the amount of phytin in the food is low. 

Teeth problems

Less serious physical defects that can contribute to decreased appetite are one or more damaged teeth. Snails have between 14,000 and 30,000 teeth in a special organ called a radula. Teeth are not all too infrequently damaged but also grow back in these animals. While this is happening, however, appetite may decrease a lot, but don't worry! A snail can hardly starve as they can survive up to 3 years without food.

Deformities

If you have raised snails or read the chapter on reproduction, you know that the clutches of eggs are large and it is very common to have runts, i.e. baby snails that are born with a malformed shell or develop it shortly after birth. You can read more about these in the breeding chapter, but I mention it here to highlight the health defects that can come with runts. 

With malformed shells, there can always be internal errors in the organs that we are not aware of. Severe deformities often lead to a quick natural death, but snails with slightly malformed bodies can survive, even if it means suffering. 

In addition to runts, there are also other forms of malformations that are not as common. An extra eye is sometimes present although there is usually no vision, and similar abnormalities may also occur. Once again, the motto is the following: If the deviation seems to cause the suffering, the suffering must end immediately.