Giant African Snails

[hungrypigs]

(03-10-2014, 04:07 PM)Catherine Wrote: That is so cute. They have a dish of veggies just like the guinea pigs.
They enjoy then just as much as the piggies, they just take a little longer to eat them.

Do they have individual likes and dislikes or is it hard to tell. Their shells are a bit different looking aren't they, so you can tell them apart. It must be fun watching them eat. If you put a plate of food in, do the rush to it?

Their favourite is cucumber, no doubt about that. I have put lettuce, slices of apple and tomatoes in so far and although they have eaten some of the apple and tomato, they don't seem to devour it like the cucumber and lettuce.

No they don't rush to the food, usually they are sleeping (buried in the soil) when I put their food in but once I have given the tanks a spray of water I find that they wake up to have the water and then the food.

We have had one baby snail hatch yesterday, well as far as I can tell there is only the one. Even then I can't always find this one as he is so good at hiding. So tiny and cute! I put some cuttlefish and cucumber in.

[Catherine]

So even snails are fussy and know what they like. The idea of snails sleeping is cute. I never really thought about them sleeping. I suppose the water spraying is a signal to them. They know you have fed them if you are spraying them.

Congratulations on the one baby. How small is he? It will be interesting to see him grow. Any idea how long it takes for him to reach full size?

[hungrypigs]

(03-31-2014, 03:55 PM)Catherine Wrote: So even snails are fussy and know what they like. The idea of snails sleeping is cute. I never really thought about them sleeping. I suppose the water spraying is a signal to them. They know you have fed them if you are spraying them.

Congratulations on the one baby. How small is he? It will be interesting to see him grow. Any idea how long it takes for him to reach full size?

We have had more baby snails hatch out. I think at a last count there was at least 7 of them. Trouble is when they hide in the soil it can be difficult to see them as they are so tiny and blend in perfectly.

I'm not sure how long it will take them to grow to full size. Once they get a lot bigger then I will put them in with the adult snails. There were some more eggs laid last week but this time I have frozen them and then will destroy them. Don't need anymore I don't think. I think if the albinos eventually lay eggs I will keep a couple of the eggs to hatch but the rest will have to be destroyed.

[Catherine]

I guess it is hard to tell them apart when they are so small. It will be fun to watch how they grow. It must take a while. Even a snail can only grow so fast.
It would be nice to have some albino babies. Will you be selling any of them? Maybe you can find a pet store or better a reptile store that would want so of your little ones. I wish I was closer.

I have a lizard who would eat the eggs so I really wish I was closer.
Can you find someone with a lizard who would take the extra eggs?
You could get a lizard. I feed the infertile snake eggs to my skinks. I can tell the difference now and there is no point in wasting them.

[hungrypigs]

(04-06-2014, 02:42 AM)Catherine Wrote: I guess it is hard to tell them apart when they are so small. It will be fun to watch how they grow. It must take a while. Even a snail can only grow so fast.
It would be nice to have some albino babies. Will you be selling any of them? Maybe you can find a pet store or better a reptile store that would want so of your little ones. I wish I was closer.

I have a lizard who would eat the eggs so I really wish I was closer.
Can you find someone with a lizard who would take the extra eggs?
You could get a lizard. I feed the infertile snake eggs to my skinks. I can tell the difference now and there is no point in wasting them.

The baby snails are doing really well. There are about 8 of them and they have certainly grown. One is bigger than the others, probably eating most of the cucumber.

I think one of the albino snails is laying eggs. She has been buried down in the same spot now for a few days so I am guessing she is laying eggs. Guess I will have to wait until she moves so I can check them out plus I need to clean the tank out. I will keep just a few eggs as it will be nice to have some baby albinos as well, and then that's it no more baby snails!!

I can imagine my husbands face if I even suggested getting a lizard. So, I'm not even going to. Maybe one day in the future I will but for now no. I'd probably go for a chameleon as I like them and I don't think that they bite, do they?

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Pic of the baby snails.

[Catherine]

The are cute little fellows. I love how much smaller than the cucumber slices they are and yet they still keep on eating. They are clearly not shy.
Some albino eggs would give you a nice mix of babies. As long as you spot her when she lays eggs you should be able to control the number that hatch.
Can you sell the extra ones. I think lots of people would want them.

Quote:I can imagine my husbands face if I even suggested getting a lizard. So, I'm not even going to. Maybe one day in the future I will but for now no. I'd probably go for a chameleon as I like them and I don't think that they bite, do they?

I forgot, most people are not sure about having a lizard around the house.
Chameleons are a sweet lizard. You start with a young one and handle it gently and it would be fine. They are not biters by nature(although anything can bite if it feels scared). They are so interesting to watch.

[hungrypigs]

(04-21-2014, 02:45 AM)Catherine Wrote: The are cute little fellows. I love how much smaller than the cucumber slices they are and yet they still keep on eating. They are clearly not shy.
Some albino eggs would give you a nice mix of babies. As long as you spot her when she lays eggs you should be able to control the number that hatch.
Can you sell the extra ones. I think lots of people would want them.

Quote:I can imagine my husbands face if I even suggested getting a lizard. So, I'm not even going to. Maybe one day in the future I will but for now no. I'd probably go for a chameleon as I like them and I don't think that they bite, do they?

I forgot, most people are not sure about having a lizard around the house.
Chameleons are a sweet lizard. You start with a young one and handle it gently and it would be fine. They are not biters by nature(although anything can bite if it feels scared). They are so interesting to watch.

They are really growing fast. There's an albino one amongst them as well so the normal ones must be carrying it.




And here are the other snails,
The Albinos




And the Garden Snails that my daughter has adopted

[Catherine]

Quote:They are really growing fast. There's an albino one amongst them as well so the normal ones must be carrying it.

The babies are so cute. How big are they. Compared to the food they look pretty small. Interesting that you have an albino. That is good news. You will get a mixture of colours each time you have babies.


You would love a chameleon. They are pretty and interesting. Of course there are different kinds of chameleons. If you get one, you need to get one of the easy to look after kinds. No point in getting a pet that is more work than fun.