Do Brigs grow back doors?

[leeser28]

Well, like the title asks, if a Brig has lost it's trap door will it grow back? I noticed 2 doors on the sand and one snail dead. The other maroon has also lost its door, but is alive and moving around. The 2 purple in the tank are fine. I did notice a worm come from one of the purple brigs - I thought it was poo until it landed and then started to move - it was brownish -- not a white nematode or a planaria -- too cylindrical for planaria, it actually almost looked like it has little legs??? Any ideas or advice besides a sand vac and water change?

[leeser28]

Anyone??

[Reframer]

Doesn't sound good, I have no idea. In my experience the loss of their trap door leads to death. Sorry, hopefully someone else can give you ideas for deworming them, I know you can't use the food for fish on snails.
I would isolate the rest if not done so already and do some really good vacs in the tank. Most snail parasites also prey on fish. You can treat the fish in the tank for parasites, but don't put the snails back in there until all the meds are out. I heard you can use fresh garlic juice too. But I don't know what kind of parasite this is.

[leeser28]

Thanks. There's only one BN Pleco in the tank and some shrimp. Because of the shrimp I couldn't really medicate, I'll just clean as best as I can.

[leeser28]

OK, on closer look there is a bit of a planaria outbreak - but one of my brigs seems to be chasing them down and eating them. I also read that a brig in an aquarium can survive without its opperculum, but I'm still worried. Any suggestions??

[BettaFishMommy]

i've had a little jade brigg live just fine without it's trap door in my community tank. i would have thought the fish would pick on it but they leave him alone. hasn't grown quite the same size wise as the others from the same clutch but it's shell is healthy and it eats just as well as the others. i did consider euthanizing it but kept putting it off and am glad now that i didn't because i would have 'killed' an otherwise perfectly healthy snail.

maybe you might consider moving this snail with no door to a tank of it's own? a little 2 gallon with a small filter would be sufficient. that way you could rest any fears that the fish in the current tank would pick on it.

as for clearing up the worm problem..... water changes and gravel vacs, more water changes, more gravel vacs. and feed less.

[Lupin]

One of my canas damaged more than half of his door. I could still not figure out how that happened but he is already about 18 months old. He's doing well so far despite his damaged operculum (about 60% gone).

[dixienut]

never knew them to regrow this back,.. also just veiwing the title i read it as do briggs grow a "back door" :lol2: i was trying to figure out why they needed one :lol2:

don't worry i'll be alright :rolleyes:

[leeser28]

LOL -- after I posted I got the same giggle Dixie :)

I haven't read that they can grow the opperculum back, but since he's in a protected environment he doesn't really need it so much. I just wish I knew why he lost it.

[Flaringshutter]

They can grow back operculum, but it is a very slow process and the operculum will probably never reach full size. It will always be a little too small. Feed calcium-rich foods and be sure your pH is nice and high, and he should recover.

[Reframer]

They can grow back operculum, but it is a very slow process and the operculum will probably never reach full size. It will always be a little too small. Feed calcium-rich foods and be sure your pH is nice and high, and he should recover.
Wow, I'm glad I checked back because this is great news. But I wonder why it would lose it in the first place if no injury happened?

[Flaringshutter]

Here is a quote from the applesnail.net section on operculum loss:


Beside the shape and the smoothness of the operculum, the attachement of the operculum to the back of the foot is a good indication of the well being (or not) of the snail. In normal situations the snail's tissues completely cover the inside/body side of the operculum. If the snail is not in optimal condition, this tissue is retracted and only the center of the opreculum is covered by snail tissue. In such cases one needs to check the water quality and make sure everything is allright. .... Occasionally, it does happen that the whole operculum is lost. This is not life threatening for the snail itself, but it often indicates a real serious health problem in the snail, so be sure to check the water quality and be sure the snail isn't dead.

I have found that the bit about how firmly the operculum is attached reflecting the health of the snail to be absolutely accurate. If your snails are losing their operculum all at once you may not be feeding enough or your food might be poor in nutritional value. You could have high nitrates, low pH or low calcium levels.

Best of luck.

[Reframer]

That's very interesting, thanks FS.

[leeser28]

The snail died last night. I still don't know what happened. The food is food for snails from Kens, but I think the issue may have been related to leaving too much food because I have been trying to clear out planaria. Not an easy task with baby shrimp in the tank. Any ideas for cleaning sand with baby shrimp please let me know! Thanks.

[Wycco]

never knew them to regrow this back,.. also just veiwing the title i read it as do briggs grow a "back door" :lol2: i was trying to figure out why they needed one :lol2:

don't worry i'll be alright :rolleyes:


I thought the same thing too! ;)

Isn't there some old wives tale about it being bad luck to exit a house from the same door as you went in?

Maybe, (as we've learned this week, since snails leave their shells and look for bigger ones when they've outgrown them, ;)) the snails don't believe in entering a shell from the same door as they entered with.

Are snails superstitious?

[leeser28]

I thought the same thing too! ;)

Isn't there some old wives tale about it being bad luck to exit a house from the same door as you went in?

Maybe, (as we've learned this week, since snails leave their shells and look for bigger ones when they've outgrown them, ;)) the snails don't believe in entering a shell from the same door as they entered with.

Are snails superstitious?
:lol: I read the post about the snail looking for a new shell too :)

[huffmagx]

I have not had this happen but an interesting thread just in case. Good luck with your snail!