Next to the person live their favorite pets. It’s more common to see dogs and kitties among them. But many people enjoy breeding animals in aquariums. Artificial mini-ponds in the apartment are not only for living in them fish. Some lovers of exotic contain snails in them. Achatines are a popular species of these mollusks for captive breeding. About reproduction, egg care and many other things from the life of these leisurely mollusks tells our article.
Achatina: who is it?
These are large snails living on land in a subtropical and tropical climate. 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 propagation of the snail Achatina is quite intensive. They do not perform egg care in the wild, so a large number of them died. However, given the fact that there are more than a hundred eggs in a clutch, the percentage of surviving young animals is large. Due to the fact that Achatina extremely multiplied, they became pests of young crops, as they eat them at the root.
Habitat snails are a source of infection for diseases that are dangerous to humans. But Achatina bred by humans are harmless, dangerous viruses are absent in them.
In Japan, these mollusks are eaten, so they are bred in large quantities. The French also eat them. Snails in Russia are bred as pets. In our harsh outdoor climate, they simply will not survive.
Shellfish Overview
Achatina are the most gigantic African snails. They grow to a length of 30 cm. Their shells are large and have thick walls, and what color they will be depends on the food they eat. On the sinks are coils twisted clockwise and counterclockwise. Old snails have seven to nine such ornaments on their sinks. The body of the mollusks is soft, wrinkled, with tubercles over the entire surface. It has different colors, but the most common color is alternating strips of contrasting shades.
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. Using photosensitive cells throughout the body, snails perceive light. Mollusks see objects one centimeter away from the eyes. They smell the skin, the shape of objects located at close range, perceive the sole. Snails breathe in the skin, since they have no lungs.
How snails mate
So that there are no problems when propagating snails Achatina and care behind them, mollusks should not be mated from the same masonry, where they are all related to each other: parents, brothers, sisters, children. For breeding choose healthy and large snails born in other families. In order for the offspring to be viable and healthy, one species and one variety of mollusks are mated.
If you plan to grow large snails, you do not need to rush with reproduction. This is due to the fact that during pregnancy, the growth and formation of mollusks stops. Mating until individuals reach one year of age is undesirable.
Preparation for breeding
In anticipation of the offspring, it is necessary to create conditions for the breeding of Achatina snails. In the aquarium there should always be a constant temperature + 27 + 28 degrees. Her fluctuations in 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 needs to be cleaned regularly, and snails are fed calcium.
The use of sepia, chalk or mineral stone, small shell rock is what you need. The snail should be provided with calcium supplementation before pregnancy, during and after it, until the mollusk is restored.
How is the breeding process carried out
To breed Achatina snails at home, they must mate. For this to happen, they are transplanted into another aquarium or container. If individuals have the same size, fertilization will be two-way; if their parameters do not match, it will be one-way. The larger snail becomes a female.
Shellfish at a young age produce more male reproductive cells than female ones. For this reason, for the reproduction process, young mollusks are planted with adults.
Mating snails lasts two hours or a little less. The genitals are in contact with each other, exchanging sperm and fertilizing. The body of the mollusk can store it for two years. The snail can lay eggs every month if the conditions are favorable.
After mating, egg laying begins. Currently, it is known that all Achatina snails are egg-laying, although they differ in gestational age. The hatched eggs are clearly visible when viewed in the spiracle of the mollusk. From the moment when the pairing occurred, and until the masonry is opened, one and a half months pass.
How to stimulate reproduction
Many novice breeders are faced with this problem: despite the good content of Achatina snail, breeding still does not occur. What to do? You need to start by making sure that the mollusks are healthy. If everything is in order, the mode of their feeding and the composition of the diet are checked. Next, the conditions of detention, the thickness of the substrate in the aquarium and its condition are examined. If the litter has not been changed for a long time and it has become contaminated, there will be no mating and further breeding of snails Achatina 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 is not the same in time. On average, this period lasts one to two weeks, after which the snail lays 50-300 eggs.
During pregnancy, mollusks consume strength and energy in large quantities, therefore, after the mating process, they are very often inactive, burrow into the ground and sleep a lot. Their growth and formation cease.
At this time, it is especially important that the mollusks do not experience calcium deficiency. They need to be fed with food chalk, calcium mixtures. The diet should include grain mixtures, protein supplements and vegetables.
If Achatina receive balanced nutrition, healthy offspring will be born. It is important to maintain a microclimate familiar to shellfish in the aquarium.
A week after the fertilization process, you can already see the eggs in the amount of several pieces. They are located on the side of the respiratory opening. 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 immediately appear, 20-30 pieces about 9 mm in size.
Achatina snails: reproduction, egg care
Everything is important in growing mollusks, but the breeding process is the beginning of life. Therefore, you need to create the most comfortable conditions for this. Another, no less important point, is egg care. Achatina snails, breeding of which was carried out according to all the rules, very soon cover the bottom of the aquarium with white eggs. After 65 days, snails hatch from them . For some time they will live in the ground, eat egg shells. An adult lays an average of 50 eggs with a diameter of five millimeters. When breeding an Achatina snail, egg care is essential. If you leave the masonry unattended, they will die. Therefore, the following rules for caring for them should be observed:
- Litter from the soil at the bottom of the aquarium should not dry out, but liquid accumulation is also unacceptable. If the water covers the nest, the eggs will rot and all the seeds die in the dry soil.
- You can sprinkle eggs with soil for their safety.
- Higher humidity than usual should be maintained.
- Throughout the entire masonry period, the temperature regime must be observed. The aquarium should be warmer than indoors.
- Do not keep a large number of snails in one house. In cramped conditions, eggs often die.
- They must not be touched by hands, otherwise the shell may be damaged.
What egg laying is called false
These are unfertilized eggs in the amount of 10-15 pieces. They have no shell; they look translucent. These eggs are called fat. False masonry is a harbinger of the present, but only if Achatina has a pair. Fatty egg laying occurs in single snails.
Extra eggs: what to do?
It happens that during reproduction, the domestic Achatina snail lays many eggs. In this case, experienced breeders advise freezing the excess, and then get rid of them. But you should consider an interesting feature. If you put the eggs in a bucket designed for garbage, even in frozen form snails can hatch from them. Population growth in this case will be uncontrolled. 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 species of terrestrial mollusk in the world. They breed harder than African Achatina. Natural habitats are dense forests of Ghana and coastal thickets.
The shells reach a length of 18 cm and a diameter of 9 cm. There are cases, although very rare, when the shell grows to 30 cm. The average lifespan is 5-7 years.
The population of tiger snails has been declining recently, as there is intensive deforestation. In addition, mollusks are too actively used as food. It also matters that tiger giants often die of malnutrition after laying eggs.
Often snails of other species are mistaken for tiger mollusks, the hallmark of which is a rough leg of dark color, 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 after the snail lays eggs for the first time.