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My Rescued Giant African Land Has Worms

1K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  JesseO 
#1 ·
Hi there. So my partner and I have recently acquired a fully grown GALS. It was apparently found abandoned in a London park in the middle of winter, inside it's tank. It's got a slightly chipped shell on one side, which looks like it repaired itself. We were using a cotton buds to oil it's shell the other day, and bathing the snail when my boyfriend found a thread like worm wiggling out of the damaged bit of shell. It was about 3mm in length. We squashed the worm before thinking to take a picture unfortunately, but been reading up and suspect it could be lungworm.
The snail seems happy enough, though I am freaked out. Especially since my friend, who has a dog and cat, is supposed to be looking after our GALS whilst we're away and I am afraid of it spreading the worm. Any ideas on how I can deworm our GALS please? I also read somewhere that if it has worms, it's probably got an issue with white mites coz that brings it immune system down. We haven't seen any mites, but our GALS is albino, so it might be hard to tell.

Any advice on what we should do would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
 
#4 ·
You have a Lissachatina reticulata there, the shell is supposed to be rough although it does look like there has not been consistent temps or humidity in the past which has led to poor shell growth. There is nothing you can do to rectify old growth, you can only correct current conditions so future growth is normal.

Please dont oil the shell, it will not actually improve the condition and is harmful to the snail. Oiling the shell will only make it *look* better but serves no other purpose.

You can buy ready made wormer mixes to deworm your snail. Snailpets on Etsy make them for example and it comes with instructions on how often to do it.
 
#5 ·
Thank you so much for this advice. I was wondering about the breed, it's good to know! I won't continue to oil the shell then, I just read it was good for it, but don't want to harm it!

I keep Shelly's tank at 25 degrees and humidity at around 75/80. I hope this is correct.

As for the dewormer - I will buy some. Shelly is a fussy eater, so hopefully will eat it.

Thanks again for the advice - I'm learning more every day and there is so much conflicting advice out there. Appreciate it.
 
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