Holey Snail

[Myrkk]

I have several snails in my tank but only one has this issue. It started off with small circular holes appearing on its shell and now it has lots of these and a long stripe along the edge of its shell around 1 to 2mm deep. As I say, nothing else has this, any thoughts on what it could be or what to do to stop it. I don't mind how it looks but worry about the snails health.

 

[Essjay]

It looks like a snail I used to have - that was a zebra nerite as well. It's usually erosion caused by a pH under 7.

Mine lived a long time even with the shell erosion - 9 years.

 

[Myrkk]

TY, that puts my mind at rest a little. I was a bit concerned as looking at that image one of the holes seems to go completely through the shell. pH is 7.5 and it is the only snail in the tank like this. I have a lovely orange rabbit snail and couple of others and their shells are pristine.

 

[Essjay]

I bought my zebra nerite in July 2011, and I found it dead in July 2020. These photos were taken in May 2020, two months before it died. There was a line around the shell from early on and it got wider and wider. It looks horrible but it was actually hard to the touch.

 

[Colin_T]

They look like holes someone is chewing in the shell. One of the other snails might be trying to eat it.

 

[StandbySetting]

Looks like shell erosion to me, what's your KH?

 

[Uberhoust]

I don't know much about aquatic snails but when land snails are short of calcium, and other minerals, they will get it where ever they can, including cannibalizing their mates by eating their shells. The radula of most snails is strong enough to wear a hole in other shells. The shape of the holes with the tapered sides looks like the hole made by whelks that feed off clams.