Next Day Delivery on orders placed before 2PM Mon – Fri.
Order before 2pm, Mon-Fri excl. bank holiday
7-day refund window for health issues.
Shop equipment without breaking the bank.
Next Day Delivery! Order before 2pm, Monday-Friday. (Exludes Bank Holiday)
7 Day Live Guarantee for your pet covering 7 days after shipping for peace of mind.
Price Matched Products. Shop equipment without breaking the bank.
Deaths & injuries covered for this pet up to 7 days after arrival*
£6.99
The unicorn snail, Subulina octona is a small incredibly cute land snail which is highly social and mixes well with other small critters such as isopods for those wanting to create a mixed minibeast habitat. Unicorn snails are easy to care for and eat a variety of plant foods.
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The Unicorn snail – Subulina octona, a small snail native to the tropical Americas, is now widespread across the globe, including the Caribbean, Hawaiian Islands, Africa, Asia, Australia, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Pacific Islands. Additionally, it has established populations in Tanzania, Dominica, Czech Republic (as a “hothouse alien”), Great Britain (also as a “hothouse alien”), Pratas Islands in Taiwan, and other regions.
Unicorn snails are highly social and are typically found in large numbers in damp, shaded areas among stones, grass, moss, leaf litter, and other debris. They can be harmful to agricultural plants, such as orchids.
They can Measure up to 1.3 inches (3.3 cm) in length and their average shell size ranges from 0.6 to 0.8 inches (1.5 to 2 cm). The shell is elongated, smooth, and glossy, with up to 8-9 rounded whorls and deep sutures. It appears translucent yellowish to brownish, with dark apical whorls in adults. The body is pale yellow and can stretch to the shell’s length.
Under optimal conditions, Subulina octona Unicorn snail can live up to four years, though the average lifespan is around 2.5 years. These non-aggressive, docile, nocturnal snails may bury or hide during the day to avoid predators. They thrive in groups and are herbivores and detritivores, feeding on vascular plant material, lichens, fungi, and soil. In captivity, they enjoy fresh lettuce leaves, vegetables like carrot, courgette, cucumber, chayote, sprouts, green beans, and spinach. Their diet should include calcium sources like cuttlebones, eggshells, natural chalk, oyster shells, kale, and broccoli to prevent shell deterioration.
For housing, plastic containers with proper ventilation are ideal. A 1-gallon (4-liter) tank can house 10 or more snails. Use coconut fibre, soil, and peat as substrate, avoiding stones and gravel to prevent shell damage. These snails prefer a warm, humid environment with temperatures between 24-27°C (75-80°F). While they can survive in cooler temperatures (20-22°C or 68-72°F), they will be less active. Maintaining 80% or higher humidity is crucial for their respiration.
Subulina octona does not need an additional water source, obtaining sufficient moisture from the soil and food. They appreciate leaves, wood, plants, and other decorations, particularly enjoying moss and wooden sticks for rasping and eating tree bark.
Unicorn snails are hermaphroditic, possessing both male and female reproductive organs. They reproduce through internal self-fertilisation, laying eggs with well-developed embryos. Eggs, visible through the transparent shell, are retained until a few days before hatching and then buried in the soil. Each reproductive event yields 4-5 eggs, with an average of 124 eggs over 18-33 events during their lifetime.
All in all unicorn snails can make fascinating pets and they can cohabit with a variety of other minibeasts such as isopods, milllipedes etc as the basis for a beautiful bioactive terrarium.
Our Next-Day Guaranteed service promises same-day packing and delivery before 1 pm the following day for all orders placed. For standard livestock delivery, we dispatch orders within 1-5 working days, and once dispatched, your order will arrive in less than 24 hours.
We pride ourselves on our attention to detail- it’s a priority that your critters are safe & snugly packed.
When you receive your order, open it up and locate the transport container your pet is inside. Gently ease out your pet into the home you’ve prepared for it.
Ordering pets online can be nerve-wracking, we get it. Our 7-Day live guarantee is our way to ease nerves over the purchasing process.
We’re confident in the quality husbandry, shipping, and packaging of our livestock. On the rare occasion an animal arrives in poor condition, we will provide credit for the cost of that animal. If all animals in the shipment arrive in poor condition, we will also provide credit for the postage.
We try to make it as easy as possible to help any unwell critters, and ensure you can get your money back. There are a couple of steps to go through before a refund can be issued.
If you’ve received an unwell animal in the mail:
1. If it is safe to do so, (your pet is not medically significant or harmful) please remove the animal from its transport container, ideally onto your hand. We ask this as invertebrates, particularly insects, are experts at ‘playing dead’.
2. To provide you with the best advice going forward and to confirm the condition of your pet, we kindly request a short video of the animal in question before your refund can be processed. This can be uploaded on our ‘live guarantee refunds form’, or you can email it straight to us.
3. We typically respond within 24 hours, but please allow 1-3 working days for a response. Once it’s confirmed that you are eligible for a refund, we’ll get process the credit to your account.
We’ll need this information to reach us within 7 days after you’ve received your pet. We cannot provide any live guarantee to animals that have been refused, returned, or not collected.
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All live pets purchased from us are guaranteed to be of great health. Any issues in 7 days? Let us know.
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