HomeInfo African Land Snail Care Sheet

African Land Snail care sheet

Housing

African land snail do well with a glass terrarium as their enclosure. This is because glass is great at allowing heat to escape ensuring that the enclosure stays cool enough. Other enclosures such as wooden vivariums are far too efficient at retaining heat.

This snail's terrarium should be at least 300mm in length and 300mm in height but the more space you can provide the better. The snail is going to grow to around 5-6" so they need a space large enough for them to move around in.

Heating

African land snail require a near constant air temperature of 70-75oF. This is best achieved by sticking a heatmat on one side of the glass enclosure. This heatmat is regulated using a thermostat to make sure the temperature stays constant.

As the glass is only being heated on one side this also creates a small temperature gradient within the enclosure allowing the snail to warm itself up or move away to cool down.

Decoration

African land snail should always be allowed at least 2'' of substrate. We find the best substrate for this snail is a soil mix called spider life.

The snails terrarium can be decorated with artificial plants for a more natural look.Small natural wood ornaments look very effective and also provide further perches for the snail. Trailing plants are very good at disguising electrical wires and equipment, as well as providing cover for young snails.

Diet & Water

African land snail eat vegetation. The core of the diet should be a mix of kale, cabbage, and leafy greens. We also always include small chuks of cuttlefish bone for added calcium. We would feed the salad daily to make sure they never run out of food.