Akhatin is a giant African snail, known for its large size. In the Guinness Book of Records, a beauty weighing more than five hundred grams is noted. But usually they do not exceed one hundred and thirty. The snail is a slow creature and moves at a speed of a centimeter per minute. The ahatina has no auditory or voice apparatus. But the Africans are pretty smart. They can develop all kinds of conditioned reflexes.
How to care for African snails?
An African snail is at home in the terrarium, in which it is necessary to maintain high humidity. The temperature in the dwelling of the snail should be at least twenty-five degrees.
At the bottom of the terrarium, you must place moist sand with a depth of six centimeters. Too bright light snails do not like, as they perceive it not only with their eyes, but also with the help of light-sensitive cells on the body. Therefore, the lighting in the terrarium better dissipate some screen or build a corner for Akhatina, where she can hide from excessive light.
Giant African snails like to swim. They can be washed under the tap, substituting under a weak stream of warm water.
What to feed the African snail?
It is important to note that these snails are omnivorous. They eat even meat. At home they should be fed with fruits and vegetables, mushrooms, various porridges. They will not be against grass - clover, plantain and dandelion. Give the animal fish, poultry and egg white and, of course, meat.
Akhatin are so unpretentious in food that they can be given even scraps of vegetables and fruits. And do not be afraid that it will poison yourself, if something does not like the snail, it just will not eat.
Despite the omnivorousness of the ahatinas, it is strictly forbidden to give salty, spicy, pickled and sweet. Avoid in the diet of smoked foods and fried. It is not necessary to accustom a pet to one type of food - this leads to an imbalance in the animal's body, which begins to give up other foods.
It is interesting that the color of the shell of a snail depends on what it is fed. So, if she will eat many "beautiful" products, for example, tomatoes, red bell pepper or carrots, the shell will become beautiful and bright.
How many times to feed a giant home snail ? If you have a young specimen, then once a day. Well, and if already "adult" African, only two - three times a week. And do not try to put the pet on a diet. The snail knows itself how much to eat. She always stops on time. But the rest of the food is better to clean, so that there will not be any parasites and fly-flies.
Ahatine needs calcium to build a shell. Here, the cottage cheese, eggshells, natural chalk, egg whites, limestone and many other things come to the rescue. And that the snail had something to drink after eating, water the terrarium with water.
How do African snails breed?
The African snail is by nature a hermaphrodite. Only here the youth is usually male, and the more mature representatives are female. Therefore, in order to obtain offspring, settle in one terrarium both young and adult animals.
The deferred eggs of ahaatin are similar to chicken. And the embryo develops in them from a few hours to seventeen days at a temperature of fifteen degrees. And newborns should never be evacuated from adults, since they will die without the products of their vital activity. Initially, the kids will live in the ground. It is not necessary to pick them out from there, they themselves will get out when the time comes.
And how many live African snails? Usually about five to six. But it happens that they live to ten.