Which species can live together without breeding?

[flabster]

Hi guys.

Completely new to snails. I'm interested in having two or three together, but ones that cant produce offspring.

I understand theres a chance single snails can still self fertilise but I want to reduce the risks of having eggs that I have to find and freeze.

I was hoping for a GAL snail and maybe one or two others of similar sizing. I know they need to have similar habitat requirements as well but as I say I'm completely new so would appreciate suggestions.

Also a quick side question, if I did end up with eggs and I froze them could I then use them as feed for other animals? I saw koi and terrapin can eat them?

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

Ps. I'm in the UK:)

[morningcoffee]

Aug 15, 2019 12:42:31 GMT flabster said:

Hi guys.

Completely new to snails.

Hi and welcome to the forum!
Most different GALS species can live together without danger of crossbreeding. I've kept Achatina fulica, Achatina reticulata (retics), Achatina achatina (tigers), and Archachatina marginata (margies) together before - you may need to do a little balancing of ideal conditions in terms of temperature and humidity if you're keeping different snails together so be aware of that but in my experience most of the commonly kept species are reasonably adaptable.
Achatina fulica are great for beginners, as are retics. I also recommend margies, particularly Archachatina marginata ovum, as they are full of character, easy-going and tend to be pretty active in good conditions. Tiger snails can be rather lazy in my experience, they tend to sleep a lot and aren't often seen out and about.

In terms of snails you shouldn't keep in the same tank, I wouldn't keep Achatina iredalei with other species as I've heard they are quite sensitive and seem to not like being with different species. Also back in the day I remember some discussion of Achatina immaculata potentially biting other species of snail in the same tank too, which is something to be aware of.
However I can't think of any other GALS that you wouldn't be able to house together off the top of my head.

And yes you can feed snail eggs to other animals - I used to keep chickens and they were crazy for snail or slug eggs.

[flabster]

Thank you!

I've been suggested ovum and tigers are a safe bet for beginners so I may go for those.

How long do they take to sexually mature do you know? I know theres still a chance of eggs even if they cant breed.

Thank you for the reply though!