Snail has some small chips/scratches, how can I improve shell health?

I got a mystery snail from petco yesterday, i noticed he has some small chips/scratches on his shell. what should i do to help his shell health?
I'm reading up on calcium and what not, i'll make sure to feed veggies that are high in calcium, and will look into adding calcium into the water. i'll also be getting a kh/gh test kit soon to make sure that the water is up to par for him. any tips and info (on this specific problem and mystery snail care) are greatly appreciated!

 

What you are suggesting is as much as you can do which is enough, the chips won't really rebuild but the shell will strengthen with what you do, that bit of tlc will go a long way

 

You can also supplement their diet with snail jello "snello". I also put vacation feeder blocks in the food dish every time I feed them. They like to scrape at them and they have a lot of calcium. One more thing I do is if I can find them, I place them in the dishes to make sure they eat the supplements. They always do!

 

thanks

You can also supplement their diet with snail jello "snello". I also put vacation feeder blocks in the food dish every time I feed them. They like to scrape at them and they have a lot of calcium. One more thing I do is if I can find them, I place them in the dishes to make sure they eat the supplements. They always do!

Thanks! What's your "snello" recipe? I've seen ones with tums but i've seen mixed info on if tums are okay for them or not (due to the sugar + additives). I'll look into the vacation feeder blocks, might get some hikari crab cuisine which i've seen being recommended.

 

Here's the recipe I use, it does have Tums in it. From what I've read, so long as the Tums don't have added vitamin D it's fine.
SNELLO
One 4oz jar green beans baby food.
One & 1/2 packets Knox plain gelatin (generic is fine).
10 Berry Flavored Tums, crushed into powder.
Fish Flakes
Shrimp Pellets
PREPARATION
Crush Tums, fish flakes and shrimp pellets into a powder using a mortar & pestle or a pill crusher.
Heat baby food on stove until bubbling. Once heated, stir in gelatin. Stir very well using spoon.
Stir in Tums mixture and continue to stir until well mixed.
Spoon mixture into ice cube tray or flat bottomed container.
Let set, about a couple hours. Remove from tray & cut into smaller pieces. ( I've found that a lot goes a long way).
Store in freezer.
It can cloud the water after awhile, so I usually remove the uneaten portion after an hour. And I have to pry my snails off of it, they'd munch on it for hours if I let them.

 

Here's the recipe I use, it does have Tums in it. From what I've read, so long as the Tums don't have added vitamin D it's fine.
SNELLO
One 4oz jar green beans baby food.
One & 1/2 packets Knox plain gelatin (generic is fine).
10 Berry Flavored Tums, crushed into powder.
Fish Flakes
Shrimp Pellets
PREPARATION
Crush Tums, fish flakes and shrimp pellets into a powder using a mortar & pestle or a pill crusher.
Heat baby food on stove until bubbling. Once heated, stir in gelatin. Stir very well using spoon.
Stir in Tums mixture and continue to stir until well mixed.
Spoon mixture into ice cube tray or flat bottomed container.
Let set, about a couple hours. Remove from tray & cut into smaller pieces. ( I've found that a lot goes a long way).
Store in freezer.
It can cloud the water after awhile, so I usually remove the uneaten portion after an hour. And I have to pry my snails off of it, they'd munch on it for hours if I let them.

thanks so much! do you think if i used reptile calcium powder instead of the tums it would work as well? i read the care sheet on the forum and adding the powder to the water was suggested, so my guess (total guess) is that it would work as well. i only have one mystery snail right now, but i'll be getting another and put it in a shrimp breeding tank (and i know calcium is good for shrimp as well) so i'll definitely make it!

 

As long as the reptile calcium doesn't have added vitamin D3 in it, I bet it would be a fine substitute for Tums.

 

As long as the reptile calcium doesn't have added vitamin D3 in it, I bet it would be a fine substitute for Tums.

i have some calcium powder for my reptile ingredients, these are the exact ingredients, do you think it'll be okay?

Calcium carbonate, oyster shell flour, salt, calcium sulfate, potassium chloride, ferrous fumarate, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate.

 

i have some calcium powder for my reptile ingredients, these are the exact ingredients, do you think it'll be okay?

Calcium carbonate, oyster shell flour, salt, calcium sulfate, potassium chloride, ferrous fumarate, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate.

I honestly don't know much about chemistry and the safety of much. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will pipe in and know if that list is safe. I just know that I've been feeding my snails the snello recipe, as well as my shrimp, and all is fine.

 

hi, i have just one more question! i've seen some info on adding tums directly to the water to add calcium as well, how many should i add to my mystery snail's quarantine tank? the tank size is about 5 gallons, and i'll be getting my gh/kh test kit in the mail today so i can provide that info later.

 

Copper is deadly to inverts if overdosed so you need to be sure the amount in reptile calcium dosnt exceed that

 

Copper is deadly to inverts if overdosed so you need to be sure the amount in reptile calcium dosnt exceed that

i decided against using it as it has salt in it as well. will try tums and cuttlebone instead. not sure how many tums i should add to my snail's quarantine tank tho (he is in a 5 gallon for now), if you know anything about that, it would be super helpful! thanks!

 

Sorry never used tums but sure Bettybrown922 should help in that department

 

hi, i have just one more question! i've seen some info on adding tums directly to the water to add calcium as well, how many should i add to my mystery snail's quarantine tank? the tank size is about 5 gallons, and i'll be getting my gh/kh test kit in the mail today so i can provide that info later.

I've never tried doing that, mostly to avoid cloudy water. I don't know for sure that Tums alone will cloud the water, I just never tried it. If you do try doing it that way, let me know how it goes.

 

I've never tried doing that, mostly to avoid cloudy water. I don't know for sure that Tums alone will cloud the water, I just never tried it. If you do try doing it that way, let me know how it goes.

i will! i was more confused on how many tums to add to the water, i've been having trouble finding information on it. apparently the tums will cloud the water briefly (and depending on how many you add). do you only use the tums in snello? thank you so much for answering all my questions btw!

 

i will! i was more confused on how many tums to add to the water, i've been having trouble finding information on it. apparently the tums will cloud the water briefly (and depending on how many you add). do you only use the tums in snello? thank you so much for answering all my questions btw!

No problem! Yeah, I've only ever used Tums in my Snello. I'm sure there must be alternatives, but I too had problems finding out the full safety and effectiveness of Tums for snails. So, I went ahead and used Tums (went with Berry flavor cuz I just couldn't get over the thought of peppermint and green beans together, ugh.). So far, both my snails and shrimp love it and I've seen no issues pop up after feeding them.