Classification
Class — Gastropoda.
Family — Achatinidae.
Genus — Archachatina.
Species — Archachatina Puylaeti.
Habitat
Africa.
Outward appearance
Length: up to 13 cm.
Color: brown-pink. Shell color is dark brown with thin yellow strips.
Shell: wide. There are albinos.
Feeding
This species of land snail eats all kinds of raw vegetables and fruits; carrot, potato, leek, cellery, pumpkin, apple, tomato, cucumber, aubergine, mellon and many more.
You can just place the foods on top of the soil in the enclosure of the snails. They will eat it very soon! Do not feed them more than they can eat in about two days, otherwise the food will go bad and smell.
Breeding
Young snails can show signs of sexual maturity at 9-10 months old; prominent genital opening and interest in other snails. The eggs are on average 20 mm. long (range 10.6 - 25.1 mm.) and the average width was 15.7 mm. The size of the eggs is directly related to the size of the snail. The average clutch size is about 8-9 eggs with 3 being a minimum and 16 being a maximum. Sometimes single infertile eggs are laid on the surface. Each animal can lay between 2-4 clutches per season. It would also seem that in captivity in the UK, with no seasonal variation control they show a major peak in egg-laying between May and June and a minor peak during September. It has been hypothesised that if that is a reflection of the wild (Nigeria), the snail would hatch at the beginning of the wet season, meaning the babies have a better chance of survival.
The development of the embryo is heavily affected by soil temperature and moisture. The best conditions seem to be in very damp soil at a temperature of 23°C. The variations in temperature are responsible for many embryonic deaths. At an air temperature of 26-28°C and an inch below the soil surface 17-19° the incubation time is 35-41 days. At an air temperature of 26-28°C and a soil temperature at 22.5-23°C incubation time is 29-35 days.
The hatchlings consume their own egg shell and then start eating their siblings shells. Usually one of the upper eggs hatches first followed, in the next 24 hours, by a second hatching in a similar position. The first one to hatch may take 24-36 hours to do so. All the viable eggs usually hatch within a week of the first.
The young snail tend to burrow underground for at least 7 days but this can be 10-14 days.
Maintenance care
Snails can be kept in a variety of tanks and containers. It must be large enough to accomodate them, with good ventilation. The snails need light so an opaque box is out of the question but a translucent/nearly transparent container will be fine from the snails point of view.
The most important thing to remember is that it must be escape-proof. Snails are extremely strong (they can lift 10-50 times their own weight!) for their size and could lift a lid that isn't clipped or weighted down. Wooden or cardboard containers are not suitable, they will rot and in the case of cardboard, the snails will actually eat it.
There are a wide variety of ways to decorate your tank to make it more interesting. The most important thing to remember is to avoid, hard materials like ceramic dishes, stones and bricks etc. If a snail takes a fall and hits something hard it will damage its shell. This does happen from time to time, so softer materials in the tank will mean less damage, making it easier for the snail or you to repair.
Lifespan — up to 10 years.
