Baby Gals

[BlueDragon]

Now, I'm not even sure if this is alowed, so I'm sorry if it's not. And I'm not sure where to put it if it is... so here goes anyways...

I have a single Giant African Land snail who is the sole survivor of a recued group of six bought off Ebay by my mam years ago. Over the years I've tryed everything to hatch their eggs, but nothing has worked.
At the begining of this year I moved Hydie, my now lone adult, into the living room where I could watch her better. She seemed to like it and after a few weeks she layed some eggs. I left them only out of curiosity really, but low and behold, to my total suprize, they all hatched!

Fast forward and she has now layed two fertile clutches and almost all the eggs have hatched. She had just layed her third clutch yesterday and I'm going to assume these are also fertile and so I'm keeping them to see what happens. I didn't know Snails could retain and use sperm for so long, but this is the only explination as there are no mature adults in with her and haven't been since before this winter gone.

Clever, cunning Hydie ; )

But it does mean that I'm now running out of room for all these lovely GALS. Fortunalty the babies from her first clutch are just about ready for new homes now.

For now, this is just a query to give myself a rough idea of how things are. I don't really want to be advertizing these babies just anywhere, so I want to ask on here (and another forum I'm part of) if anyone here would be interested in a pair or trio of baby GALS?

I'm not sure on what kind there are, they weren't avertized that way. But the babies have very pretty shells with stripes, spots and zig-zags and as they get older and bigger they'll develope broader stripes of brown and tan.

I will be taking photos shortly of the babies needing homes and of mummy Hydie.

Would anyone like to give some baby GALS a home?


To clarify, these babies are pets only. They will not be sold as food items.

 

[mike455555]

what do they need to survive?

and with sperm the snails can change sex... im not sure if this means they can make themselves fertile or not though

 

[BlueDragon]

It's not that they change sex, Snails are Hermaphrodites so have both male and female sexual organs, like Slugs do and Worms. And so when it comes to mating they both fertilize eachother. Facinating really : ) So although I call Hydie a 'she' she's actually both. Athough wheather or not she's using another Snails sperm or if she's cloning herself I'm not sure. All the babies have different markings on their shells so I would hazzard a guess that she's using the sperm from another past Snail. Meaning, in this case, that she's using the sperm from one of two others that I had last year living with her. She must have stored it over this winter gone.

They need very little to survive. The don't need extra heat or light. Just keep them in a warm, draught-free room with light available from a window.
They like to be kept on a nice thickish layer of soil that they can burrow into, to sleep, to lay their eggs and to brumate in, so I use plantation soil for Reptiles. It's good stuff but does carry fungus knats. They're totally harmless to the Snails and to you and to everyone else, they don't carry anything nasty, but some people don't like them being there. Don't use soil from the garden in case it has chemicals or poisons in it, same reason for not using compost.
They're stronger as adults than you might think, so you'll need a solid tank for them. Well ventilated but with very small holes/mesh so any babies can't escape. I just use a plane glass tank with a home made mesh lid. But if the lid is too loose they will push themselves free! Sliding doors is also a good option instead.
They eat fresh veg along with fruit as a treat and need a constant suply of cuttlefish bone for their shell develpoment and growth. I feed mine on a varied mix of lettuce, cucumber, carrots, kale, grass, dandelions (from my garden only), bamboo shoots, that sort of thing. Don't ever give them anything citrus, it's poisonous! As a fruit treat they get things like banana, mango peels, apple, pear, peach etc.
As for hides I use plastic flowerpots that are cheap enough that I can just through them away if they ever get too manky. They have fake plants to hide in and for the younger ones to climb. I give a shallow dish of water, but it's not needed if they're given plenty of watery veg.

They will need to be given a nice luke-warm bath about once a month. This helps keep their shells clean and also prevents rot problems which can attack their bodies. They do actaully seem to enjoy a bath and they also enjoy rasping the water off your hand afterwards, which is nice 'cause it tickles : )

I like to keep their home damp using spagnum moss and a spritz with a plant sprayer whenever things are looking a bit dry. They like things damp but not wet. Too wet and they might get rot.

I keep Woodlice in with them. They're an exelent addition to the tank. They keep the soil nice by recycling any poop back into it, they clean the Snail's shells and bodies and are great at hoovering up any leftovers. I've always kept Woodlice with my Snails and I've never had a problem with rot or with the tank getting too manky. I would defo recomend them as companions.

They get cleaned out fully once or twice a year, with monthly tidy-ups. Depends on how quickly they mess up their tank though.

GALS tend to brumate. That means shutting down for a few months in winter. Mine seem to sleep from December to the end of Feb/begining of March. I make sure to give them a good bath before they go aff to sleep and they're usually fine. They might wake up breifly for a drink so it's nice to keep a shallow dish of water out for them if they feel thirsty. But it's not a good idea to feed them 'cause the food could rot inside them and kill them. So slow their feeding down before they go off to sleep to make sure they're not full. But they're not daft and usually have the sense to do that themselves.

If you keep more that one they will breed! But eggs are easy to see, big enough and pure white. They're layed in large clutches under the soil. If you want to keep them leave them alone and don't touch or move them at all. If you don't want them either take them out and crush them if you know for sure they've just been layed, or if your not sure stick them in the frezzer for a day before you throw them out. They can also be fed to some Animals, including larger Fish. Be carful though and have sense, 'cause they lay lots!

I think that's it. I'll add if I've forgot anything : )
They're dead easy to keep. Just keep them in a warm room, keep them fed, give them cuttlefish bone, give them a bath every now and then and there you go. They don't carry anything harmful, they're not smelly and they can't bite you.


Any questions? : )

 

[BlueDragon]

OK, I has photies : )

Some of the babies that need new homes. I've put a two pence there so you can see their size.

In that last photo you can see two of Hydie's second batch babies... they're so tiny!

Some of mummy Hydie

And of her shell

Some of mummy Hydie and babies together

Some of the first batch babies on my hand

And just to show you just how tiny her second batch baies are right now...

OK, I think that's all of them : ) You should be bale to see their lovely shell paterns, but sorry for the camera shadow.

 

[LucyB]

Mother of God that snail is HUGE! Gorgeous shell patterns though, My mum is gardening at the moment and whenever I find a snail I have to play with it Let them slither up your arm and everything

 

[BlueDragon]

Yep, she's big, but you can get much bigger species! You can get GALS with a foot long shell!

Yeah, it feels funny to have them slide over your hand. You can feel their muscles working. I like it when they rasp at your hand, I think it tickles a bit : ) Although what they find so tasty about my hands I don't know X )

They're really interesting to watch, and with them being so big as adults you can actually hear them eating. Rasping their veg and grinding their cuttlefish. And they're good to watch as they silde over the glass 'cause you can see the ripple effect they make with their muscles as they move along.