Their beloved pets live next to the person. It is more common to see dogs and cats among them. But many people enjoy raising animals in aquariums. Artificial mini-reservoirs in the apartment are not only intended for fish to live in. Some exotic lovers keep snails in them. A popular species of these mollusks for breeding in captivity are Achatina. Our article talks about reproduction, caring for eggs and much more from the life of these leisurely mollusks.
Achatina: who is this?
These are large snails that live on land in subtropical and tropical climates. Thanks to people, they gradually moved to Southeast Asia, and successfully took root in the warm countries of this region. Here the Achatina snail reproduces quite intensively. They do not care for eggs in the wild, so a large number of them died. However, given that there are more than a hundred eggs in a clutch, the percentage of surviving young is large. Due to the fact that Achatina has multiplied enormously, they have become pests of young crops, as they eat them at the root.
Snails living in their natural environment are a source of infection with diseases that are dangerous to humans. But Achatina, bred by humans, is harmless; there are no dangerous viruses in them.
In Japan, these mollusks are consumed as food, so they are bred in large quantities. The French also eat them. Snails in Russia are bred as pets. They simply will not survive outdoors in our harsh climate.
Health, disease and prevention
A number of factors influence the health of a snail, such as:
- Maintenance problems associated with hypothermia or overheating of shellfish. Confinement in cramped housing, using either dry or too wet soil.
- Nutritional problems when shellfish are fed low-calorie foods that contain insufficient amounts of protein and calcium.
- Problems with living conditions associated with unsanitary conditions.
- Poor ventilation and poor quality soil.
- Neighborhood problems when the compatibility of different species is not taken into account.
If a pet refuses food completely or partially, becomes lethargic, becomes clogged in the shell, and various discharges in the form of thick mucus are observed, then this is the first sign that the snail is sick. The disease is also indicated by delamination of the shell. The most dangerous disease is when a gastropod falls out of its shell. Such consequences may be associated either with genetic predispositions or as a result of prolonged exposure to chemically harmful components, bacteria, infections or fungi.
As a rule, in this case the mollusk quickly dies. To protect yourself and your pet from negative processes, you should approach dietary choices wisely.
In case of careless handling of the snail, damage of varying severity may occur, compromising the integrity of the shell. Some damage to the shell can be removed with epoxy glue, but in any case the animal must be provided with food rich in calcium
If you keep a snail in unsanitary conditions, it may develop parasites or infectious diseases, which require enormous effort to get rid of. To combat such phenomena, propolis-based ointments are used, as well as the drug “Mikoseptin” and iodine solution, which can be purchased at the pharmacy.
General information about shellfish
Achatina are the most giant African snails. They grow up to 30 cm in length. Their shells are large and have thick walls, and what color they will be depends on the food they eat. The shells have coils twisted clockwise and counterclockwise. Old snails have seven to nine such decorations on their shells. The body of the mollusk is soft, wrinkled, with tubercles over the entire surface. It has different colors, but the most common color is alternating stripes of contrasting shades.
Small horns in the number of two pairs are the organs of touch of Achatina. Their eyes are located on the first pair of horns. With the help of light-sensitive cells found throughout the body, snails perceive light. Mollusks see objects at a distance of one centimeter from their eyes. They sense odors with their skin, and perceive the shape of objects located at close range with their soles. Snails breathe through their skin because they do not have lungs.
How snails mate
To avoid any problems when breeding Achatina snails and caring for them, you should not mate mollusks from the same clutch, where they are all relatives to each other: parents, brothers, sisters, children. For breeding, healthy and large snails born in other families are selected. To ensure that the offspring are viable and healthy, one species and one variety of mollusks are mated.
If you plan to grow large snails, there is no need to rush into reproduction. This is due to the fact that during pregnancy the growth and formation of mollusks stops. Mating before individuals reach one year of age is undesirable.
Preparation for reproduction
In anticipation of offspring, it is necessary to create conditions for the reproduction of Achatina snails. The aquarium should always have a constant temperature of +27+28 degrees. Her hesitation during this period is unacceptable.
In order to cover the bottom of the snail house, a coconut substrate is used, but not dry, but wet. Its thickness should be 10 cm. The aquarium itself must be cleaned regularly, and the snails must be fed with calcium.
Using sepia, chalk or mineral stone, small shell rock is what you need. The snail should be provided with nutrition containing calcium before the onset of pregnancy, during it and after it, until the mollusk recovers.
How is the reproduction process carried out?
To reproduce Achatina snails at home, they must mate. For this to happen, they are transplanted into another aquarium or container. If the individuals have the same size, fertilization will be bilateral; if their parameters do not match, fertilization will be unilateral. The snail whose size is larger becomes a female.
Mollusks at a young age produce more male reproductive cells than female ones. For this reason, for the breeding process, young mollusks are placed with adults.
Mating of snails lasts two hours or a little less. With their genital organs they come into contact with each other, exchanging sperm and becoming fertilized. The body of the mollusk can store it for two years. A snail can lay eggs every month if the conditions are favorable for this.
After mating, egg laying begins. It is currently known that all Achatina snails are oviparous, although they differ in terms of gestation. The gestating eggs are clearly visible if you look in the spiracle of the mollusk. From the moment mating occurs until the opening of the clutch, one to one and a half months pass.
Atachine breeding: highlights
Breeding these snails has its own specific rules and features, knowing which you are guaranteed success.
What you need to know about breeding Achatina snails
Before you make your final decision, you need to keep in mind that breeding them at home can entail certain difficulties:
- pregnancy greatly affects the growth of the female, often after laying eggs she either stops growing at all or grows very slowly. That is, having a big beautiful pet and breeding will not work, you will have to sacrifice something;
- Pregnancy also affects not only growth, but also the condition of her shell. After laying it will not look so attractive, it may crack and peel;
- Another factor that is worth thinking about is the fertility of Achatina. With each clutch you will have 200 to 500 small clams that grow very quickly and eat a lot. If you have nowhere to give them, then think about whether to start breeding them.
What stimulates a snail to lay eggs?
Achatina snails are hermaphrodites, that is, each individual has both female and male sexual characteristics . But don’t be alarmed, cases of self-fertilization occur very rarely, so they still require a pair for fertilization. For mating, choose the largest and apparently healthy individuals and place them in the same terrarium. Also, do not forget about the age of the snails (they reach puberty at 6 months). If you are not sure about the snail's ability to fertilize, then it is useful for you to know that their genital organ is located on the neck and looks like a small tubercle of a lighter shade. If there is one, then the snail is ripe for reproduction.
Once fertilization has occurred, embryos begin to develop. Favorable temperature for their development is +15 degrees. After 1-2 weeks, the snail begins to look for a place where it can lay eggs. To do this, you need to prepare the soil in advance where the mollusk can make a burrow.
Which Achatina snails cannot be mated?
To get healthy and strong specimens, you need to know which snails cannot be combined for mating:
- individuals who have health problems;
- individuals that were born from the same batch;
- You should also not include in the breeding group those individuals that are actively growing.
Preparing Achatina for reproduction
In order for everything to work out and a batch of little Achatina to hatch soon, it is necessary to take into account all the important conditions. In the terrarium in which the individuals you have selected are located, a stable air temperature (+27-29 degrees) must be maintained.
The bottom of the terrarium is covered with moist coconut substrate, about 10 centimeters thick. It is also worth keeping the terrarium clean and removing waste daily. Shellfish are in great need of calcium at this time. To meet these needs, it is worth feeding them with calcium, the sources of which are chalk stone, mineral stone, sepia and small shell rock. Moreover, this must be done not only before fertilization, but also during gestation and after laying eggs, so that the snail recovers faster.
How does reproduction occur?
The snails mate for several hours, while they touch with their necks, on which the genitals are located. After mating, the snail becomes pregnant, and after some time it lays eggs.
After this, they ripen and after a month and a half, small Achatina hatch from them.
How can you stimulate reproduction processes?
Some owners of Achatina snails often complain that they comply with all the conditions, but the snails still do not reproduce. They can be encouraged to do this only by the presence of good conditions, and nothing else.
To do this, feed your pets well and feed them with minerals. Very often, while monitoring food and temperature, snail owners forget about other parameters that are also important, for example, the thickness of the substrate. It must be at least 4 centimeters, otherwise the snails will simply have nowhere to lay their eggs. Well, don’t forget about order and cleanliness in the terrarium. If all the mentioned nuances are fulfilled, then soon you will be enjoying the first brood.
How to stimulate reproduction
Many novice breeders are faced with this problem: despite the good maintenance of the Achatina snail, reproduction still does not occur. What to do? You need to start by making sure that the shellfish are healthy. If everything is in order, their feeding regime and the composition of the diet are checked. Next, the conditions of detention, the thickness of the substrate in the aquarium and its condition are examined. If the litter has not been changed for a long time and it has become dirty, there will be no mating and further reproduction of Achatina snails in such conditions. Experienced breeders stimulate the breeding process by removing the artificial pond.
How to care for a snail during pregnancy
The gestation time of eggs varies in different species. On average, this period lasts one to two weeks, after which the snail lays 50-300 eggs.
During pregnancy, mollusks expend a lot of strength and energy, so after the mating process they are very often inactive, bury themselves in the ground and sleep a lot. Their growth and formation stop.
At this time, it is especially important that shellfish do not experience calcium deficiency. They need to be fed with edible chalk and calcium mixtures. The diet should include grain mixtures, protein supplements and vegetables.
If Achatina receives a balanced diet, healthy offspring will be born. It is important to maintain a microclimate familiar to mollusks in the aquarium.
A week after the fertilization process, you can already see several eggs. They are located on the side of the breathing hole. This is the future clutch that the snail lays in the ground, although it happens that it also lays on its surface. The Achatina family is large. It contains mollusks that do not lay eggs. Small cubs are born immediately, 20-30 pieces about 9 mm in size.
Reasons for the absence of offspring
It happens that all the conditions for reproduction are met, the terrarium is prepared, the snail is full of strength and ready for pregnancy, but there are no offspring . In this case, check the following nuances :
- Receiving individuals complete and balanced nutrition. The presence of additional feeding.
- One of the reasons may be the small thickness of the soil, for example, only 5 cm. In this case, the snail has nowhere to lay its eggs.
- Purity of the earth. If the soil is contaminated, Achatina will not be able to reproduce in it.
In addition, it is important to think about where to distribute future offspring. You cannot breed snails without a specific purpose. Experts advise deciding in advance why breeding is being done. Many people do this for sale or as a gift to friends and relatives.
Achatina snails: reproduction, egg care
Everything is important in shellfish farming, but the process of reproduction is the beginning of life. Therefore, you need to create the most comfortable conditions for this. Another, no less important point is egg care. Achatina snails, which have been reproduced according to all the rules, very soon cover the bottom of the aquarium with white eggs. After 65 days, snails will hatch from them. For some time they will live in the ground, feeding on eggshells. An adult lays an average of 50 eggs with a diameter of five millimeters. When breeding the Achatina snail, caring for the eggs is simply necessary. If you leave the clutch unattended, they will die. Therefore, the following rules for caring for them should be observed:
- The soil bedding at the bottom of the aquarium should not dry out, but the accumulation of liquid is also unacceptable. If water covers the nest, the eggs will rot, and all the embryos will die in dry soil.
- You can sprinkle the eggs with soil to keep them safe.
- Humidity should be maintained higher than usual.
- Throughout the entire period of masonry, the temperature regime must be observed. The aquarium should be warmer than the room.
- You should not keep a large number of snails in one house. In cramped conditions, eggs often die.
- They should not be touched with hands, otherwise the shell may be damaged.
Time of maturation of egg laying
You will need preparation to create a good environment for the newborn snails. Therefore, you need to know how long it takes for Achatina snails to hatch from eggs?
Under good conditions, after about 12-14 days, small Achatina snails will hatch from the eggs.
Newborn snails are tiny, delicate and almost transparent. Akhatina babies have such a fragile and thin shell that you can see their heart beating through it. If the snails hatch in their parents' terrarium, it is advisable to place them in a smaller container.
Attention! It is not recommended to handle small Achatina snails. This can cause irreparable harm to the crumbs and they will stop growing. It is advisable to use a plastic spoon to take the newborn snails along with the soil and move them to the nursery terrarium.
Tiger snails
They are called Ghanaian giant snails. This is another type of terrestrial mollusk in the world. They are more difficult to breed than African Achatina. Natural habitats include dense forests of Ghana and coastal thickets.
The shells reach 18 cm in length and 9 cm in diameter. There are cases, although very rare, when the shell grows up to 30 cm. The average life expectancy is 5-7 years.
The population of tiger snails has been declining recently due to intensive deforestation. In addition, shellfish are overused as food. It is also important that tiger giants often die from malnutrition after laying eggs.
Snails of other species are often mistaken for tiger clams, which are distinguished by a rough, dark-colored leg that ends in a V-shape.
Reproduction of Achatina tiger snails occurs when they reach sexual maturity, that is, their age is 21-24 months, sometimes three years. But this period is reduced if you feed your pet well when keeping it at home. Sometimes reproduction occurs through self-fertilization, but this takes a long time. It happens that five years pass after the snail laid eggs for the first time.
What to do if Achatina laid eggs
You have no more than one week to resolve this issue. The right solution would be to get rid of the snail eggs, because the main problem in breeding Achatina is that the number of newborn snails is 300-400.
They need to be placed in good hands within a month, as the mollusks grow very quickly. A large number of Achatina requires a spacious home and a lot of food. You must clearly understand why you are leaving Achatina eggs. Many snail breeders freeze snail eggs and then throw them in the trash. This may not be humane, but it’s still better to freeze snail eggs than not later know what to do with the growing Achatina. We suggest preparing delicious snail caviar at home.
If you decide to professionally breed snails as an additional income, then mate only healthy, strong and beautiful Achatina. Select the best from the kids and raise them separately, when the due date comes, they will become your “breeding horses”.
