Giant african snails just had baby's how do i care

[chaz1982]

Hi all,

Im new here and fairly new to owning snails !!
I have 4 giant african snails these were brought for my children as an easy pet !.
I have them in an old fish tank i dont have a heat mat which i see you talk about alot but mine dont seem to mind ive had them about a year and a half.
I knew that they could have babies but didnt really expect them to to be honest !! lol
Now i see these little shells everywhere and some of the babies moving about.
How do i care for them ? do i just carry on as normal with feeding and spraying them ?
Also i was due to change the compost in the bottom of their tank but shall i leave it as the babys are all buried underneath ?
Thanks
Chaz x

[coyote]

Hi chaz, welcome to the forum! Congrats on your snailets! I would carry on as normal for the time being until the little ones get a bit bigger. If it was me, I'd hold off on changing the substrate for a while as well, until it gets easier to locate all the babies.

What are you going to do with all of them?

[Deleted]

Congrats about your cute hatchlings! I once had H.aspersa's and they had eggs but my granny and grandad cared for them while i was on holiday with sis and parents but i didnt find any babys (they must have escaped through big air holes from old tank)

[chaz1982]

Hi thanks for replying.

I will leave the compost for now then as long as they seem happy
Got little babies everywhere at the moment and havent got a clue what to do with them to be honest ive been told by the lady who gave them to me that you cant give/sell them until their about 4 months old is this true ?
Was thinking of asking at the pet shops wether they would be interested in having some ! what do you all usually do with the babies ?
Also is it true that they will have babies every 6 months ? cause im gonna get over run lol
Chaz

[Bumblebee]

Well you can always put out ads on ebay or and other sites.
Im not sure if there is a 'rule' that the snails have to be of a certain age before being sold, since they, unlike mammals are selfindependant when born. So its probably just to let the snails be able to grow a bit so that they are easier to transport, handle and care for since they should be some centimeters big by that age.

Depending on what specie you have it varies a bit with how often they will lay eggs, fulicas are a real egg laying machine xD But if you dont want any more eggs to hatch, you could always look through the tank 1-2 times a week and then freeze the eggs you find.

[crossless]

I have read that good "posting and selling age" is when babies are about 1cm to 2cm from their shell atleast. It will cut off in same time those ones away which die after hatching and they are big enough to take some impact without losing their lifes (I mean like don't die in shaking post packet etc.).

Usually there's just some critical time after hatching that and starting to grow up. That's why I would wait it would be too sad to crush someones starters heart, 'cos they don't really know that every baby won't survive till adult age. Then they may not want to get new snails 'cos they might think it was their fault that it has been died. More likely they survive when you don't sell them right away when they have been hatched.

[coyote]

It might matter with re-homing a puppy or kitten, but I don't think age matters with snails. I think size is more important to go by (1 to 2 cm shell size).

Your snails will probably be reproducing prolifically, so it might be wise to start a routine of weekly egg hunts. Sort through the substrate and freeze any eggs you find, otherwise you will be overrun with hungry baby snails.

[bloodhawk]

if you guys only have snaillets every six months then your lucky my lot of mixed snails fulicas and rodatzis most the thime for the past few months have been laying eggs every month sometimes several lots i got 3 lots last month fortunetly theres a bug shop near me who is willing to take some from me

[crossless]

I get eggs every month I had like first 8 egg machines soon my 3 new snails maybe start laying eggs too and when my only baby snail grows up I'll have then 12egg machines. Oh my gosh its so weird to always find some clutch some where. I my snails lay so much that I have destroy eggs (everyone makes about 100 eggs).. I had deal with one reptile keeper, that I would give them as food, but they don't at moment lay same time of month so I can't give them to utilization until they lay at same time.