Snail shells Preventing further damage?

[Sandra the fish rookie]

Hi ~

I received my 3 rabbit snails. 2 of them have what appears to be some shell damage. They are doing well in my tank and are very active. I am concerned about these shells.  My KH is stable at 5. I have coral in the filter and substrate and a wonder shell. I have been feeding them crab cuisine because it has calcium in it. 

Is there anything else I can do to prevent it from getting worse? The picture below is of the one with the worse shell. The other one only has sone white on the outer shell. 

[Sandra the fish rookie]

oops. Picture below

 

[eatyourpeas]

It is disappointing that they would ship you snails that are not perfect.

The shell will regenerate from the inside and hopefully will get covered sooner rather than later. You can feed blanched spinach as well, since it has lots of calcium.

In the meantime, please make sure water is very clean to avoid the possibility of bacterial infection in the unprotected area.

[GameCzar]

We got some Nerites from one of the big box places and one had some slight shell damage, we've been keeping wondershell in the water, and they have access to Hikari Crab Cuisine, and I haven't seen any further damage.   

[Tihshho]

When it comes to rabbits, the damage you see is done and there is no repairing it. They are a species that comes from high pH and high TDS waterways so the best thing you can do is provide them a tank with the water parameters to support their shell structure. Food is part of the battle, water is the final. If the water is too acidic or has too low of a kH the shells will degrade further as they age. The food source allows them to build their shell as they grow, but the water is what prevents them from breaking down and dissolving. Remember, shells in water are a source of carbonates and water wants to reach equilibrium, if there is a source and the water isn't at equilibrium then the sources will be absorbed. 

The other thing about these snails is that they 'base jump' from glass, plants and other objects they can crawl on. If they are constantly doing it and landing on hard surfaces it can cause damage to the shells. Once the outer enamel of the shell is damaged, that's where you'll start seeing the shell dissolve and erode due to water conditions.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

Thanks everyone! I am watching them very carefully. I have to wonder if the water where they were from was a bit too soft or the KH too low. My water is HARD... my PH is stable at 7.3 and KH stable at 5 (never lower). I have a large wonder shell in there and they seem to love sitting on it.. I have a heavily planted aquarium and feed high quality food. Fingers crossed they don't get worse. 

I was surprised that they had shell damage, and have let the vendor know and sent picture's as well. It is what it is, and I love them anyway and will ensure that they have the best life I can give them. 

@Tihshho how long does it take for that kind of damage to occur? could it have happened during shipping or stress of shipping?

[Tihshho]

Which damage? The 'enamel' layer? If so that can happen at anytime. If they are shipped together and shells are banging against one another and causing chipping then that's a start. Otherwise it's during the time at a wholesaler if they are being kept in bare bottom tanks and fall and shells hit the glass and then the fracture decays away due to water quality. My original snails still have shell decay to this day and it grows, the offspring on the other hand are solid without much if any issues. 

[Sandra the fish rookie]

@Tihshho Thank you so much! I will watch him and make sure he is okay. The other one is more like white spots and there are no chips or damage to the tip like the other one. I have a picture of the other one below. I absolutely LOVE them. I mean.. I am a snail nerd.. but these guys are super cute!! and they are FAST! They lap around the entire tank like its nothing.. 

How large did yours get? 

[Tihshho]

That pitting damage in the picture is from damaged enamel and water quality damaging it from there. Out of the original adults I started with 2 of them are now about 3.5" long. 

[Sandra the fish rookie]

@Tihshho Thank you so much! I will keep an eye on it..

[Brandon p]

I have tips totally break off and still grow to full size. 

[Tihshho]

On 9/9/2021 at 2:01 PM, Brandon p said:

I have tips totally break off and still grow to full size. 

If tips break at the very end it's generally OK. The issue is when the decay gets all the way back to the pocket of the shell where the rest of the snails body resides. Then you have to deal with medications and prevention of fungus. Problem is that once the shell is that far damaged there isn't a chance of a natural repair. I'm sure you could patch the hole if it got that far, but the snail would more than likely be too far gone with bacterial exposure. 

@Sandra the fish rookie if you ever setup a tank with sand the Rabbits will use it. These guys burrow a lot of the time in my tanks as adults. The babies generally are always out and about, but the adults dig into the substrate like MTS and come trucking out when its feeding time.