Achatina fulica

[Gigas]

Well the resident GAL's have decided it was time to get busy

the so far 72 eggs from what ive read i should expect alot more, the shells are pretty strong, like birds eggs.

The... lets call him Dad as he didnt lay the eggs, we'll just call the other one mom untill this guy decides to start laying.

Still not as big as they can be, i didnt think they would lay at this size. but they did have a long hibernation

Pretty colour on the shell
these are pretty cool novelty inverts, has anyone else kept em?
I hear theyre illegal in some parts of the US

 

[beetleman]

all of the US on another note awesome snail!!:drool:

 

[KennyGee]

why would a snail (no offense) be illegal :?

 

[beetleman]

snails are very distructive,they will eat any type of plants,they breed like crazy,and can adapt to many places(climate,etc) but i still luv em

 

[kraken]

I sure wish we could keep them. I understand why,but it still bites. Tose are really nice.When you said "hibernation", do they need to hibernate?How do you "hibernate" them? I didnt think African snails would hibernate.Maybe if they go through a dry spell,and seal up to protect themselves. I seen on a website that says they can survive freezing temps! Congrats on the eggs,about how big are the eggs? Do they lay them in a jelly mass,or just deposit them in the soil?

 

[Gigas]

well at the beggining of winter my brain surgeon of a sister didnt pout the heat mat on, they sealed themselves up for 5-6 months, since that incident they kinda belong to me, in other words i do the maintenance and she owns them... anyway they would seal them selves up in drought or when it gets too cool with a pretty hard dried mucous covering, the depositor of the eggs made a hole and dropped the lot, they were coated in a thin layer of slime but they werent deposited in a jelly mass,they average out at 5mm in length
Its a real shame that because of probably 1 irresponsible keeper that no one is allowed to keep thes anymore

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Very nice fulica

has anyone else kept em?

I keep snails, I have several species at the moment, pictures of most of my species are on my website, which is linked in my signiture.

Are you going to hatch all the eggs? theres always a lot of fulica available, it may be hard to rehome so many.

 

[Gigas]

i know kevin, to be honest i didnt think theyd reproduce at this size, over the next week im going to see if i can get any interest if not im gonna have to freeze them

 

[Scythemantis]

why would a snail (no offense) be illegal :?

You kidding? The fish and wildlifepeople think giant african land snails are considered the most hazardous ecological pest in american history! The government spent more than twelve million dollars wiping them out in florida, and that infestation descended from just three that got loose. As already stated, they make a LOT of babies, they eat anything that grows, and they have few predators. Utterly devastating in a tropical climate.

Although, if you want my opinion, cats and dogs have already ruined the environment for more native species than we can fathom. The world just plays favorites when it comes to animals.

 

[kraken]

Although, if you want my opinion, cats and dogs have already ruined the environment for more native species than we can fathom. The world just plays favorites when it comes to animals.

I agree...I seen on animal planet that cats are the #1 killer in the animal world,noting that they are the only animal to kill for play and not just for food...and they kill thousands of different species of animals(they were counting species of bugs,rodents,birds,etc.). And look at all the wild cats and stray dogs running all over the country.That is to blame on careless owners,but do you see them banning cats or dogs? Yep...its favoritism

 

[Gigas]

one cat killed an entire population of flightless birds before the species was even scientificly described

 

[bugmankeith]

How big are the eggs?

 

[kraken]

one cat killed an entire population of flightless birds before the species was even scientificly described

And then they probably gave it a good petting and a can of fancy feast!

 

[Kevin_Davies]

How big are the eggs?

fulica eggs are usually around 1cm long.

 

[Stylopidae]

one cat killed an entire population of flightless birds before the species was even scientificly described

Not that I don't believe you because that doesn't really surprise me (and I <edit> hate cats), but do you have an article about that?

 

[Scythemantis]

Here's several!

http://www.terranature.org/wren.htm

http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/stephenswren.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/stephens-island-wren

BAD TIBBLES!!!

(cat lover/dog hater here, though )