Invertebrate pictures

[Kevin_Davies]

Some of my invertebrates

Coenobita clypeatus

Archachatina puylaerti

Achatina immaculata

Macropanesthia rhinocerus

Elliptorhina chopardi

Blaberus craniifer

Eurycantha calcarata

Epidares nolimetangere

Sungaya inexpectata

Aularches miliaris

 

[Herp13]

Hey, nice pics, but where do you get your huge land snails from? Is there anywhere in the US? Also how are Blaberus Craniifer? They look really cool, but i hear they are very skittish, is this true? And how big do they get?

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Hey, nice pics, but where do you get your huge land snails from? Is there anywhere in the US? Also how are Blaberus Craniifer? They look really cool, but i hear they are very skittish, is this true? And how big do they get?

My land snails are mostly from breeders across the UK and Europe, all species in the family Achatinidae (Giant African Snails) are illegal to keep in the US.

Blaberus craniifer are skittish, they are very good roaches to keep though, they are fairly active and get quite large (about 5-5.5cm when adult)

 

[Herp13]

Why are they illegal in the US? Are there any other land snails i can keep? Or maybe giant slugs?

 

[kraken]

They can cause massive crop damages if released anywhere in the US.And they breed like CRAZY

 

[Herp13]

Oh, that makes sense

 

[psionix]

i've never seen Eurycantha calcarata that color. is that an effect of the photo lighting or is that true to the natural color?

every one i've ever seen has either been almost black-brown or that same black-brown with bright green patches...

 

[Kevin_Davies]

Why are they illegal in the US? Are there any other land snails i can keep? Or maybe giant slugs?

I think smaller European species may be legal to keep in the US (like Helix aspersa and Cepaea nemoralis) but im not sure? I have seen American sellers selling Helix aspersa on ebay before, Im not sure on giant slugs either? Limax maximus and Ariolimax columbianus are both found in the US, if you could get those I couldnt see why they would be illegal to keep, but again im not really sure on those?

i've never seen Eurycantha calcarata that color. is that an effect of the photo lighting or is that true to the natural color?

every one i've ever seen has either been almost black-brown or that same black-brown with bright green patches...

That is they're true colour, the last time I keep these a few years ago the nymphs were that colour up untill they were adult, as adult they turned dark brown, with very little green.

 

[Kevin_Davies]

They can cause massive crop damages if released anywhere in the US.And they breed like CRAZY

Not all African species breed like crazy, all Archachatina species breed slowly, they lay very large eggs (upto 2cm) in small numbers, only a few clutches a year, usually between 5-10 per clutch, the eggs can take upto 2 months to hatch. Achatina species breed very quickly though, especially Achatina (Lissachatina) fulica, they can lay upto 500 eggs per batch, which only take a few days to hatch under warm, humid conditions.

 

[Herp13]

YIKES, i'm suprised the world hasn't been