Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:27 pm Post subject: Giant African Land Snails.
Going to have some new additions to the family, soon. The additions being Giant African Land Snails! One of the ladies who runs the local flower shop, her son has some for sale, so I have ordered six of them. They should be arriving on Thursday. Been doing a bit of reading up about them this evening, and, apparently, they are ILLEGAL to keep as pets in the USA.
(They're frightened that they may be released into the wild, and eat all the veggies and stuff.)
They can live as long as five years and grow to around 8 to 10 inches long, with huge lovely marked shells. A fully grown adult snail can weigh as much as One and a half Pounds!!!!
No, Ken, they don't, they are 100% Herbivores.
I was looking in my local pet shop this afternoon, and they had a baby Royal Python for sale. It really was a beautiful creature, but, sadly I'd need to get a heated vivarium set up before I bought it, and the problem is, my little flat is rapidly running out of space. (Too many diecasts). _________________ http://sewardchronicles.ning.com/
When I was with the UN years ago, half a dozen of us lived in a villa on the outskirts of town and two Austrian guys turned our spare bedroom into a desert oasis with 2 tons of sand and a load of rocks and plants and then proceeded to fill it with various lizards, scorpions, snakes etc. ! It was really impressive and others came from far and wide to wonder at this small creation in a villa !!! One of the Finns kept a small monkey in a cage out the back of us as well, he won it in a card game and we kind of adopted it as a mascot
I am such a wimp I walked into the bathroom at 4am on Monday morning and there was a large brown slug on the floor. Naturally I looked at it, looked again, then walked out and closed the door and was up for the rest of the night.
Tony looked for it on Monday but kept saying are you sure you saw it. The trail on the bathmat yesterday morning convinced him. That is why I am sitting here at almost 3am, it's been haunting me. I got up at 2 and Tony got up shortly after walked into the bathroom, saw it, and dealt with it.
I'm sorry but I won't be able to come for my holidays. _________________ Marie
Well, I spent part of the morning preparing my Snails' new homes. I drove to a nearby Garden Centre, and asked the chappie for a bag of "Lime-Free" Compost.
They only sell it in huge bags, for £5.95, so I said to him that I only needed a reletivly small amount.
"I do have some left in a bag that I've been using for potting seedlings," he replied, and walked over and picked up a bag that was about a qurter full.
"Will this be enough for you?" he asked.
"Please, that'll be about as much as I need for now."
I then went on to tell him why I wanted it, and he was very interested.
"How does 40pence sound?" "O.K?"
"Perfect", I said, and the deal was done. I walked off happily with my purchase, stuck it in the boot, and then drove back to the Pet Shop, where I bought a piece of Cuttlefish. (Helps to build and harden their shells).
After returning home and a quick cup of coffee, I walked to the Florists and they were all ready for me. They are about five months old, so not exactly Babies, and their shells are already formed and hard.
I let one rest on my palm and it started exploring my hand, moving towards my arm.
They enjoy being handled, and are perfectly safe. Interesting creatures! _________________ http://sewardchronicles.ning.com/
I'm having camera probs at the moment, Jo-Jo. But they are spitting images of the big one in the photo above, (only much smaller of course.) _________________ http://sewardchronicles.ning.com/
Snail update: My snails are growing well, and a couple of weeks ago I got hold of another, larger vivarium for them. This is actually an aqarium complete with light fitting and will give my GAL's a lot more space to live.
One of them has become "broody", and I think I could soon be seeing the first batch of eggs.
Well, it's happened, just as I predicted. When I looked at my little family this morning, lo and behold, there they were, about 200 perfect little eggs, their shells already hardened.
I have removed most of them, and just left "Mum" with a dozen or so to keep warm.
The rest I placed into another, much smaller container, on a nice warm bed of compost, and have placed them in the airing cupboard. It's warm and dark, and except for a daily check on them to spray them with warm water, they will be left to hatch out in their own time.
Not too sure how long this will be, so I am looking forward to rearing my first batch of baby GALS.
Once they are starting to grow, and have formed their shells, my local Reptile shop has said they will take them off me.
I shall keep two and rear them myself, but all the others will have to go, otherwise I would not be able to keep them when they get bigger.
Also, I hate to think just how much a family of over 150 snails would cost me to feed them.
If only four get through two lettuce, one cucumber, and two tomatoes a week, how much food would 200 eat?
(Sounds a bit like a terrible maths question of the type we used to get at school, doesn't it? _________________ http://sewardchronicles.ning.com/
The first batch of eggs never hatched, nor did the second, but the third batch so far has produced just ONE baby snail! I have separated her into a small "nursery" container, and she is eating well, and seems happy enough. She is too small to hold yet, and her shell has barely formed, but she is already starting to explore her new home, and eating tiny portions of lettuce leaf!
I am keeping a close eye on the other eggs now, because if one has hatched, then soon there should be others.
Oh Sweet Sandie,pleased you have been successful at last, mind you I have started on my Daughters garden which hasn't had any work done for years, and I have been collecting a large number of garden snails and pushing them into the park that backs on to her property,some where big boys too _________________
JoJo, any chance of sending me about four of them, please? I'll gladly pay for the postage.
Just pop them into a small, light container, make sure they have some air holes, a bit of food, (any greenstuff),and cocoon the container inside bubble wrap, place in a snug fitting cardboard box, and send them to me?
Just don't post them on a Thursday or Friday otherwise they could be stuck in the Sorting Office for the weekend. _________________ http://sewardchronicles.ning.com/
I can't seem to find any around here, and i want to start a new colony of ordinary garden snails.
I know this sounds rather strange, but trying to find any snails in our communal garden is difficult. _________________ http://sewardchronicles.ning.com/
Well send me your address I will see what I can find to post then in, people around you won't be pleased if you start a snail family eating their plants _________________
Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 10:00 pm Post subject: Alpha Update.
Can't find the single baby that I had, so, I assume she must have died. I have since cleared out their home, so it's just possible that I mistakenly threw her out with the old foodstuff that was left.
Baby snails can be hard to spot, so it's easily done.
As she was from the second batch of eggs, and they never turned yellow, but stayed white, I was really surprised that even one baby hatched out.
Of course, as the parents mature, so there is far more chance of hatching youngsters out successfully. _________________ http://sewardchronicles.ning.com/
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