Achatina Albopicta

[AlienSnail]

Apologies for not having much information on these, please feel free to add any information as I know some of you have been keeping these for a few months.

Here are a couple that I have recently received.....


Here's two of Kab's....


And before I received my two adults I purchased some gorgeous babies from SallyPaws, I'll post a photo of those soon.

Well my babies are growing so fast, they appear to have one of the fastest growth rates out of the snails I've kept, and I gather from other people that theirs also grow fast.

Superficially they look like Achatina Reticulata. They have a rough textured shell which appears to be structured in a similar way to Reticulata, but have more lighter areas.
The flesh colour is certainly different though, being a pale brownish apricot.

They appear to like it quite warm and humid, again similar to Reticulata.

Can anyone tell me please how large they grow and also what their egg clutches look like?

Thanks.

[Kevin]

I think they grow to around 18cm or so, there was a fairly large shell of one in Cardiff museum's collection, though it wouldnt suprise me if they were smaller in captivity.

Their eggs look like fulica eggs in size and shape, my ones laid around 50 or so eggs, that hasnt hatched, maybe because its their first batch?

I have a few adults/subadults of these now, the first ones have shells similar in shape to the adults in the second picture, some ive received recently though has a much rounder and larger body whorl in comparison to the rest of the shell, similar to the ones on Yuri Yashin's site, so their shell shape, and also pattern would be variable.

They are similar to reticulata, though their shell is not as textured, they very often have a red/pink apex. They are found in Kenya and Tanzania, near the coast.

[AlienSnail]

Thanks Kevin. I think I may have frozen a batch of their eggs then thinking they were Fuli eggs. Oops.

I'm surprised they may grow so large

[toto]

Thanks for the helpful information.

[AlienSnail]

Some of the youngsters I received from SallyPaws ;D
They're growing very fast indeed and the shells are really pretty. Apologies for the substrate on their shells, I should have wiped it off

[katie22]

They are so cute! How big are they now?

[AlienSnail]

approx 3.5 cm ;D

[AlienSnail]

Mine are around 6cm long now and one has laid eggs. Is this normal for them to breed at this size? I thought they were a large species?

Does anyone know how large they grow please?

Thanks

[achatina]

Large? I wouldn't say so... the A. albopicta - wildcaughts - I had last year have been around 8-9cm, in various descriptions their size is denoted with up to 12cm... but I doubt this a little bit

[Kevin]

the shell I saw was larger than 12cm, at least 14-15cm or so. It could have been quite old though I guess, maybe they dont get so large now.

[AlienSnail]

Thanks Kevin. Well if mine are stunted perhaps I should freeze the eggs? Their shell growth does appear to have that look about it, you know when they reach adult-hood and the shell lip thickens? I'm thinking they won't reach much more than 6.5 cm, which is half the size they should be by the sounds of it.

However, they are thriving, active, healthy, and grew fast in the beginning.

Poor genetics or a response to living in a tank do you think?

If they're getting progressively smaller I would guess at confinement.

[feebix]

Aaaaw they`re lovely ! I don`t suppose anyone has any up for sale? I`d really like some of those !

[AlienSnail]

If mine hatch I'd be happy for you to have some, but the question is - are they of good genetics or is it inevitavble that this species will become small in captivity?

[sandradutch]

Hallo,
I dont think so, mines are born on 08-08 they are 11 cm and still growing.
Greet Sandra

[AlienSnail]

Thanks for the information Sandra, your snail is beautiful x

How do you keep your's? Perhaps I am doing something wrong?