Giant african snails

[beetleman]

yeah, i'm in fla. and there is sooooooo many exotics living here(not including humans,that's another story iguanas,monitors,pythons,boas.....the list goes on and on,but i would still luv to own those giant african snails,i just keep the native ones,and slugs also they are awesome as well.

 

[kraken]

Hey beetleman,Do you have any tiger slugs? looks like this:
http://ipp.boku.ac.at/private/wf/Bilder/Limax_maximus_Schneealpe.jpg?Or these snails:
http://www.floridanature.org/photos/Euglandina_rosea,_Tallahassee,_20011014.jpg
I am going to get some of those E.Rosea!They are native to you .I have friends there in florda that are supposed to send me some!

 

[Scythemantis]

Those slugs are around here, too. I could probably find you plenty, and they do get massive.

 

[beetleman]

Hey beetleman,Do you have any tiger slugs? looks like this:
http://ipp.boku.ac.at/private/wf/Bilder/Limax_maximus_Schneealpe.jpg?Or these snails:
http://www.floridanature.org/photos/Euglandina_rosea,_Tallahassee,_20011014.jpg
I am going to get some of those E.Rosea!They are native to you .I have friends there in florda that are supposed to send me some!

yep, i have both of those ssp. the tigers came from washington, and the snails from north fla,i'm in south fla,can't find them down where i am(all the building going on around here ,i guess they are mainly north,they love to eat other snails,what are you feeding your tigers? i'm gonna get more banana slugs as soon as i get that small wine refridge to keep them cool,i'm feeding my tigers cucumber/apple they only pick at it.they sometimes pick at romain as well,i also have 2 red slugs from washington too,they are really cool,i think they have to cool also,but they are hanging in there.

 

[kraken]

I feed my tiger slugs squash,mulberry leaves,greenbean leaves,onions,tomato leaves,blackberries and the leaves,cukes,and BEER!They love it! Of course dont let them drive afterward!
I have some large snails I found in the park close to me,they are about as big as a quarter and brown.I keep them in with the slugs.I also have some others.....

 

[Scythemantis]

I always heard beer can be used to kill slugs/snails, or is that just because they fall in and drown when there's too much of it?

 

[Galapoheros]

I think that's it. I think they just get intoxicated, trip off their foot, hehe, and fall in!

 

[beetleman]

hmmm,i think i'll give the slugs alittle beer i got me some left over miller in the fridge

 

[kraken]

Yeah,they actually do get drunk!!!I seen that on discovery one time,it said they actually get intoxicated! And scythemantis,yeah,they fall in and drown.My dad used to put it in deep bowls,and they would be floating the next morning.I give mine a little in a pepsi bottlecap! One slug will drink a capful!!! And then they burp!!! They generally blow a big bubble of foam when they burp! It really is funny! I have a buddy going to jacksonville,and he is catching some of the carnivorous snails for me while he is ther.

 

[beetleman]

Yeah,they actually do get drunk!!!I seen that on discovery one time,it said they actually get intoxicated! And scythemantis,yeah,they fall in and drown.My dad used to put it in deep bowls,and they would be floating the next morning.I give mine a little in a pepsi bottlecap! One slug will drink a capful!!! And then they burp!!! They generally blow a big bubble of foam when they burp! It really is funny! I have a buddy going to jacksonville,and he is catching some of the carnivorous snails for me while he is ther.

hee hee that's awesome! gotta love these things,yeah you will love those wolf snails,they follow the slimetrail of other snails/slugs and that's it dinner time,they move pretty fast for a snail on the hunt.

 

[Scythemantis]

I'd like some carnivores myself sometime if anyone gets a bunch, though I'd need some smaller snails that'll breed easy

 

[kraken]

If my friend gets some,I will give you afew!

 

[beetleman]

i'll keep my peepers open also if i see any

 

[kraken]

These would still be so nice to own!! I did some researching and there are quite a few species!!! My favorite was the achatina panthera! Those are sharp! I have some snails that are aquatic and i caught in a local lake,I know they are introduced,they are about as big as a golf ball.That is about the closest I will get to giant snails.

 

[Kevin_Davies]

These would still be so nice to own!! I did some researching and there are quite a few species!!! My favorite was the achatina panthera! Those are sharp! I have some snails that are aquatic and i caught in a local lake,I know they are introduced,they are about as big as a golf ball.That is about the closest I will get to giant snails.

Achatina immaculata var. panthera are one of my favourite species as well, they are so variable, are active, and fairly easy to care for, I did a page on them on my site, with several pictures of them, and other immaculata variants

http://www.exoticpetsuk.com/immaculata.htm

 

[kraken]

VERY VERY nice info and wepsite Kevin!!! VERY NICE! :clap: :clap:

 

[Galapoheros]

I've wanted some of these for almost 20 years! Too bad they're restricted in the US. So which species of these African giants grows to be largest? And, I'm just curious, are these edible? Do they eat them in Africa? I contacted someone about 15 years ago that was growing edible snails in Cal. He said a friend brought an African land snail to him (but it got taken away). I asked if they were edible and he said they weren't. But Iv'e read that they are:? . That is a cool website.

 

[Kevin_Davies]

I've wanted some of these for almost 20 years! Too bad they're restricted in the US. So which species of these African giants grows to be largest? And, I'm just curious, are these edible? Do they eat them in Africa? I contacted someone about 15 years ago that was growing edible snails in Cal. He said a friend brought an African land snail to him (but it got taken away). I asked if they were edible and he said they weren't. But Iv'e read that they are:? . That is a cool website.

The largest species is Achatina achatina, the Tiger Snail. Archachatina marginata is another very large species, both are sold live as food every year in Brixton market in London, I dont know if linking to another forum is allowed (could a mod please edit my post if it isnt) but theres several posts about Brixton snails on this forum

http://bugnation.myfreeforum.org/forum17.php

 

[kraken]

Yeah,I read they were also being looked at as a food source in africa.