Giant African Land Snails

~~Introduction~~ We got a Giant African Land Snail from our friends for Christmas 2008, he is now affectionately known as Mr Slow. ~~Description~~ Mr Slow arrived with us about the size of a small marble. He liked burying himself in soil and hiding away. With much persistence he has grown - his shell is now the size of a tennis ball and when extended his both is the length and thickness of a small banana. I think they are really odd pets but he does serve up some amusement. He slurps his way around his tank, we like his feelers that pop out as he searches his way around. It's also pretty cool to see his body rippling (the muscle wave) that ...  Read the complete review

It's unfortunate to say that a lot of people would think that having Giant African Land snails as pets is a bit pointless. Why not just get some snails from the garden?, they say. However! I've got 3 of these wee fellas and I have to say they are some of the most interesting pets you can have. They start off the size of a standard British snail really, progressively growing to at least the size of your hand. It's really interesting to watch them grow. I'm quite sad myself and I like to measure mine and record their progress. They can grow up to a foot in body length, with the shells ending up the size of a tennis ball. They're really easy to look ...  Read the complete review

I'm sure that a lot of people without much thought just dismiss the idea of having any sort of snail as a pet, and I can completely understand why. They're slimy, they don't show affection and they won't play fetch with you. But they are such interesting things to have! I've had mine for 2 years now and watching them grow has been really amazing. I started off with 3 pea-sized snails and now have 5 that are nearly as big as my hand. I got mine from a science teacher when I was at school who had just bred about a hundred of them and was desperately trying to give them away to all of her students. Although my snails were given to me, I've seen some ...  Read the complete review

Giant African land snails or GALS make brilliant pets as they're so easy to look after but they're also fascinating. Many people go "eurgh!" when they first meet them but after they learn about them they see that they're not as disgusting as they first thought. I take my "Bobs" (Bob and boB!) into schools to do talks about them and I've donated pairs of baby snails to local schools because they make wonderful classroom pets as you can involve them in several of the curriculum subjects. (If you're a teacher and want to know more, please contact me, I also have worksheets I can send you.) *How To Look After Giant African Land ...  Read the complete review

giant african land snails make great pets! they are intresting and so easy to look after... when i was younger me and my brothers and sisters always nagged my mother for some after a family friends had some but she always said no... we had snakes, lizards, cats, gerbils, guinea pig and rabbit - but snails were a no go... i never quite understood that and decided that when i was old enough too choose what pets i kept, i would get some, for old times sake! well we currently have 142.... yes you read that right... what happened was we got 4 from freecycle, one large one, one slighly smaller and two babies. my 4 year old quickly names them ...  Read the complete review