Snail With Shell Problem

[tangokitty]

one of my snails has a huge crack in it, and as it grows so does the crack, should I just let it be or kill it??
What could be wrong with it?
Sould I worry about other snails having this problem?
Thanks!!

 

[Colin_T]

You could try joining it together with superglue. Take the snail out and dry it off with a towel or tissue. Then superglue it together and allow to dry for a minute before rinsing under the tap and then putting back in the tank.
If the snail has a huge gap in the shell then you can sometimes glue a very thin piece of plastic to the shell and it will hold things together until the shell is repaired.

Snails usually have problems with their shells if they are kept in soft acid water. Then the acid water gets neutralised by the calcium and minerals in the shells thus making the shell thinner and weaker. Increasing the PH to 7.0 or slightly higher will help as will increasing the GH & KH.

 

[tangokitty]

My pH is 7.6. I add calcium to the water. The snails shell was kind of odd looking when I first got it, but as it has grown it just started to get a bigger and bigger gap. Will it fill in if I superglue somehting over it?

 

[Colin_T]

Theoretically the shell should heal up if something covers the gap and holds the shell together. However, if the shell has an infection in it (fungal or bacterial), then the problem will only get worse over time and will not heal up. Unfortunately there isn't any real way of telling if the shell has an infection without the help of a lab and that will cost you a lot of money. I would just glue a small piece of plastic (from a fish bag or something similar) over the damaged part and see how it goes. If it gets worse over time then perhaps euthanase the snail. But until then just enjoy it and see how it goes