Giant african snails

[finman31]

I didnt know there was so many species! There are even albino shells! I know a guy that has quite a few(he knows the legality issues).Does anyone keep snails or slugs?

 

[beetleman]

i keep snails and slugs i just love the snot balls:drool: the snails are alot easier to keep than the slugs,i have banana slugs but they are not doing that good,i'm in fla,and that is 1 problem,trying to keep them cool,my other slug ssp, are doing great,and the land snails are really easy to keep:clap:

 

[Scythemantis]

I would love to know more about the different kinds...any websites?

 

[Shelob]

Thought there wasn't such a thing as an albino invertebrate...since they don't really have any "skin" from which to lack pigment....

 

[Ganoderma]

well tehy have colour, something causes tehm to have it...so i would think it is also possible to have that mutated. just like eyes, hair etcx they arn't skin but they still have colour genes.

i used to keep african lands snails for monitor food. also had banana slugs but i kept them outdoors and fed tehm "wild" food. ie the stuf i see them crawling around (minus dog poo).

here are some links to sites i have enjoyed.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mollusca.htm (great aquatics site)
http://www.conservation.unibas.ch/research/hermaphrodites/index.html
http://www.malakos.com/Journal/articles/partodissey.html
http://www.weichtiere.at/Mollusks/Schnecken/land/landschn.html
http://www.virginia.edu/biology/Fac/Murray.html (reference)
http://lhsfoss.org/fossweb/teachers/materials/plantanimal/landsnails.html

snails/slugs arnt really my thing, but found and read those while looking at other things. fun creatures.

 

[joey]

I have giant african land snails, i too was amazed at the number of different spesies of land snails.
Mine are mostly "regular " GALS but i have one which has a distinctly striped shell and body to match, I am not sure of the species, but must find the time to look it up.
Also i have 4 different species of aquatic snail in with my warm water newts,
and I am always looking out for more,,,

I would have to say that snails are very addictive.

 

[Arietans]

The species are plenty, and very difficult to identify from each other (for me). We usually find them here by the thousands on humid summer nights.

 

[bugmankeith]

There are albino aquatic snails sold in pet shops, so i'm sure albino GALS exist. Have any pictures?

 

[finman31]

Let me get a pic from my buddy...the snails themselves are colored with a stripe down their back.The shells though are snow white.He has 8 different species.Here is what he has,and I will get pics(but an alltheweb.com image search pulls up killer pics!):
Achatina achatina
Achatina fulica
Achatina immaculata
Achatina reticulata
Achatina marginata
Achatina varicosa
Achatina panthera(striped form)
Achatina fulica rodatzi (albino shell)

 

[Kevin_Davies]

I keep, and have kept many species of African Land Snails (GALS) and snails from other parts of the world, as well as some slug species, at the moment I have around 15 diffferent species of snail, pictures and information on some of them are on my website, which is in my signiture,

Some of my species I keep at the moment

^ Achatina reticulata (albino body)

^ Achatina immaculata var "two-tone"

^ Achatina achatina "Tiger Snails"

^ Unidentified Archachatina sp "Lagos, Nigeria"

^ Archachatina sp "probably degneri"

 

[bugmankeith]

Wow those are nice looking!

 

[beetleman]

:drool: :worship: :clap: NOW THAT"S A SNAIL! i want! i want!

 

[Scythemantis]

Beautiful animals...

What's the largest snail you've had? I'm curious about slugs, too. I know the two largest american species...

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Beautiful animals...

What's the largest snail you've had? I'm curious about slugs, too. I know the two largest american species...

Ive had tiger snails (Achatina achatina) and Archachatina marginata var. ovum that have roughly been the same size, around 18cm shell length, I'm getting 3 very large tiger snails next week, they may be larger than any others ive kept upto now.

Ive kept Leopard Slugs (Limax maximus) that have been around 12cm when extended, and African "Banana" Slugs (Elisolimax c.f flavescens) around 15cm long when extended, I currently keep 2 suspected Ashy Grey Slug's (Limax cinereoniger) native to the UK, is the largest slug in the world, my ones are currently at 3cm, but will grow to around 30cm. Im trying to find N.American Banana Slugs for sale at the moment, but they seem impossible to find within Europe.

 

[james]

slugs

Going camping in the Northern Redwoods next week. Last year I found about 10 big banana slugs. I even got some pictures of a snake eating one. It was very cool.
James
www.blaberus.com

 

[Dragoon]

Hello
I have what I believe to be
A. achatina (the red striped one, Apple)
and A. marginata (the longer greeny one, Goober)
They are cool...they eat a lot!
D.

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Hi Dragoon

Your snail on the right I think is an Archachatina sp, from its more blunt apex, its marking's are very tiger snail like though, its probably an Archachatina marginata, whether it is var. ovum, marginata or suturalis would depend on the colour of the columella, the one on the left Im fairly sure is an Achatina (Lissachatina) fulica, definitly not an Archachatina marginata. Both very nice snails

 

[Scythemantis]

Having just looked up photos of Achatina achatina, I can't believe I didn't know that land snails got so big! I'd only ever seen pictures of them withdrawn into the shell. I'd give anything for one, but moronic owners had to go and ruin it for all of America.

 

[Galapoheros]

Rock!!!! I really like snails. I hope this thread doesn't attract attention from people that will take them away from the owner. It wouldn't surprise me if someone is watching that we wish wasn't. I've heard some nazi type stories of the gov raiding and taking these animals away from owners in the US. A little too much red tape here in the US if you ask me. I really want some giant snails. I've been wanting some for several years now. Those are awesome looking!

 

[Scythemantis]

Even though I know that I would only get one and be responsible with it, it's another "that's what they all say" case and I end up feeling like some sort of villain for wanting one. There's also the fact that I wouldn't get to show it to people, though...


By the way, are there any predatory giant land snails? I could have sworn I heard of some that eat earthworms.