I'm wondering if it could be one of my big snails & it lost its shell?
I wonder if this is a vermetid attached to a shell this snail adopted or retreated from?Does anyone have an idea what this might be? It almost looks kind of snail-like but it has little hairs coming off the side and the shell is definitely not something I put in my tank. The "snail" also isn't inside it, but it's definitely somehow attached. If you blow the pic up, there's a lot going on in there. Thank you!
Yeah, that's definitely a snail out of its shell, and yes, it's going to die shortly.It does look like that, but I don’t believe that a snail can live without its shell. You got me!
It's referred to as Mantle Collapse; the only reasons I've heard for snails dropping their shells are disease (illness, parasites, etc.), injury, and possibly somethings like toxins or environmental conditions - in almost every case I've heard of, the shell dropping off is an indication that the snail is going to die soon.
That said, I have heard that Mantle Collapse can be healed with land snails (though this is highly disputed, as people dispute if these cases were truly Mantle Collapse, or if they were cases of Mantle Tears or Puffy Mantles), but I've never heard of it being healed with aquatic snails.
The cases that I've heard of recoveries with:
Any positive outcomes after mantle collapse? (Updated!) | PetSnails Forum
Update: if you or any other snail owner you know ever encounter a problem like this, please, read my February the 12th comment in this thread. Maybe it will be of help.petsnails.proboards.com
Edit: Looks like the FB link failed, but here's the info of the article:
"MANTLE COLLAPSE IN SNAILS
GEORGE SEBASTIAN NEUFELD·SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2017·"
