Giant African snail! Or the world of many different giant African snail species:
Are you head over heels in love with these peaceful giants and interested in keeping giant African snails as pets, and would you like more information? Welcome to the world of Slimeside!
First, it is important to know that there are many different species of giant African snails and other snails, and each is different: in size, lifespan, behavior, appearance, etc.
Snails belong to the mollusks and are as different from each other as mammals are.
A hedgehog is not the same as a whale, but both are mammals, so you can imagine the differences
between snails too.
But unlike mammals, snails are not yet fully studied, which means sometimes
species names change because they are reclassified.
This might sound quite complicated at first, but don't worry, one by
one, we will help you:
The most important thing is to choose the type of snail that is right for you. To do this, you should ask yourself a few questions:
- Can I handle freezing/killing eggs and baby snails?
- How much space do I have for a terrarium? The larger the snail, the more space you need.
- How important is it to me that the snail is also active during the day?
- Is it more important to me that it is tame or that it has a special color/shape?
- How long should it live? Would I prefer 2 years as a starting point, or can I even imagine keeping a native species that can live up to 35 years?
We will introduce you to some of the most common giant African snail genera; they can be classified into these genera:
 |
|
| - Lissachatina/ many eggs, up to 500 every week, tame, also active during the day, different sizes - depending on the species, very sensitive to change (can die from changes when setting up the terrarium) |
- Archachatina / only up to 12 eggs in a clutch, rarely active during the day, less curious, more frequent shell growth problems, more diseases, different sizes - depending on the species, not as sensitive to change. |
 |
 |
|
- Achatina/ grows slowly, many eggs, very large snail, can often go unobserved for days but then also active during the day, like intervals. |
- Limicolaria/ lives only up to 2 years, must be kept in groups of up to 6, tame, small as a snail, does not lay as many eggs but lays them often. Very beautiful shell color, small terrarium, tame, sensitive to large terrariums, avoid imports, only captive-bred, imports are wild-caught and die quickly. |