'Professional Snail Centre' anyone?

[infiltraitor]

I've just seen this linked to from another forum.

I'm not sure about the price, but it looks like it might be okay as a starter home for juvenile snails, or maybe a useful quarantine tank.

I certainly wouldn't keep any adults of the larger breeds in there though, and would think the snails would appreciate a better substrate than just a Pig Mat and sponge layer.

[Dusk]

...Why would anyone specially design a snail tank that's too small for most of the GALS in captivity and is borderline for the most common species? And that matting looks waay to high-maintenance for me. Without any substrate, they're going to get very stressed without anything to burrow in*or* hide behind - and there's not room to add anything bigger than a small plant pot.

Very odd. I would avoid this at all costs.

[Arno]

I agree,it looks nice but only for small snails(baby and maybe native species).And Snail-liner for their sweat?What is next I wonder......

[feebix]

What a pile of pants ! ! When they don`t sell any I expect we`ll see the same thing advertised as " The perfect Ant house" ;D

[spook]

What a load of B****x!!

[Dusk]

Do you think it's worth dropping thema note about it? The site advertises itself as 'for people who do things properly' but the seller appears to be a general entomologist, and might not realise how bad the design actually is for large snails.

[AlienSnail]

Oh that's not right in my humble opinion. OK snails do give off moisture, water can collect at the bottom. A solution? replace some of the wet soil with coir that is quite dry, put the dry coir at the bottom of the tank, let it soak up the excess water. I find some of my tanks do get wet, and some don't, but it's not a problem that would require special liners.

The size is scary, those snails, once fully grown, will hardly fit!

I agree, they would likely get stressed without substrate in there to bury or hide in.

Quote: "Giant African Snails (Achatina fulica) do best in clean conditions" - it's not the only website where I've seen emphasis on keeping your snails clean, but this is not wise. They need some of their own muck (and the micro-organisms found within), and some of that from old food and veg, to help them to digest their food.

Quote"Heating needs…
Snails do well if kept indoors at a comfortable room temperature. A typical daytime temperature of between 18 and 21 degrees and a typical night-time temperature of 12 degrees or more is ideal. No extra heating is required. In fact, the use of heat mats is not recommended because they can dry out the surrounding air too much. Heat sources such as exposed bulbs are definitely to be avoided because they can burn the flesh of the snail if it touches them. Humidity gauges (hygrometers) and thermometers are not necessary.
Well my snails would sulk if I removed their heat, even the fulica. They wouldn't like 18-21 degrees, and I suspect I would lose some snails, or they would go into hibernation, and they are not drying out through the use of a heat mat!

[infiltraitor]

I thought I might get that kind of response ;D

TBH I hadn't read further down; the bit on breeding is quite funny too - I can just imagine prospective parent snails popping down to the nearest garden centre for a bag of John Innes to lay eggs in, and as for their unwanted egg advice...?!

[Dusk]

I can picture someone waking up one morning to a naked pile of eggs in one corner and one very sulky momma snail How on earth do you provide soil only when you think they might lay?

[AlienSnail]

I don't know what to think of the egg advice. I find the eggs freeze very quickly, I would think death occurs within a few minutes. When the eggs are liquid there will be no suffering to them whatever method is chosen. I wouldn't have thought that drying them would be quicker than freezing though.
There's been coversations before about the best way to kill eggs and euthanise snails in general, and there doesn't appear to be a completely ideal way.
If there are developing snails within the eggs then I don't know what is worse for them - freezing or drying out?

When you freeze eggs you know they will not develop. If you leave them on a paper towel and throw them out with anything damp, would there be a chance that they may recover and develop (when it's warm enough in the year?) I'm not sure. I would think that depends on how long you leave them to dry, and I would think you would have to leave them for quite a while, longer than freezing them.

Dusk you have a good point. I suppose when you know your snail is carrying eggs you can provide a tub, but how many times have we found surprise batches? I've had loads of surprises left in the soil! If I had to play the guessing game I wouldn't be able to keep up, I know I'd mis-time it.

[crossless]

Hmmh.. Is there any ventilation holes in it? That looks beatiful but I think you could find some size of vase cheaper somewhere..

I usually dry eggs it takes like day or few, you can boil them too if you like. Stick insects eggs die after +30 degrees so snails eggs are so small that they would die also quickly when dropped in boiling water. I sometimes froze eggs I let them be in freezer longer than hour just in case that pile will fully froze and I don't have so stuffed freezer that i would need to take them out quickly. I also froze peat after use just in case if I haven't noticed some egg in there while dig eggs out. After frozing my dad takes soil to contryside and use is in toilet compost bin as "flush" and depressing rotting food down.

After I get cat I think it's safest to froze egg so they won't be all over the place when it climbs inside of home.