|
|
Post by eilisnail on Jun 16, 2016 3:15:36 GMT
Anyone selling or know of anyone selling albino achatina achatina achatina Nigeria at the moment? I want to get one unrelated to my current snail, who came from zoocentre on ebay. I'm in the UK.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tilly's Dragon on Jun 16, 2016 7:24:08 GMT
Was is these ones on Ebay? I hope you don't mine me asking but I've never seen Albino tiger snails before, they are nice! Zoo Centre ebay stores |
|
|
|
Post by eilisnail on Jun 16, 2016 9:47:41 GMT
Yeah that's the one, although they were £29.99, not £99.99! TBH though I wouldn't buy from that seller again. The substrate the snail was shipped in was shockingly dry and the snail was retracted very far. Took ages to get him to move at all and I thought for a while he was dead. Also he has had poor shell growth, and there's a huge chunk missing out of the outermost edge of his shell, like he was dropped recently.  |
|
|
|
Post by lorisarvendu on Jun 16, 2016 10:54:40 GMT
I bought one of these as well (though not for the £99 price!) and things do look a bit more positive. The substrate is coir which is drier than peat or compost, and I messaged the seller back to confirm this. He says he uses it for all his snails, so since he appears to have sold Tigers before, they must thrive in it.
It was posted very quickly and in fact I wasn't expecting it till Friday (when someone would have been home) but I got home yesterday to find a "We tried to deliver" card through the letterbox. ARgh!! Luckily our sorting office is open till 8pm on Wednesday, so I went and picked it up.
The snail was retracted, though no more than normal for a Tiger, and came out after a bit of washing in warm water. It seemed to suffer no ill effects, had a wander round my hand, then climbed over some cucumber and cuttlefish.
There was a bit of irregularity in the outer lip as well, but nothing that a few weeks of growth wouldn't sort out. The shell bands seem quite evenly spaced as well, indicating reasonably robust feeding and growth.
I'm not happy with coir as I can't see it as a natural substrate in the wild, and I suspect the seller either uses it because it's cheap, or because it's environmentally friendly. Myself I just go with Sphagnum Moss Peat, as that's what I use for my carnivorous plants and my Tigers are 3 years old now and seem quite happy living in it.
One thing to remember is that albinism is a genetic defect and can have other effects on an animal's health, such as increased susceptibility to infection or cancer from UV. I don't know how relevant these would be to a snail (they certainly don't sunbathe), but I'm pretty certain these are not a naturally-occurring subspecies. All these snails are probably descended from a single pair of albinos and may possibly be third generation or more. I would be very suspect of any future albino Tigers being offered on eBay within the next few years (especially from this seller) as they would almost certainly be very closely related. As such there is a strong possibility of other genetic disorders along with the albinism.
Depending on how strong the albino gene is, I'd be inclined to pair them with ordinary Tigers to strengthen the gene pool, then keep an eye out for the odd Albino in future clutches. Personally I just wanted a white snail because I thought it looked cool!
|
|
