advice on snail housing, feeding, breeding and heating. Also prices of equipment and snails.
| NEW - the Professional Snail Centre XL - order yours now (these are in production now, due to be ready April 2010) | |
 Ideal for housing large adult African snails. Their drinking water is in the moat around the edge of the yellow base; it cannot be tipped up. |
 The lid can be tilted up or lifted off for quick access. The silver Compost Dish provides a place for the snails to bury their eggs. |
 Put the vegetable peelings on the grey Soft Absorbent Liner. The sides of the snail centre separate from the base, making it easy to change the food and compost. |
 Giant African Land Snails need eggshells to eat to give them extra calcium to keep their shells strong. |
| The best housing… Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica) are active inquisitive creatures and do best if kept in a clear clean container that they can see out of. They like to slide up the sides of the cage and rest under the roof. The Professional Snail Centre XL is a large cage with strong see-through PVC sides and a wipe clean tile base. The lid lifts off so extra food can be added easily. Once a week, the cage should be washed with warm water with a few drops of lemon juice added, to effortlessly shift the snail slime. The grey Soft Absorbent Liner should be replaced as necessary and the Compost Dish inspected from time to time for white snail eggs. The Professional Snail Centre XL is designed for large East African Giant Land Snail adults (Achatina fulica). It should be positioned in a room where there is lots going on because the snails like to see what is happening. Giant African Land Snails should be kept in a comfortably warm room. The Professional Snail Centre XL has been designed with a gap around the bottom of the sides so that fresh air can enter. |
| Why the Professional Snail Centres are better than tanks... |  |
| Snails kept in large 18" glass tanks (left picture) are difficult to see and are not very active. But snails kept in the Professional Snail Centre XL are more active and the display is much nicer and easier to keep clean. Also, large snails are strong and frequently tip over their water dish. However, the Professional Snail Centre XL has an in-built moat containing their drinking water and the snails cannot tip this up! | |
| The adult size of Giant East African Land Snails (Achatina fulica) varies. Large adult snails need to be kept in the Professional Snail Centre XL but a standard sized adult could be kept in the smaller Professional Snail Centre. Younger snails do well in the Professional Snail Centre. | |
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| The Professional Snail Centre | The Professional Snail Centre XL |
| The Professional Snail Centre - in stock now | ||
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| The snails slide up the sides and rest there or under the roof. | Put the
vegetable peelings on the grey Soft Absorbent Liner |
Access is via the lid. For easy cleaning, the white columns and sides separate from the yellow base. |
The Professional Snail Centre is 23cm x 23cm x 30cm high (base tile 30cm square). It is suitable housing for medium-sized African snails with a minimum shell length of 2cm . The four sides and lift-off lid are made from strong see-through PVC . This means you can see the snails sliding up and down the sides and under the roof. The snails can also see out clearly and this makes them more active - they like to be in a busy area with lots going on! The four sides are connected together by the white vertical columns. The whole section can be lifted up, leaving the base behind. Once a week, the cage should be washed with warm water with a few drops of lemon juice added, to effortlessly shift the snail slime. The yellow base is dishwasher-proof and should be cleaned as necessary (this won't be very often). The Soft Absorbent Liners absorb excess moisture and any spilt water and should be replaced as necessary. They are in two halves; this is so that you can adjust the ventilation. Snails with a shell length of 2cm do not need much air-flow and so the Liners should butt up against each other, minimising the air entering around the yellow base. As the snails grow, they need more air and so the Liners should now overlap slightly so that more air can enter. |
| Baby Snail Centre - in stock now | ||
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| Baby Snail Centre | Baby snails with patterned shells |
Soft Absorbent Liners |
The Baby Snail Centre is 17cm x 17cm x 17cm and is
suitable for baby snails and young snails with a shell length of less than 2cm.
This is a moulded plastic container with a lid that has a central ventilation
panel. The plastic container and lid are very easy to clean by washing in warm
water (with lemon juice added) and rinsing well. The container is slightly
opaque. Soft Absorbent Liners are supplied pre-cut to fit the floor of the
cage. They prevent the snails from cracking their shells and absorb the excess
moisture. They should be replaced as necessary.
Fill the the Compost Dish to the brim with soil from the garden, peat or John Innes compost. (Do not use other composts because they usually contain pesticides). Adult snails mate and then they both lay eggs. Snails are hermaphrodite which means they do not have separate males and females. The white round eggs are buried and, provided they have been kept moist, usually hatch about three weeks later. Baby snails should be reared in the Baby Snail Centre and transferred to the Professional Snail Centre as they grow. Unwanted eggs can be spread out on kitchen roll on the day they have been laid, and they will quickly dry out and not develop any further. The advice of putting unwanted eggs into a freezer is a slower process and not one that we recommend. Heating Giant East African Land Snails do well in a room that is comfortably warm. The snails should be active most days. If the snails seal up inside their shells they are too cold and should be moved somewhere warmer. |
| Prices of equipment and
snails… |
| Item | Price £ | Delivery £ | |
| Professional Snail Centre XL - including free Soft Absorbent Liners (2) and Compost Dish and snail information sheet | 39.99 | 8.00 | |
| Soft Absorbent Liners (2) for Professional Snail Centre XL | 2.99 | 0.50 | |
| Professional Snail Centre - including free Soft Absorbent Liners (4 halves) and Water Dish and snail information sheet | 22.99 | 6.95 | |
| Soft Absorbent Liners (4 halves) for Professional Snail Centre | 2.99 | 0.50 | |
| Water Dish | 0.55 | 0.50 | |
| Baby Snail Centre including free Soft Absorbent Liners (2 ) and Water Dish and snail information sheet | 7.99 | 4.95 | |
| Soft Absorbent Liners (4 ) for Baby Snail Centre | 2.99 | 0.50 | |
| Pack of two Giant East African Land Snails, medium-sized (shell length 4cm) and snail information sheet, sent by EXPRESS delivery | 9.00 | 8.00 | |
| French detailed anatomy drawing of snail, A4 size, showing inside of snail | 0.50 | 0.50 | |
| Please note that wherever possible we will combine items in the same parcel so the delivery charge will be as low as possible. We shall email you the total price before processing your order. | |||
To order, please click Snails Explained order form and list what you'd like. Please note that the Professional Snail Centre XL is a new product and in production now, due to be in stock in April 2010. We are taking orders for this item now and shall deliver it in April 2010.
If you have any questions, please phone 01949 842446.
Please note that all photographs on this site are copyrighted by Small-Life Supplies and must not be copied or reproduced elsewhere.
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