Strange disease Tylomelania zemis      5/30/16
Hi, I have had three Tylomelania zemis die from a strange disease. The snails were from different suppliers. A yellow gel like substance leaks out sometimes in large globs or it can be stringy.
<I wonder if they're so much sick as dying. What you're describing could easily be decomposing snail meat, or excessive mucous and faeces. Hard to say.>
There is a lot of it and it goes on for days. I use a turkey baster to siphon it off. Eventually they die. I don't know what to do for them. It kind of looks like there insides are turning to yellow goo and leaking out.
They are in hard well water and kept around 81 degrees. I feed vegetables, different fish foods, pellets and wafers. Their favorite food is Repashy gel food. I kept rabbit snails years ago and never saw this. Has anyone else ever seen this?
<Not I, said the Little Red Hen. There are some snail-specific forums out there though, such as AppleSnail.net and Planet Invert.>
Thank you for any help you can give. Kathy
<My starting point would be remove any/all snails the moment they behave oddly. Furthermore, if at all possible I'd be quarantining the Tylomelania zemis in their own aquarium. But either way, I'd be looking at the environment first of all. I'd do a copper test, to see if they're being poisoned. I'd check the water quality. I keep my Tylomelania a little
cooler than you, around 25 C, and find this does no harm at all, and may be beneficial if it allows a little extra oxygen to remain in the water. Snail "medicine" is non-existent as I'm sure you appreciate, and snails tend to be either alive or dying, with not much in between. They are easily stressed and poisoned though, and my guess would be that's more likely the issue here than something viral or bacterial, but there's no way to be sure. Good luck, Neale.>

Strange disease Tylomelania zemis        5/31/16
Hi, I have had three Tylomelania zemis die from a strange disease. The snails were from different suppliers. A yellow gel like substance leaks out sometimes in large globs or it can be stringy.
<I wonder if they're so much sick as dying. What you're describing could easily be decomposing snail meat, or excessive mucous and faeces. Hard to say.>
There is a lot of it and it goes on for days. I use a turkey baster to siphon it off. Eventually they die. I don't know what to do for them. It kind of looks like there insides are turning to yellow goo and leaking out.
They are in hard well water and kept around 81 degrees. I feed vegetables, different fish foods, pellets and wafers. Their favorite food is Repashy gel food. I kept rabbit snails years ago and never saw this. Has anyone else ever seen this?
<Not I, said the Little Red Hen. There are some snail-specific forums out there though, such as AppleSnail.net and Planet Invert.>
Thank you for any help you can give. Kathy
<My starting point would be remove any/all snails the moment they behave oddly. Furthermore, if at all possible I'd be quarantining the Tylomelania zemis in their own aquarium. But either way, I'd be looking at the environment first of all. I'd do a copper test, to see if they're being poisoned. I'd check the water quality. I keep my Tylomelania a little cooler than you, around 25 C, and find this does no harm at all, and may be beneficial if it allows a little extra oxygen to remain in the water. Snail "medicine" is non-existent as I'm sure you appreciate, and snails tend to be either alive or dying, with not much in between. They are easily stressed and poisoned though, and my guess would be that's more likely the issue here than something viral or bacterial, but there's no way to be sure. Good luck, Neale.>
re: Strange disease Tylomelania zemis        5/31/16
Thank you all. You have given me much to think about. I have a master test kit and will test straight away. I do use Prime to remove heavy metals.
<Which is fine for any copper in the tap water, but does nothing if the source of copper is in the tank, e.g., a piece of rock slowly leaching out copper...>
I will also lower the temp a little. I do have a quarantine tank but got lazy and did not use it for these new arrivals.
<Sounds like you have a plan. Good luck, Neale.>
Sick rabbit        5/31/16
Neale, here are some pics I took of the rabbit snail. Thought you might find them interesting. Kathy
<Well, it's certainly a dying, decaying rabbit snail. Beyond that... who knows. Decaying snails usually smell horrible. Cheers, Neale.>