The Snail Trail

Achatina Achatina – Giant Ghana Tiger Snail

These are the worlds largest land snails; they are very sought after due to their size, fantastic markings and rarity. Here are my two Tigers I have named them Tamu - Swahili for - Sweet one and Tano - after the Tano river in Ghana.

 

These snails are found within the dense forest areas of Ghana and are now very hard to find, this is partly because of them being caught for food by the natives of Ghana, and also due to deforestation. The average adult shell length is 18cm, with an average diameter of 9cm. In some rare instances the shell can grow to be 30cm long but this is unlikely, especially in captivity. Large ones may achieve a shell length of 22cm.

Mine still have some growing to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is ‘Spongebob’ one of my two adult Achatina Fulica, Spongebob is a big lad with his shell measuring almost 7 inches long, together they have laid hundreds of eggs and we have kept and hatched around 160 of them all of which have nearly been re-homed/adopted. Achatina Fulica is probably the most common GALS in the U.K. and the best starting point in keeping GALS, I have found them to be quite forgiving when it comes to their environment at times, and have adapted well to different housing conditions over the time we have had them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are a couple of Spongebob and Gary’s children; they were about 3-4 months old when this picture was taken. They have very pretty striped shells and are very active; we have several younger ones for sale at the moment in my eBay shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Kevin and Perry, my two Achatina Immaculata var. Two Tone, these are a more sought after species of snail, and slightly larger than my Achatina Fulica, they prefer their tank to be slightly warmer and more humid than the Fulica's tank, they are more active in the evenings, unlike my fulica which don’t seem to mind what time of day it is. They have a white ish colour flesh and a two tone blond shell, as yet these pair have not mated but I’m hoping they will soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Say hello to Ivan and Eric, these are juvenile Achatina Iredalei, they are albino GALS, they are smaller than the other GALS I have and are quite sought after, they are different to other GALS in that they do not lay eggs, they give birth to live young snails, having hatched their eggs inside their own shells. These snails prefer their living conditions slightly more humid than the fulica again, and seem to do better with a shallow dish of water present in their tank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally these are Achatina Immaculata var. Panthera, I have 2 of these juveniles, again slightly less common than the Fulica, again they prefer the condition more humid than the Fulica, and are very active, more so than the Immac Two Tones, I recommend that these be kept separate from other snails, in a tank of their own, there have been reports and some photographs published of these snails ‘rasping’ on other snails flesh, causing them considerable damage.