7 Giant African Land Snails

[cane76]

my sons new pets they have eggs that are hatching
he wanted a crab tank but i dont trust a tank of water in the kids room
he is well pleased anyway

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Cool .
I heard they breed like crazy though somewhere.

 

[lilfishie]

there cool one of my school teachers has some in the class room

 

[Erised]

My grandmother used to have 3 of them in her garden, must say they are lovely animals to watch. That is, if you like just staring at 'nature' shall we say.
While not crabs, I'm sure he'll enjoy looking after them. Especially if they're having babies, should be nice for him watching them grow up. Maybe he can draw a picture of the size of the babies every week to keep track on how they grow (depending on his age ofcourse).

 

[KathyM]

They're achatina fulica, lovely snails but breed like mad. You'll probably want to freeze the eggs they lay (they will generally lay them under the soil and can hatch out quite quickly). Unfortunately achatina fulica are very hard to rehome, there's even a rescue for them. They lay well over 100 eggs and quite frequently, so you might want to make sure you only hatch what you can keep or rehome.

Bet your son's dead chuffed!

 

[timmystood]

I've got 3 of these guys!

Had them for about 7 months but they've never bred for me!

 

[FBTgirl]

I have snails but they are not that big. I dont know what kind.

 

[fishboy619]

i bought 2 of them a while ago off ebay. they looked intresting. placed in an used fish tank and aretill alive. i am surprised. i feed them veg and cuttle bone. they are massive now. little annoyed they are taking up one of my fish tanks, but they're not that bad. leave slime trails everywhere on glass though. my mum dont like them.

 

[helsekia]

well theyre kinda cute in a slimy way.I hope your sons very happy with them.

 

[cane76]

i thought i might release the baby snails in the allotment near my house

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

i thought i might release the baby snails in the allotment near my house

They will probably die over the winter if you put them outside, might as well euthanise them now if i was you if you don't want them .

 

[Tangerinefizz]

i thought i might release the baby snails in the allotment near my house

No offense of course, but I seriously hope you are joking. Why would you release something that is NOT native, into the environment? I know nothing about these snails of course, but why would you do that? Supposing these snails develop a taste for a certain plant, that up until now, while being eaten by native snails is doing well, and supports a whole microcosm of life, which in turn supports a whole different species or two. These snails you just released eat all the plants that 100's of other varieties of life depend upon. These other varieties then die and are now extinct. Gone. Never to be seen again.

Now, these snails you released have multiplied into 12,000 snails, who continue on eating plants at an amazing pace, and wiping out entire ecosystems as a result.

Please, please, please, please, please, dispose of your snail eggs or baby snails in a responsible manner. DO NOT release them into the environment.

Even if they will die in freezing temperatures, please don't release them. You never know what can happen in nature. All it takes is one freak snail to survive a winter, and then disaster strikes.

ETA: I do think your snails are quite lovely though. Nice pics.

 

[fishboy619]

try selling them on ebay or something, thats where i got mine from

 

[Betta5]

when i saw the pic i thought EWwwwwwwwww and clicked off but then i came back and they are quite cute in a freaky way. very cool!

 

[cane76]

there must be 100 little baby snails that have hatched so far
i wonder if i could feed them to my fish?