АХАТИН.РФ

Terrarium for Achatina snails can be made ​​from the regular tank. You can calculate the  minimum volume taking in consideration the fact that every grown up Achatina should have no less than 10 l space. The bigger the aquarium is, the larger is the increase of your Achatina. The cover for the cage top is required due to few reasons. First, the snails can crowl out with ease and dried to death somewhere in the flat. Second, it's much easier to support necessary humidity level inside. The same we can say about keeping the temerature comfortable for the snails: it's not so difficult then as to keep it in the whole flat. And last but not least, this will help to prevent the flat from flies plaque. Small holes in this lid are desirable for better fresh air supply, it will be even better to install into the lid a patch of metallic grid. In the extreme case you can use the entire cover and leave a gap so small that the snail can't get thrugh. Terrarium can be either glass or plastic.

On the bottom of the aquarium it's better put a bed of sand, bark, pine needles, sawdust or peat moss. Do any of these types of litter has its pluses and minuses, but the best choice is the bark of conifers. It is easy to wash, easy to get, besides the dirt on it is less visible. You can make a small bath with fresh water: Achatina loves bathing. It is important that the depth of the water does not let the snail drown. In general, Achatina crawls quite well under the water, but if small Achatina falls unexpectedly from the lid into this "pond", it can drown because of fright. You should be sure that the bath is stable enough and does not turn when the  Achatina will get out of it, otherwise the water will be spread, what could lead to the  bad consequences.

The temperature and humidity what  are necessary for confortable life of Achatina snails are roughly similar to the common ones  in our flats and houses.

You can calculate soil moisture empirically: if Achatina sits constantly on the wall or on the lid of the cage, it is too high.If you see Achatina s clogged (its body hidden in the shell and and shell entrance is sealed with the thin lid) it's, conversely, too dry. At normal soil moisture Achatina crawls out of the soil at night, and often buries into it with sunrise. To support the necessary soil moisture you can spray the soil and the walls of the cage at least once a day.

To awake the snails which have sealed their shells you need to pour some water on the shell and remove gently the seal, or just increase the humidity level in the  terrarium.

Your terrarium should be washed at least once a week. The only exception is a terrarium for eggs, which must be cleaned without water or not cleaned at all, not to change the humidity in it and not to damage egg laying.

It's better to keep young Achatina without soil and litter on the cabbage or lettuce leaves, thereby increasing the probability of finding food by just born snails and for easier care for the terrarium.

It's better to keep in the terrarium warm and humid climate (25-28 degrees and 60-80% humidity). However, heating the terrarium is optional: the cochlea is well tolerated to room temperature only its agility decreases slightly. Periodically you need to moist the walls of the cage and the ground using a conventional sprayer for flowers: snails drink water from the walls of the cage, licking the drops. Just after feeding Achatina is eager to drink and this condensed water  will be quite enough. These could be the strong reason to have such  a sprayer. Next advantage of using it is smaller probability to overmoisture the soil  and flood the snails sleeping in it.

The little bowl with fresh water won't be odd in the cage: the snails will have a chance to bathe, to cool themselves or to drink. You should only change water and wash the bowl regulary.

Achatina can be kept in the qubic terrarium with an edge of 40 cm. Of course, you can adjust the capacity and the different shapes and sizes keeping in mind that's better not decrease the volume  and use the cages with narrow bottom.

Close the terrarium so that it is not only well-ventilated, but the moisture in it remaines constant. You even can use glass plate as  a cover, but leave a small chink (so that the snail could not squeeze  through it its shell).

To heat the cage is easier with ordinary incandescent bulb, and best of all, if the  lamp will be placed under terrarium, but there's nothing wrong with heating from above or from aside. Heating a terrarium it is necessary to reach such an atmosphere in it, as in the bathroom just after someone has taken a shower there. It is not necessary to heat snails permanently: nothing wrong is going to happen with them at the room temperature except they won't be so vivid. Snails do not like direct sunlight. If the temperature rises above 35 degrees, Achatina just fall asleep.

At the bottom of the cage there should be some level of soil (substrate) the snais could  dig and lay eggs into. The depth of 5 - 7 cm could be enough. This soil should consist of peat, sand and humus ground, mixed in certain proportions. The best and the easiest choice can be coconut substrate or ready soil with neutral reactin and without addition fertilizer. On the bottom you can put drainage that would let the soil breath and evaporate the excess of moisture.

Terrarium should be cleaned weekly or every second week. You should wipe hard the walls with a sponge, but without any chemicals, the snail itself can have a bath in the sink (it is very fond of). You can clean its shell with a soft brush. You should not  immersed  Achatina in water complitelybecause in an opposite way it can choke with water. At least once a year you should carry out general cleaning of the cage with  complete change of the soil.