Care for snails with ahaatin at home - secrets and nuances of content

Competent care of snails by ahaatin at home is an important topic for lovers of exotic pets. These African beauties are considered to be the largest of mollusks, have a shell up to 25 cm in size, heart, kidney, lung, brain and have conditioned reflexes. They are unpretentious, but some conditions must be observed when caring for them.

Ahatines - content

African snails of Akhatina - land, care and maintenance at home do not require much hassle. Many aquarists consider them to be ideal domesticated pets. Akhatin does not smell, does not bite, does not cause allergy , does not require communication and walking, even on vacation or business trip you can not worry about them - the snail will easily live alone for a week or two.

What do you need to keep snails ahatin?

For unpretentious ahatina at maintenance in house conditions the transparent container is required. Suitable vessel:

• from plastic;
• from Plexiglas;
• old glass aquarium.

To make the shellfish feel comfortable, the container volume should be at least 10 liters, if a family of snails live in it, it means more. To receive fresh air, the terrarium must be equipped with upper lids with small holes, through which the inhabitant will not be able to escape. Care for snails with ahaatin at home - than fill the container:

1. The bottom is covered with a layer of a substrate 10 cm high, floral compost or pure peat is suitable. In it you can add sand, hazelnuts or the core of walnuts. The substrate is needed for the snail to burrow into the ground - they like to do it, lay eggs there. Compost should be slightly moistened from the spray gun daily.
2. In addition to the aquarium you can put large stones, snags, halves of coconut - the snails will hide in them. Green vegetation (fern, ivy) will decorate the living area and will become a useful food for the inhabitants.
3. In the vessel, place a plastic feeder with low edges and a drinking bowl made of a plastic lid.

Temperature for the maintenance of snails ahatin

African ahatiny with care and maintenance at home comfortably feel at a temperature of 20-30 ° C and a humidity of 80-95%. Similar conditions are close to their natural environment. The activity of the mollusc depends on sunlight, humidity and ambient temperature. They go out for walks mostly at night or during the rain. If the gastropods climb up the walls - it means their house has a high humidity, hide in the ground - very dry. The container must not be installed in direct sunlight or near a heating device.

Care for Ahatin at home

The unpretentious home snails of Akhatina while nursing, in addition to maintaining the optimum temperature and humidity, require cleaning the aquarium, balanced feeding, caring during the breeding of mollusks. Careful attention should be paid to the pet's shell - it is its protection against diseases and external injuries. When caring for snails with ahaatin at home, you can arrange water procedures for them:

1. Put a bath in the terrarium with cold water, there should not be a lot of fluid in it.
2. Episodically arrange a warm shower for the pupils, holding them in the hand over the sink for about 3 minutes.

Care for snails with ahaatin at home - cleaning the terrarium:

1. The container is cleaned 2-3 times in 3 months.
2. Cleaning includes full washing and substitution of the substrate.
3. If the walls of the aquarium are covered with mucus (it is left crawling celiac) or an unpleasant smell is heard from it - you need to make an unscheduled cleaning.

Care for Ahatina in winter

Snail Ahaatin giant when nursing and keeping in winter requires special attention. In the cold season of the year, at a low temperature and insufficient humidity in the terrarium, the mollusc may fall into suspended animation - hibernation, while the shell is covered with a protective film. Many breeders do not recommend allowing the sleep of ahaatin for more than 2 months, otherwise individuals may die.

For young animals, anabiosis is generally harmful - they have a period of active growth and need to eat well. To wake a pet, it is recommended to hold it under a stream of warm water or just to sprinkle it. In a few minutes, he himself will crack the protective film and appear to light. To prevent the snail from hibernating, the home should have the recommended temperature and humidity.

Akhatin - care of the sink

Big Snails AhaTinam care for the shell needs a special, you need to pay attention to the following points:

1. For good growth and development, the mollusc should receive a sufficient amount of calcium. Otherwise, the pet may begin to have problems with the shell - it will begin to separate, become fragile, and the snail itself will not reach the giant size with which it is so famous. Calcium is necessary to the inhabitant also if she is pregnant or the shell is damaged. As a top dressing use a chalk, ground eggshell or sepia - a mineral stone for birds.
2. Another common problem is chipped and cracked shells. Sometimes a mollusk creeping along the upper edge of the house falls down, which can lead to injury to the shell. In this case, it is necessary to treat the damaged zone with an antiseptic agent and to set the pet in a separate vessel so that he does not worry about his relatives (akhatin likes to do it).

Eggs of Ahatina - care

Carrying out the care for snails with ahaatin at home, you need to know that these mollusks are hermaphrodites. Each individual has both female and male sexual organs and, having reached the age of 6-7 months, they can multiply. For the offspring, a pair of adult individuals are placed in a separate vessel for a week. Akhatins are hyperplastic, eggs are buried in the ground approximately 2 weeks after mating. At one time the masonry can contain 50-400 eggs. Their size is 4-5 mm, in shape they resemble chicken.

Many breeders care for masonry ahatine produced in a separate container. They transfer them with a plastic spoon into a seperate transparent vessel and sprinkle 1-2 cm with a layer of soil so that the ever-digging adults do not harm their offspring. The substrate and the walls of the vessel must be irrigated daily, the container covered with a lid. The development of eggs occurs at a temperature of 25-27 ° C and humidity of 70%, it is important not to allow changes in the values ​​of these indicators.

Newborn snails of ahaatin - care

African newborn snails of ahaatin, whose clutch care was produced in comfortable temperature conditions, are born one month after fertilization. The shell of the eggs becomes thin, all the calcium from it goes to the formation of the shell of the toddlers. In the process of birth, the mollusk separates and tries to get out of the ground. At the same time, it is advisable to tear the soil around the masonry to help the newborn to get out. The first few days of the snail eat up the remains of their shell.

Small ahatiny - care

The basic principles of akhatin care are small:

1. Temporary housing for newborn snails can be a food container for 8-10 liters, a spacious home they do not need.
2. In the lid of the container there must be holes to get air inside.
3. In the first few months, it is better to place a thermometer and a hygrometer in the container. Optimum temperature of small ahaatin content is 25-27 ° С, humidity - 65-70%.
4. To maintain the desired temperature will help an incandescent lamp, and humidity - spray.
5. For small ahatine, the soil is served by cabbage foliage and lettuce. If they live in a terrarium with a substrate, then preference should be given to flower ground, coconut shavings. Moss, sand, sawdust and stones are forbidden.
6. To put the container with the kids is better on the shelf or bookshelf, and not on the window.

How can you feed snails to ahatin?

By caring for African snails with ahaatin at home, it is important to feed them properly and in time so that the shellfish grows healthy and does not get sick. Their diet should consist of plant foods, mineral nutritional supplementation and animal protein. Akhatin - proper nutrition and care:

1. The basis of the diet: leaves of lettuce, dandelion, plantain; various greenery; shoots of vegetables and cereals.
2. Vegetables: cucumbers, spinach, pumpkin, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, peas.
3. Fruits and berries: apples, pears, watermelons, melons, bananas, apricots, plums, strawberries, raspberries, cherries.
4. Proteins: puree of meat products, fish food, meat and bone meal, boiled egg.
5. Mineral top dressing: fodder chalk, eggshell, small shrimp, special mixtures for reptiles, sepia.

There are a number of products that are forbidden to give snails. A mortal danger for them is salt. We must ensure that in its pure form and in large quantities, it does not reach them in the diet. It is forbidden to give gastropod spices, sweet, smoked, sharp or acidic foods, fried foods. From macaroni, raw potatoes and citrus fruits, too, should be discarded, the latter do not have a good effect on the shell of pets.

What to feed ahatin in the winter?

In the cold season, the diet of shellfish should not be meager. Winter food consists of: oat flakes, wheat bran, soaked in milk bread. Supplement the menu with bananas, beets, carrots. Most of the breeders for snails on the windowsills grow green grass, which is sold in veterinarians for cats. Many people do not know whether it is possible to feed ahatine with canned products. The answer is impossible, salt has a bad effect on the health of the pet. Pickled vegetables should be replaced by frozen ones from the supermarket, defrosting them before feeding;

Than to feed small snails ahatin?

The competent content of African snails, Akhatin, also implies a full-fledged feeding of the young. How to feed small snails:

1. The first few days after birth, they grab a few leaves of salad, abundantly sprinkled with eggshell or chalk.
2. In a week in the diet of kids need to add sliced ​​greens, grated vegetables, calcium and grain mixes, ground in a coffee grinder.
3. Minerals they need to grow and form a beautiful and strong shell. Vegetable protein will help to form a healthy shellfish faster.
4. From the second week of life in the menu, you can add animal protein.
5. Starting from the month of age, grated fruits and vegetables are replaced with small blocks.

How many times to feed ahatina?

If the house has an African ahatina, food and care for it must be done correctly. Feed snails better in the evening, because these mollusks are night creatures and in the evening they become active. For adults, one feed per day is enough, and it is allowed to give them food in a day. Young people need to provide round-the-clock access to food. Food should not be placed on the ground, so that it does not mix with the substrate and does not deteriorate, it does not become covered with mold. For food, you should use a bowl or, in extreme cases, a lettuce leaf.