Easy to care for ideal starter pet for a child (Giant African Land Snails)

Member Name: whudaman

Product:	Giant African Land Snails
Date:	10/09/08 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy to care for

Disadvantages: not as playful as our rats :) Illegal in The U.S.A

I first got in to the idea of keeping GALS (giant African land snails) as pets when my little boy brought the class pet's home one weekend and he loved them so much he cried when we had to give them back.

So after a bit of research on how easy they are to keep I ordered 3 of eBay would you believe? Apparently it is ok to sell them on there as they don't count as animals but pet food and bait! Anyway the 3 I brought cost me a total of 12.00 after postage and stuff. But I know some pet shops are apparently giving them away!

They arrived safely packaged in a special delivery container. And were moved into their new home which is small aquarium used for goldfish. They need very little care you just need to make sure they have soil to burrow in food to eat, which consists of mainly greens their favorite is definitely cucumber. But wow they sure have an appetite between them they can demolish a whole cucumber in a little over a day! They are very fascinating to watch as they eat you can actually see there mouth chow down on their lunch and hear them crunch  they also need some form of calcium such as a lump of natural chalk or a cuttle fish bone. They need the calcium in these to help their shell grow. The Variety we have are the Giant East African Snail (Achatina fulica), which grow to about20cm. But please note if you live in The USA it is illegal to have these creatures as pets because they are a agriculture pest and can easily devastate huge amount of crops if lest loose.

Their life span is surprisingly long and if looked after properly they can live for over 10 years.

Handling them is a weird sensation and quite fun but must be done carefully it is best to wet your hands first before you pick the up. Each one of my 3 snails seems to have a different character about them as strange as that seems they are very individual creatures.

Summary: Nice simple pets that aref un to watch especially if you get them small and see them grow over tim!