Keeping snails at home
For some people snails are the prime choice as pets. But what makes them so popular? Well, this animal does not require everyday walks, it doesn't make any noises, it does not smell, it does not cause any allergies, they are very easy to take care of, especially in terms of feeding, it does not require much space, it doesn't bite, it doesn't scratch, you can take this pet with you on the holiday or leave it at home for a very long time without feeding. Today I will describe the conditions of keeping two snail species: Limicolaria flammea and Achatina fulica albino.
Limicolaria flammea
These snails are very common in the collections on snail keepers. They are very common, easy to breed and give a good understanding of how to keep snails at home. They originate from the tropical island of Singapore and are the easiest snails to keep at home.
Background InformationThe main colours are light-beige to pale yellow with light-brown to brown helical lines on the shell. The snail itself usually differs in colours as well: the colours may vary from dark-brown to paper-white. The unicolour morph is usually light-beige to paper white without any patterns on the shell.The size of a grown species is up to 8 cm. These snail are considered full-grown at 9 month and are already ready to reproduce at that stage. *Will talk about breeding later on.
Achatina fulica (albino)
This species of snails is known as one of the largest snails on our planet. The length of the shell can exceed 25 cm and the overall length can get up to 35-40 cm. These snails originate from the middle areas of the African continent.Background InformationThe colours of the shells vary from light maroon to dark-nut brown. The body colour does not vary greatly from grey-beige. Albino morphs are common as well. The colours vary from light-yellow lemon to paper-white and the body colour usually matches the colour of the shell (unicolour).
Terrarium & Light
The tank for keeping a couple of grown snails of this species should not be smaller than 30*30*15 (width*depth*height). The tank does not to be a terrarium. It could as well be any plastic box from your local hardware store. But try not to use a tank too big, as you might lose your gastropod pet and it would become difficult to maintain the needed humidity on a larger area. However, make sure (THIS is very important!) that you provide good ventilation in the tank in order to prevent stagnation. If you ignore my tip, your snails will die because of the bacteria and parasites, growing in the food because of the high humidity.For a pair of larger snails, such as the Achatina fulica, I would recommend a tank of 45*45*30.The snails do not require any special light and can live in complete darkness. However, they still need a heat-source. I would recommend to use a thermal cable or a heating pad in one part of the tank. The other part should stay more humid and chill. And do not use heating stones, as they will harm your snails. You do not have to use a water bowl in the tank, though, if you do, you will need to refresh the water at least once per 3 days.
Substrate & Feeding
I combined these two aspects as for snails (almost) everything in their living area they consider food, even the substrate. As for the substrate I would strongly recommend to use coconut flakes, which are usually sold in compact bricks, as it is affordable, easy to clean and for some snails even works as a secondary/tertiary food source. If you decide to use coconut-flakes, the snails will use it for laying their eggs when breeding or hibernation. The recommended layer of substrate should be approximately 8-10 cm deep, so it would completely cover the snails when they are hiding. You could also consider using polished gravel with a thin layer of water covering the surface of the stones. If that is your choice, you will have two install a water filter for aquariums or refresh the water every second day. The water level should not exceed 1-1.5 cm in depth, otherwise your snails might drown. Other options for substrate include coconut-chips and sphagnum-moss. The negative aspects of these two variants, as well as the gravel option, are that snails will not be able to go “under the ground” and would feel unprotected.You will of course need to feed your snails and their diet varies greatly. However, I prefer to feed my snails mostly fruits and vegetables. Salads, apples, cabbages, grapes, tomatoes (the favourite meal of my snails), cucumbers, basically anything cut and chopped into smaller bits. However, there is one detail you should consider about their feeding. Snails must have source of calcium. The way you can provide calcium is to buy calcium powder in your local pet store or go the “natural” way, crushing the egg-shells into tiny pieces of 0.5-1 mm. You can either add the calcium to the food or place a separate bowl. As an alternative secondary feeding source, especially relevant when leaving the snail without feeding for over a month, you could place a piece of wood (cork, branch) in the tank. But make sure you disinfect the item before adding it to your snail by either placing it in the oven for 20 minutes at 220ºC or boiling it in hot water for 8-10 minutes. And, please, never use alcohol or other disinfecting substances in this situation.You could also try growing oat sprouts by changing the substrate to 60-70% soil for decorative plants and 30-40% (respectively) of the current substrate. Usually the plant shoots disappear as soon as they appear on the surface of the ground. Snails love it and it is completely natural as well.
Temperature & Humidity
These two factors you should be careful with. I have made several mistakes with keeping the right levels of temperature and humidity which did not always end well. As for the temperature I have already mentioned the fact, that an alternate heating source would help keep the level constant. In the ‘warm’ corner the temperature should not exceed 30ºC. The humidity in that corner would thereafter be lower, than in the ‘cold’ corner, where the humidity should be 70-90% and temperature of minimum 19ºC. The normal temperatures vary, however I keep my snails at 21ºC(‘cold’ corner)–26ºC(‘warm’ corner). You can maintain the temperature by spraying lukewarm water mostly in the ‘cold’ corner.However, going back to the part, where I discussed good ventilation, if that is not provided mold could start growing and your naive hungry snails would start eating it. That could not only cause various diseases, but stagnation of the humid air could be lethal for your mollusks.What would happen if the humidity is too low? Usually substrate takes long to dry out completely and this process forces the snails to prepare for hibernation. Snails can hibernate without any food source up to 1.5 year, however, I would not risk it and would just allow them to hibernate no longer than 2-3 month if needed.
Breeding
If you follow all of the instructions above and you have a pleasant environment for your snails you might start seeing random egg clutches popping up in different areas of your snail terrarium. As most snails are hermaphrodites, including the species Limicolaria flammea and Achatina fulica albino, they are able to reproduce no matter what sex they are. Limicolaria flammea are able of reproduction at the age of 9 month, Achatina fulica albino– 11-13 month.
Although, you might be thinking that you will not have eggs as you only have your one snail, you are wrong by all means. If the conditions are good, the snail can reproduce without the presence of another specimen.But be careful with breeding as reproduction of snails of same brood and crossing over of alleles might cause severe mutation problems of the offspring.If we go back to the subject of feeding snails calcium, parent snails might start eating their own offspring, as it is a great source of calcium and the parent snails have a deficiency of calcium in their bodies after giving birth to 20-40 eggs. Extra information
Even though snails are very easy to keep, some basic rules should be followed as they are still live creatures and are sensitive to such factors, as humidity and temperature.I hope I have covered everything and I do not have anything to add. If you have any questions, please write me on my email or post your response in the comment section below.
Keeping snails at home
For some people snails are the prime choice as pets. But what makes them so popular? Well, this animal does not require everyday walks, it doesn't make any noises, it does not smell, it does not cause any allergies, they are very easy to take care of, especially in terms of feeding, it does not require much space, it doesn't bite, it doesn't scratch, you can take this pet with you on the holiday or leave it at home for a very long time without feeding. Today I will describe the conditions of keeping two snail species: Limicolaria flammea and Achatina fulica albino.Limicolaria flammea
These snails are very common in the collections on snail keepers. They are very common, easy to breed and give a good understanding of how to keep snails at home. They originate from the tropical island of Singapore and are the easiest snails to keep at home.
Background InformationThe main colours are light-beige to pale yellow with light-brown to brown helical lines on the shell. The snail itself usually differs in colours as well: the colours may vary from dark-brown to paper-white. The unicolour morph is usually light-beige to paper white without any patterns on the shell.The size of a grown species is up to 8 cm. These snail are considered full-grown at 9 month and are already ready to reproduce at that stage. *Will talk about breeding later on.Achatina fulica (albino)
This species of snails is known as one of the largest snails on our planet. The length of the shell can exceed 25 cm and the overall length can get up to 35-40 cm. These snails originate from the middle areas of the African continent.Background InformationThe colours of the shells vary from light maroon to dark-nut brown. The body colour does not vary greatly from grey-beige. Albino morphs are common as well. The colours vary from light-yellow lemon to paper-white and the body colour usually matches the colour of the shell (unicolour).Terrarium & Light
The tank for keeping a couple of grown snails of this species should not be smaller than 30*30*15 (width*depth*height). The tank does not to be a terrarium. It could as well be any plastic box from your local hardware store. But try not to use a tank too big, as you might lose your gastropod pet and it would become difficult to maintain the needed humidity on a larger area. However, make sure (THIS is very important!) that you provide good ventilation in the tank in order to prevent stagnation. If you ignore my tip, your snails will die because of the bacteria and parasites, growing in the food because of the high humidity.For a pair of larger snails, such as the Achatina fulica, I would recommend a tank of 45*45*30.The snails do not require any special light and can live in complete darkness. However, they still need a heat-source. I would recommend to use a thermal cable or a heating pad in one part of the tank. The other part should stay more humid and chill. And do not use heating stones, as they will harm your snails. You do not have to use a water bowl in the tank, though, if you do, you will need to refresh the water at least once per 3 days.Substrate & Feeding
I combined these two aspects as for snails (almost) everything in their living area they consider food, even the substrate. As for the substrate I would strongly recommend to use coconut flakes, which are usually sold in compact bricks, as it is affordable, easy to clean and for some snails even works as a secondary/tertiary food source. If you decide to use coconut-flakes, the snails will use it for laying their eggs when breeding or hibernation. The recommended layer of substrate should be approximately 8-10 cm deep, so it would completely cover the snails when they are hiding. You could also consider using polished gravel with a thin layer of water covering the surface of the stones. If that is your choice, you will have two install a water filter for aquariums or refresh the water every second day. The water level should not exceed 1-1.5 cm in depth, otherwise your snails might drown. Other options for substrate include coconut-chips and sphagnum-moss. The negative aspects of these two variants, as well as the gravel option, are that snails will not be able to go “under the ground” and would feel unprotected.You will of course need to feed your snails and their diet varies greatly. However, I prefer to feed my snails mostly fruits and vegetables. Salads, apples, cabbages, grapes, tomatoes (the favourite meal of my snails), cucumbers, basically anything cut and chopped into smaller bits. However, there is one detail you should consider about their feeding. Snails must have source of calcium. The way you can provide calcium is to buy calcium powder in your local pet store or go the “natural” way, crushing the egg-shells into tiny pieces of 0.5-1 mm. You can either add the calcium to the food or place a separate bowl. As an alternative secondary feeding source, especially relevant when leaving the snail without feeding for over a month, you could place a piece of wood (cork, branch) in the tank. But make sure you disinfect the item before adding it to your snail by either placing it in the oven for 20 minutes at 220ºC or boiling it in hot water for 8-10 minutes. And, please, never use alcohol or other disinfecting substances in this situation.You could also try growing oat sprouts by changing the substrate to 60-70% soil for decorative plants and 30-40% (respectively) of the current substrate. Usually the plant shoots disappear as soon as they appear on the surface of the ground. Snails love it and it is completely natural as well.Temperature & Humidity
These two factors you should be careful with. I have made several mistakes with keeping the right levels of temperature and humidity which did not always end well. As for the temperature I have already mentioned the fact, that an alternate heating source would help keep the level constant. In the ‘warm’ corner the temperature should not exceed 30ºC. The humidity in that corner would thereafter be lower, than in the ‘cold’ corner, where the humidity should be 70-90% and temperature of minimum 19ºC. The normal temperatures vary, however I keep my snails at 21ºC(‘cold’ corner)–26ºC(‘warm’ corner). You can maintain the temperature by spraying lukewarm water mostly in the ‘cold’ corner.However, going back to the part, where I discussed good ventilation, if that is not provided mold could start growing and your naive hungry snails would start eating it. That could not only cause various diseases, but stagnation of the humid air could be lethal for your mollusks.What would happen if the humidity is too low? Usually substrate takes long to dry out completely and this process forces the snails to prepare for hibernation. Snails can hibernate without any food source up to 1.5 year, however, I would not risk it and would just allow them to hibernate no longer than 2-3 month if needed.Breeding
If you follow all of the instructions above and you have a pleasant environment for your snails you might start seeing random egg clutches popping up in different areas of your snail terrarium. As most snails are hermaphrodites, including the species Limicolaria flammea and Achatina fulica albino, they are able to reproduce no matter what sex they are. Limicolaria flammea are able of reproduction at the age of 9 month, Achatina fulica albino– 11-13 month.
Although, you might be thinking that you will not have eggs as you only have your one snail, you are wrong by all means. If the conditions are good, the snail can reproduce without the presence of another specimen.But be careful with breeding as reproduction of snails of same brood and crossing over of alleles might cause severe mutation problems of the offspring.If we go back to the subject of feeding snails calcium, parent snails might start eating their own offspring, as it is a great source of calcium and the parent snails have a deficiency of calcium in their bodies after giving birth to 20-40 eggs. Extra information
Even though snails are very easy to keep, some basic rules should be followed as they are still live creatures and are sensitive to such factors, as humidity and temperature.I hope I have covered everything and I do not have anything to add. If you have any questions, please write me on my email or post your response in the comment section below. 
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