Questions and Answers

Here are some commonly asked questions and the answers…

What is a Giant African Land Snail?

A Giant African Land Snail is a snail that originates from Africa, of the species Achatina or Archachitina. There are many different types, including Achatina fulica, Achatina achatina, Achatina albopicta, Archachitina marginata, Achatina pulcher, Achatina iradelei and Achatina rodatzi

How long do Giant African Land Snails live for?

Giant African Land Snails can live for 10 years, but the average is more like 5 or 6 years.

How long do Giant African Land Snails take to become adults?

Giant African Land Snails vary in their growth rates. If kept in optimum conditions, you can expect your snails to start laying eggs between nine months and two years, depending on the species and how they are kept. Snails keep growing throughout their lifetime, but slow down on reaching maturity.

What’s the largest Giant African Land Snail?

The largest ever Giant African Land Snail is a species called Achatina achatina, and one individual grew to 15 inches long.

Can Giant African Land Snails bite?

Giant African Land Snails do not have teeth. They have a rough tongue called a radula, which has special ridges on it so the snails rasp their food rather than chewing or biting it. You can feel a snail licking you – it’s a slightly rough, tickly sensation, but it can’t do you any harm, unless you’re a lettuce! If you watch your snail crawling up its tank, you can sometimes see the snail using its radula to taste the sides of the tank. All snails rasp different surfaces – I think this it too see what is and what’s not edible.

What do Giant African Land Snails eat?

Giant African Land Snails can eat a wide variety of foods, from fruit and vegetables, to rotting meat and even cardboard! See the foodstuffs page to find out what to feed your Giant African Land Snail in captivity.

What’s the most common type of Giant African Land Snail?

The most common Giant African Land Snail you are likely to find in captivity is Achatina fulica.

How should you pick up and hold a Giant African Land Snail?

Giant African Land Snails should be carefully pick up by the widest part of there shell, but care must be taken to never touch the snail where the new shell is growing, at the mouth of he shell where the snail emerges. This part of he shell is extremely fragile, and the slightest pressure on it can break it. If the snail is holding on to a surface, carefully either slide the snail to the edge of the surface so it slides off, or gently twist the snail so it lets go. If cannot remove a snail from whatever it is gripping on to, then leave it be and try another time. You can hold a Giant African Land Snail on your hands. Make sure the snail cannot fall (hold your hands over a soft surface) and place the snail on your palm (or both palms if it’s a biggy!) You may want to dampen your hands slightly first. Hold your hands perfectly still, and if your snail was in its shell when you picked it up, it should come out and say hello.

Very small and newly hatched snails should never be handled, as their shells are so fragile they can break at the slightest touch. You can move them by scooping or knocking them gently into a container, or picking up their foodstuff if they’re sat on that.

Why are Giant African Land Snails illegal to keep in the USA and other countries?

Giant African Land Snails are very, very prolific breeders. In countries where the climate is warm enough, Giant African Land Snails have escaped into the wild and bred, causing huge amounts of ecological and economical damage to the areas where they have become established (see here); they eat their way through crops meant for human consumption and cause chaos on roads. Where pesticides are used against them the carcasses of the snails rot, so that diseases spread and a foul stench encompasses the area. In the USA you can be given large fines if you are caught with a Giant African Land Snail. In the UK the climate is not warm enough for the snails to survive outside, so it is legal for us to keep them as pets.

Can Giant African Land Snails give you meningitis?

As far as I am aware, only wild caught snails that carry the disease can pass on meningitis and only if they are undercooked and then eaten. Obviously you should wash your hands after you handle any pet, and observe proper hygiene in the regular cleaning of tanks and not allowing food to rot or become moldy.

Are Giant African Land Snails easy to keep?

The easiest species to keep is Achatina fulica. They do well at room temperature, eat almost anything and grow fairly quicker. The slightly larger Achatina marginata and Achatina achatina are more specialist species; they lay less eggs and are harder to come by.

How do Giant African Land Snails breathe?

Giant African Land Snails breathe through a hole between their body and their shell. If you hold your snail and look closely you should be able to see it clearly. They have lungs the same as people.

Can Giant African Land Snails live outside?

In the summer they could, but they could pick up parasites from the snails that live here in the UK and die. You must never, ever release Giant African Land Snails into the wild. They would not survive our climate; they would freeze to death in the winter, they have no immunity to diseases that are carried by our native snails, and in places they would have trouble finding enough food. Basically, ‘freeing’ Giant African Land Snails in the UK or any country where they don’t belong is extremely cruel. Owning Giant African Land Snails in some countries is illegal – let alone releasing them into the surrounding environment! If you have too many snails please contact me and I will see if I can help.

Where do Giant African Land Snails come from?

Giant African Land Snails come from Africa, but have been released by man into many different countries such as China, Hawaii, Brazil and the Pacific Islands, where they have become serious agricultural pests.

How fast are Giant African Land Snails?

I’ve been told the average speed for a Giant African Land Snail is about 0.04 miles per hour.

When do Giant African Land Snails stop growing? 

Giant African Land Snails continue growing throughout their life, but they grow quicker when they are younger, when plenty of food and cuttlefish is available, and when it is warm enough.

Can Giant African Land Snails rebuild their shells if they are broken?

Sometimes Giant African Land Snails’ shell will break off at the mouth of the shell,  where the snail’s body emerges. This will re-grow quickly – just make sure the snail has plenty of cuttlefish and a good supply of food. If a snail falls from the top of its tank and makes a hole in the shell, you may need to repair the shell yourself or the snail may die. See the page on Shell Damage.

Is it true that Giant African Land Snails can be both boys and girls at the same time?

Giant African Land Snails are hermaphrodites, meaning that a Giant African Land Snail carries both male and female sexual organs. (Here for more information) They do need another snail to mate with before they can produce fertile eggs, but can store sperm for a long time, so that they can wait until the conditions are perfect for laying their eggs.

How many eggs does a Giant African Land Snail lay?

The species Achatina fulica can lay over 300 eggs in one go, but species such as Achatina marginata lay much fewer, from one to twenty eggs at a time.

Do all Giant African Land Snails lay eggs? 

One species called Achatina iradelei gives birth to live babies.

Do Giant African Land Snails come in different colours?

Yes. Achatina fulicas shell range from a dark brown, through to a greeny-brown and light tan colour, and may or may not have stripes. Achatina achatina has a brown shell with tiger like stripes, Achatina iradelei have a pale yellow shell, and the body of  Achatina immaculata can be a very pale grey or tan. In the separate Achatina and Archachitina species, the variations of shell and body pattern and colour vary tremendously, and sometimes only an expert can tell the different species apart.

 What senses do Giant African Land Snails have?

Giant African Land Snails can sense light and dark, temperature and humidity, rough and smooth, they can taste, they can see…not sure of they can smell though in the human sense.

How much do Giant African Land Snails cost to keep?

Giant African Land Snails vary in price. I’ve seen them in pet shops for £7 for a snail of 2 inches! The most expensive thing about snails keeping is probably their enclosure. You can go out and buy an aquarium to keep them in; I go for the cheaper option of using clear plastic storage boxes, that cost from £1.99 for a small one for babies, to over £10.00 for a big one for the adults. Giant African Land Snails need cuttlefish for their shells, peat for the substrate and obviously food. Here’s my shopping list on an average week:

Cuttlefish, six pieces               £3.00

Lettuces, ten round                  £3.60

Melons, two whole                    £2.48

Apples, small bag                     £1.20

Cucumbers, six whole                £3.00

Bananas, bag                            £1.18

Pears, three                             £0.63

Cost                                         £25.06

Remember, at the time of writing I have about 560 Giant African Land Snails! Keeping two or three is a lot cheaper! If you just had a couple of snails you would probably pay a couple of pounds a week.

Do Giant African Land Snails have personalities?

I think so! Some snails are greedier and eat more, some are more laid back, some are lazy, some just rush around everywhere, and some prefer being handled to others.

Why keep Giant African Land Snails?

The question that everyone asks me! OK they may not be particularly cuddly, they tend to be a bit slimy, and they don’t do tricks. But on the other hand they don’t sniff Auntie Betty’s privates when she comes to visit and they don’t chew up the mail! (I have two dogs, before anyone says anything!!!)

Basically, I think that Giant African Land Snails are cute. Put a snail onto a pane of glass or the inside of a tank, and observe its ‘foot’ ripple as it climbs up. Study them eating and just sliming around. They are so relaxing to watch. They fascinate me, along with all other ‘minibeasts’, and they always have done.