My Giant African Land Snail :)

[GothicGurrrl]

This is my newest pet He's a giant african land snail (GLS) and he's just over a year old. His name is Earl

 

[Dog Shrink]

Now that is def. an interesting pet. What is their care like?

 

[GothicGurrrl]

very easy

he's only small for his species right now soo he can housed in an insect container.. those ones with the ventilation lids. When he gets bigger, I'm going to invest in a container like the one you can keep leos in. For substrate, you use soil.. you can buy rainforest or plantation soil that you get for amphibians.. or you can just use compost. you need a cuttlebone for calcium and their enclosure needs to be sprayed at least once a day. They are more active with more heat so you can use a heat mat. My snail is in semi-hibernation because it's winter soo I don't use the heat and I allow it to sleep. In summer, I will use a heat mat. And they feed on vegetables

 

[Dog Shrink]

That's neat. Looks like he could leave as much snail slobber on ya as a great dane could tho

 

[GothicGurrrl]

haha yeah he's quite slimy.. but when you handle them you should wet your hand because of the chemicals on our skin or something... that's what we are told at college. but with the water on your hands you can't really feel the slime

are African land snails available in the US?

 

[Dog Shrink]

That is interesting. Makes sense tho. The salts on our skin really can't be any good for a snail's pad esp. since salt can melt a slug. Honestly I can't say if those snails are availavble here in the US. I have never seen one in a petshop here before.

 

[GothicGurrrl]

yeah i think they mentioned the salt on our skin, too. They are not sold in pet shops here.. they are just owned by a few people. loads of them are in foster care with rescue homes because they are hermaphrodites so they breed like crazy and people cannot keep them.one lady is trying to re-home 46 of them

I got mine from a lady at my work for free

 

[Dog Shrink]

I think they're neat. I'd own one I love things like toads, newts, salamanders, snails etc. Is it like a hermit crab where you'll have to provide a larger shell of it or is he done growing?

 

[GothicGurrrl]

i also love all the little pets like that I've always loved snails though.. since i was like five i'd collect them and get in trouble for bringing them in the house lol

no, a snails shell grows as they grow. they need to be provided with calcium to ensure that it grows strong and doesn't become deformed. i'm excited about my snail growing.. i don't know what kind of African land snail it is. one grows to about four inches and the other kind can grow up to eleven inches

 

[Dog Shrink]

Holy cow! An 11 inch snail? Not like 4 inches isn't impressive but wow. That's HUGE! Interesting fact about the shell tho. I didn't know it grew with them.

 

[GothicGurrrl]

haha i know the ones at my college are about 6 years old and they are huge!!

 

[GothicGurrrl]

this is a more recent picture of my snail. taken on boxing day.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

Nice snail, and unfortuanatly they are illegal in every state in the US, due to threats of them carrying disease and if they become invasive, they eat crops.

 

[GothicGurrrl]

aww that's a shame. i think they used to be banned here too because silly people could throw them out into their garden when they don't want them anymore and they will destroy our plants and common snail. but not many people own them here now.. no-one is really interested with them now.. they used to be popular.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

Yeah, same reason piranhas are banned in NC, some idiot threw one into a nearby river and a dude caught a 10 inch one.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Hey... you changed your avatar again Sweet

 

[WulfSC]

Awesome snail. That thing's HUGE! LOL!

Clemsonguy1125: Yeah, I heard about the piranha banned in NC. I live in Landrum, SC (on the border of NC) and work part time at a pet store. Due to the fact that we live so close to NC, we're not allowed to sell piranha at our store. Which, is fine with me. It makes sense, and from my understanding, they can be a rather invasive breed.

 

[GothicGurrrl]

haha thanks for the comment about my snail
he's looks really big on the photo but he's only a year. He's going to be massive by the time he's like 6 years old (we have some at college that are almost 7 and they are massive )

 

[WulfSC]

I'd love to see a real one someday... they look really cool.

 

[GothicGurrrl]

sorry about the delayed reply.. i forgot about the new forum pages at the bottom silly me. thankyou i hope you get to see one too they do make interesting and unusual pets.. but they can be a bit boring in winter because they hiberate all the time haha i'm going to buy a heat mat for him soon