guppylove23

hey ok sooo i have two apple snails and yesterday i saw them mating so hurrahh. howeverr, the smaller snails shell is a little bit see through on the spiral part (she was like tht wen i got her) and now its turning kinda black... is that eggs or is she/he sick?

aquarist48

Hello GuppyLove. It sounds like the snail may have a calcium deficiency. You can feed your snails zucchini (loaded with calcium), add some egg shells to your tank for calcium as well. Here is a link for apple snails you may find helpful. Some members have even added calcium tablets for human consumption. The snails will lay their eggs above the water line.
Apple Snail Care Sheet @ petfish.net
Best of luck.
Ken

guppylove23

im going to go buy them zuichini. how do i get them to eat it? chop it up and drop it into the water? will it go to the bottom or float? will this hurt my fish?

Butterfly

I slice zucchini length ways and stick a spoon or fork handle in it to make it sink. My snails fairly run to get on it and start eating. Here's some snail pics and pics of them eating.
Snail photos
Carol

guppylove23

theyre so cute! thanks! im buying zuchini tomorrow for them. im worried about putting a fork in the tank because its been in the dushwater with soap that might hurt my fishies. im excited to try this thought i hope it makes my snails happy their names are Benji and Milli

aquarist48

Hello Guppy. I insert a plant weight or two into the zucchini and it sinks. I add mine at night just before the lights go out and whatever is remaining in the morning I remove it so it doesn't cloud the water.
Ken

guppylove23

thanks! will do!

aquarist48

Guppylove..one more thing. What is your pH level? If it's over 7.0 no worries. If it's under 7.0 the water may be too acidic and be causing damage to your snail as well.
Ken

guppylove23

pH is 7.2

guppylove23

ok i have a HUGE problem! my snails both left the water for a few days and now one of their shells is falling off and they cant move

what could be wrong

aquarist48

Hello GuppyLove. Sorry to hear about your snails. If they were out of the water for a couple of days then I'm surprised that they are alive. I really don't know what to recommend at this point. You may want to try adding a calcium tablet (ones for human consumption). I've read that adding a "Tums" will work as well when it comes to adding calcium.
Best wishes and please keep us posted.
A link you may find helpful:
http://www.applesnail.net/content/va...il_disease.php
Ken

guppylove23

will tums kill my guppies? will it cloud up my water?

aquarist48

GuppyLove I've never tried the tums myself so I can't give you first hand knowledge there. Just a fact that I read somewhere. There was no mention of any ill side effects from using the tums. It was stated that from time to time the person even gave his snails a fruity flavored tums as a treat and they loved it. (I'll see if I can find the article)

If you're afraid to chance it then I would suggest a plain calcium tablet (for human consumption). I know some of our members have used them for their snails.
Ken

Edit: I can't locate the article at the moment. If you'll check out the link I provided it will give you several options for increasing the calcium.

Beth1965

For myself, I am going to try a calcium tab, i hadn't heard of this!
You are concerned about using a fork because it's been around soap....i use a plastic fork.

guppylove23

i gave them a tums and theyre better. my fish is fine