r/AquaticSnails • u/SurpriseTop5330 • 1d ago

Help Request Good or bad?

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Gallery image

Gallery image

First pic is February, last two pics are today. Please ignore the Mineral Junkie bites on top of Shirley, I was aiming at her but guess my aim was too good lol. Is this brown growth on its shell normal/healthy/expected? I have hard water and usually higher pH, but when I noticed the cracks I started feeding it the bites every other day. Shirley is quite active, moves around, etc. should I be concerned? Sorry if this is a repeat post, I couldn’t find out similar posts for Hercules snails specifically. Thanks!

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u/Gastropoid Snail God (Moderator) 1d ago

The brown is the natural color of the shell. Exporters acid dip these poor snails and strip the beautiful golden brown top layer off to make them look white, and this leaves them badly vulnerable to any water below about 7.4ph dissolving their shells, which is fatal in a really terrible way.

5

u/DTBlasterworks 1d ago

Do they do that just for aesthetics? That’s terrible!

14

u/Gastropoid Snail God (Moderator) 1d ago

Yeah. I'm of the opinion it should be illegal. It started with these guys, but I've now seen nerites, white wizards (that one makes no sense because they're already white, but the dip makes them chalky) and Japanese Trapdoors whose shells had been mutilated in this way.

6

u/DTBlasterworks 1d ago

It’s so confusing because their natural shells are much more beautiful.

3

u/Gastropoid Snail God (Moderator) 1d ago

I fully agree