Achatina snails: breeding and caring for eggs at home

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Their favorite pets live next to the person. It is more common to see dogs and cats among them. But many people enjoy breeding animals in aquariums. Artificial mini-reservoirs in the apartment are designed not only for fish to live in them. Some exotic lovers keep snails in them. A popular species of these mollusks for breeding in captivity are Achatina. Our article tells about reproduction, egg care and much more from the life of these leisurely mollusks.

Achatina: who is it?

These are large snails that live on land in subtropical and tropical climates. Thanks to people, they gradually moved to Southeast Asia, and in the warm countries of this region they successfully took root. Here, the process of reproduction of Achatina snails is quite intensive. 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. Because of,that Achatinas multiplied extremely, they became pests of young crops, as they eat them under the root.

Snails living in their natural environment are a source of infection with diseases that are dangerous to humans. But Achatina, bred by man, are harmless, there are no dangerous viruses in them.

In Japan, these mollusks are eaten, so they are bred in large quantities. The French eat them too. Snails in Russia are bred as pets. In our harsh outdoor climate, they simply won't survive.

General information about shellfish

Achatina are the largest 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. On the shells there are coils twisted clockwise and counterclockwise. Old snails have seven to nine of these decorations on their shells. The body of mollusks is soft, wrinkled, with tubercles over the entire surface. It comes in a variety of colors, but the most common pattern is alternating stripes in contrasting hues.

Small horns in the amount 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 that are one centimeter away from their eyes. They feel smells with their skin, the shape of objects located onat close range, perceived by the sole. Snails breathe with their skin, since they have no lungs.

How snails mate

In order to avoid any problems when breeding Achatina snails and caring for them, you should not mate mollusks from the same masonry, where they are all relatives to each other: parents, brothers, sisters, children. For breeding choose he althy and large snails born in other families. In order for the offspring to be viable and he althy, one species and one variety of mollusks are mated.

If you plan to grow large snails, there is no need to rush with reproduction. This is due to the fact that during pregnancy, the growth and formation of molluscs stops. Mating before 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. Its fluctuations during this period are 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 should be cleaned regularly, and the snails should be fed with calcium.

The use of sepia, chalk or mineral stone, small shell rock is what you need. The snail should be provided with calcium supplements before, during and after the gestation period until the mollusc recovers.

How the process worksbreeding

To breed Achatina snails at home, they must mate. To make this happen, they are transplanted into another aquarium or container. If individuals have the same size, fertilization will be bilateral, if their parameters do not match, it will be unilateral. The larger snail becomes a female.

Mollusks at a young age produce more male germ cells than female ones. For this reason, for the breeding process, young molluscs are planted with adults.

Snail mating lasts two hours or a little less. Their sexual organs touch each other, exchanging sperm and fertilizing. The body of the mollusk is able to store it for two years. A snail can lay eggs every month if conditions are favorable.

After mating, egg laying begins. It is currently known that all Achatina snails are oviparous, although they differ in terms of pregnancy. Hatching eggs are clearly visible if you look in the spiracle of the mollusk. One to one and a half months pass from the moment when the mating took place, and until the masonry is opened.

How to stimulate reproduction

Many novice breeders are faced with such a problem: despite the good content of the Achatina snail, reproduction still does not occur. What to do? You need to start by making sure that the clams are he althy. If everything is in order, the mode of their feeding and the composition of the diet are checked. Next, the conditions of detention are examined,the thickness of the substrate in the aquarium and its condition. 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 of eggs in different species varies in time. On average, this period lasts one to two weeks, after which the snail lays 50-300 eggs.

During pregnancy, molluscs spend a lot of strength and energy, so after the mating process they are very often inactive, burrow into the ground and sleep a lot. Their growth and formation stops.

At this time, it is especially important that the clams are not deficient in calcium. They need to be fed with food chalk, calcium mixtures. The diet should include grain mixtures, protein supplements and vegetables.

If the Achatina get a balanced diet, he althy offspring will be born. It is important to maintain the microclimate familiar to shellfish in the aquarium.

A week after the fertilization process, you can already see eggs in the amount of several pieces. They are located on the side of the breathing hole. This is the future masonry, which the snail lays in the ground, although it happens that 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.

Achatina snails:breeding, egg care

Everything is important in shellfish farming, but the process of reproduction is the beginning of life. Therefore, it is necessary to create the most comfortable conditions for this. Another equally important point is egg care. Achatina snails, whose breeding was carried out in accordance with all the rules, very soon cover the bottom of the aquarium with white eggs. Of these, snails will hatch after 65 days. For some time they will live in the ground, eating eggshells. An adult lays an average of 50 eggs with a diameter of five millimeters. When breeding Achatina snails, egg care is simply necessary. If left unattended, they will die. Therefore, the following rules for caring for them should be observed:

• The bedding of the soil at the bottom of the aquarium should not dry out, but the accumulation of liquid is also unacceptable. If the water covers the nest, the eggs will rot, and all embryos will die in dry soil.
• Eggs can be sprinkled with soil to keep them safe.
• Humidity should be maintained higher than usual.
• Throughout the entire laying period, the temperature regime must be observed. The aquarium should be warmer than indoors.
• You should not keep a large number of snails in one house. In cramped conditions, eggs often die.
• Don't touch them with your hands, otherwise you can damage the shell.

Which egg laying is called false

These are unfertilized eggs in the amount of 10-15 pieces. They do not have a shell, they are translucent in appearance. Such eggs arename of fat. False masonry is a harbinger of the real one, but only if Achatina has a pair. Laying fat eggs occurs in lonely snails.

Excess eggs: what to do?

It happens that when breeding, the Achatina domestic snail lays many eggs. In this case, experienced breeders advise freezing the extra ones, and then getting rid of them. But an interesting feature should be taken into account. If you put eggs in a trash can, even when frozen, they may hatch into snails. Population growth in this case will be uncontrollable. Such a situation can be avoided if you prepare in advance for such a turn of events.

Tiger snails

They are called Ghanaian giant snails. This is another type of land mollusk in the world. They are more difficult to breed than African Achatina. Natural habitats are the dense forests of Ghana and coastal thickets.

The shells are 18 cm long 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 recently been declining due to intensive deforestation. In addition, shellfish are too actively used as food. It is also significant that tiger giants often die of malnutrition after laying eggs.

Snails of other species are often mistaken for tiger molluscs, whose distinguishing feature is the rough leg of the darkcolor, the end of which has a V-shape.

Reproduction of Achatina tiger snails occurs when they reach puberty, that is, their age is 21-24 months, sometimes three years. But this period is reduced if, when kept at home, it is good to feed your pet. Sometimes reproduction occurs through self-fertilization, but it lasts a long time. It happens that five years pass after the snail laid its eggs for the first time.