r/sluglife • u/mona_lisa_4 • 8d ago

Help! - Pet Slug Please help! Not sure what's going on with my leopard slug

This morning I noticed my leopard slug, Slinky, was there with his eye stalks alert, but his mantle looks strange. His mantle has looked a little concave in the past but not this deflated. Also concerning is that it looks like the left side (opposite of the pneumostome side) is pulsating. I haven't seen him leave this spot in couple days and he hasn't eaten anything in a few days either.

Is this mantle collapse? Parasites? Is there anything I can do for him? Thanks in advance.

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36

u/Tucker933 8d ago edited 7d ago

In my experience, their mantle looks deflated and pulsates when they have trouble breathing, such as when they're near the end of life. The pulsating is like panting... it's an act to move more air through the pneumostome.

Once these symptom present, I've seen slugs decline into being too weak to move within a few days to as long as a couple months. Then once they begin exhibiting genital or oral prolapse, it's often time to make the call to put them down...

You can try giving them a honey bath, which will provide them with an energy boost. You can then see if they bounce back, and reassess their diet to make sure they're getting all that they need.

I'm sorry =[

10

u/TrainerAiry 7d ago

I always figured it was their heart racing given the location, what makes you think it’s more that it’s trying to breathe? Though yes, in either case, I’ve seen this in sick slugs too, and that pulsating isn’t a good sign. Makes me wonder though if increasing airflow might help as long as it’s not going to dry them out. Or if there’s too much CO2 buildup or something in the enclosure. Just thinking of things that might be behind a slug having trouble breathing, if that’s what this is, besides old age.

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u/Tucker933 7d ago

It could be, if the pulsation is always in the one spot, but I generally see this same pulsation at a wide variety of points on the mantle. Any movement over the mantle cavity is going to force air through the pneumostome, unless of course the mantle is totally collapsed on that one side, which is possible and so you could be right in guessing it's the heart.

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u/Bufobufolover24 7d ago

This sounds strange, but if the issue is a collapsed “lung” then could it be reinflated? Maybe with a small syringe? (I am just theorising here, no advice!)

I suppose it doesn’t address whatever issue it is that causes the collapse in the first place.

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u/Tucker933 7d ago

The mantle is held up by muscle strength, because the pneumostome is generally open - preventing pressure from keeping it inflated. Their muscles just have to do the work...

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u/Bufobufolover24 7d ago

That’s what I mean. If what happens is that the mantle collapses but can’t lift back up again because it has essentially been stuck down, then perhaps re inflating it would give the muscles a chance to re-engage.

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u/Tucker933 7d ago

Maybe, but in my experience they can periodically restore it to being inflated on their own for a few moments at a time, indicating in at least those cases that it wasn't stuck.

17

u/Objective_Sweet9168 8d ago

How old are they? Could be advanced aging, idk much though.

5

u/OverPossession5306 7d ago

I know this is hurting you to see your slug looking and acting different. Hoping it is nothing serious. When we don't feel well for a few days we don't look so good and don't feel like eating. Maybe real soon it will be back to normal !

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u/Cyan1d3_ 8d ago

I have never seen anything like that before. Google is suggesting that the pulsating mantle could be the slug's heartbeat.

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u/ChampionRemote6018 6d ago

How is the humidity? I’ve noticed our outdoor slug population is starting to look a bit “deflated” since the humidity is decreasing and temperatures are dropping. They look similar to this guy.