Selecting your pet snails is mostly down to personal preference, but we recommend Achatina fulica and Achatina marginata for beginners. While you can keep different colourations of the same snail species together, such as Rodatzi with Jadatzi, you will need to be cautious of size differences between different species, as larger snails can cause harm to smaller ones.
Giant African land snails should be fed a source of fresh greens, protein, and calcium. Leafy green vegetables with the occasional fruit is ideal, along with a protein source such as Gammarus shrimp or dried insects. Cuttlebone, oyster shell, or egg shell will provide the calcium needed for the formation of strong, healthy shells in GALS, and your snails must have constant access to this calcium source.
Ensure your setup is prepared ahead of time, so you can pop them straight into their new home. Your snails will be in a transport container, simply take them out, and place them into their habitat. Add in some fresh food, protein, and allow them to much. After transit, they may take a little while to come out of their shell – don’t worry, they’re perfectly healthy.
Giant African land snails are super easy to care for, and considered very affordable pets. You can keep them in a ventilated terrarium, or use a large, repurposed container. They’ll need a moisture retaining substrate, coco-coir is a good choice; keep it moist to ensure your snails remain healthy. They’ll need two dishes, one for bathing filled with fresh water, and one for their food. Add plenty of hides like cork-bark chunks to keep your snails feeling secure. During the day, they will huddle up under them. Regularly feed your pets small portions of fresh veggies, and add more only after they’ve eaten the last. Ensure a calcium source is always available for strong shell development, and add a little dried protein to ensure they grow large and healthy.
Giant African land snails are ideal for people looking for a low-maintenance quirky pet. There are so many colours and species to choose from, which keeps snail-keeping interesting. Their hardiness makes them brilliant pets for kids or inexperienced keepers looking to jump into keeping unconventional animals. Overall, we highly recommend GALS.
While African land snails are typically solitary animals in the wild, coming together only to reproduce, there’s no harm in keeping these critters together if you ensure they’re all close in size. Housing snails that are drastically different in size, may result in injuries or death for the smallest snails if they are caught under the weight of larger ones. For this reason, keep similarly sized snails together.
Yes, it’s safe to buy giant African land snails from us. We ship exclusively within the UK via ‘Royal Mail Next-Day Before 1pm Guaranteed’ service, ensuring your pets spend only minimal time in transit. We’ll send out a shipping confirmation email when they’re on the way. If there are any issues and your animals arrive ill or deceased, we offer refunds for injuries and illnesses within a 7 day window after arrival.*
