Wanted: Large Achatinidae shells 160 mm +

[Timm Adam]

Hello everyone,

for educational purposes I am looking for shells of Achatina species and Archachatina species that are higher/longer than 160 mm/16 centimeters/6.3 inches. I can offer you plain money or exchange of invertebrates.

So please take a look at your fellow GAL that died of old age and their remaining shells; they can still do some service for their genera and the ackknowledgement/respect for the mollusc world through the sometimes ignorant humans!

I will be showing them around at school projects and exhibitions together with living snails to document the size our friends can reach.

Thank you very much for offers or hints on sources!

Kind regards

Timm

[e-mail]

[heydihoo]

I have some shells although I'm not sure any are bigger than 16cm but I do have a variety of species

[ness]

I have an empty shell (approximately) 162 mm long from an Archachatina marginata ovum that you can have if you are interested I'll send you a PM....
Regards - Ness.

[Timm Adam]

Hello,

if you have some shells I would take them. I am after some real big ones but it is also nice to have some different species/forms and patterns to show around.

You can also send me emails to [e-mail] because I do not look round here every day.

The largest Achatina achatina I have is 161 mm and the largest Archachatina marginata marginata is around 172 mm. So if you have any that might beat those two....... it would be super.

Thank you very much!

Regards

Timm

[brunni]

Hi Timm

I guess you know these very large Achatinidae shells can be worth some money, especially if they are in good condition ? A recently saw an A. fulica shell from Guam with 170mm being sold for over USD 90 on ebay !!!!! I don't know the final price it reached as I went to sleep a couple of hours before the end of the auction.

I also collect Achatinidae shells and am always looking for large or unusual specimens ( colour or pattern, albino shells, abnormal growth, etc ). I could offer you a A. achatina shell over 161mm in exchange for other large shells. Send me a PM if interested.

Other members are also welcome to get in touch with me if they have special shells to sell/exchange.

[ness]

May 30, 2011 18:42:30 GMT Timm Adam said:

Hello,

if you have some shells I would take them. I am after some real big ones but it is also nice to have some different species/forms and patterns to show around.

You can also send me emails to [e-mail] because I do not look round here every day.

The largest Achatina achatina I have is 161 mm and the largest Archachatina marginata marginata is around 172 mm. So if you have any that might beat those two....... it would be super.

Thank you very much!

Regards

Timm

Ah. The shell I offered (A.marginata var. ovum) is smaller than yours, are you sure you still want it?

[Timm Adam]

Hello,

yes I know they can be rather expensive. In fact I was one of the mad blokes who bid on that +170 mm shell from Guam but in the end it was too much money after all and I let it go, I think it was slightly over 170 Dollars in the end. I am also offering some of mine for sale so I get funds for the real biggies but this is really not easy. Also I get physical pains as soon as I try to spend more money for dried insects or empty shells than for living ones.

But I have started a collection of all of the biggest invertebrates of our planet and I really want one of those 200 mm shells. And the beauty of my collectionb is that it will actually be looked at by some more people and not only rotting and catching dust.

Of course I will not sell any of the shells I get from people from here but will use these in the schools and kindergartens I visit with my animals.

So the hunt is still on. Of course I am willing to pay serious money for some really large sjhells. I do not expect anyone to give aaway anything for free when it is actually worth money.

Thank you!

Kind regards

Timm

[brunni]

Now this is a truly giant margie shell :--

The author then recited an account of his travels in S.W. Cameroon,
where he easily collected Archachatina marginata in trees. In the
village of Nyangong, he showed his largest shell (a 159 mm whopper) to the villagers, who asserted there was a much larger shell owned by one of their neighbors. De Winter was directed to the proper house and, indeed, the owner had a very large specimen. He said it had been collected a long time before by one of his ancestors. Nevertheless, the shell was offered for sale and the author made the purchase, albeit with some reluctance.

The specimen measured 214 X 124 mm and he indicated that it was
"probably the largest and most voluminous, shell of a recent land
snail ever recorded." Color photo's (no scale) accompanied the report.

Above posted by "Harry G. Lee" on [e-mail] Wed, 3 Feb 2010 14:34:07 -0500

...........almost 9 inches long