How Achatina reproduces at home. Peculiarities of breeding and laying eggs by the Achatina snail. Good time for copulation

African Achatina snails are popular exotic pets due to their unpretentiousness, cute appearance and extreme fertility. Many people, having learned that they readily reproduce in captivity, decide to breed snails for sale. However, before you decide to take such a step, you should learn more about Achatina snails, reproduction and egg care.

Before you decide to breed Achatina at home, you need to know about the intricacies of the snail’s body, as well as possible consequences reproduction. It's important not just to get long-awaited eggs Achatina snails, but also to properly arrange the terrarium, choose a pair of parents and place detailed information about how to care for the eggs, otherwise the little mollusks will die before they are born.

Features and difficulties of breeding Achatina snails:

• Pregnancy has a negative impact on your pet’s well-being: after the snails have laid their eggs, the growth of the mollusks slows down significantly, and sometimes stops altogether. Therefore, it is recommended to mate only adult individuals at least one year old, since until this moment Achatina is actively growing.
• After laying snail eggs, the parent often experiences problems with the shell: the protective covering begins to crack or peel, which gives the pet an emaciated and sick appearance. The fact is that during childbirth, babies take a lot of calcium from the body of the mollusk, which is necessary to maintain the strength and integrity of the shell.
• African mollusks are known for their fertility, so you should be prepared for the fact that Achatina lays several hundred eggs at a time. Not every owner of an exotic pet is capable of keeping and feeding such a number of snails.
• After pregnancy, many young and miniature snails in the growing stage hibernate.

Reproduction of Achatina at home

African Achatina are hermaphrodites, that is, they combine both male and female principles, but they need a pair to reproduce. Self-fertilization rarely occurs, so there is no need to worry that a lonely Achatina will suddenly begin to give birth. The larger and more resilient individual becomes the female in a pair of future parents, because pregnancy is a complex process that takes a lot of effort from the mollusk. However, there may be cases when both Achatina from a pair brought offspring at once.

In the Achatina snail, reproduction is possible from 6–8 months of life, however, snail experts recommend mating only those mollusks that have reached one year, since up to this point the pet is growing and developing. The genital organ is located on the neck and looks like a tubercle or depression of a light cream color. Its appearance signals that the pet is ready to reproduce.

To obtain viable offspring, Achatina reproduction must take place under appropriate conditions:

• The temperature should be 27–28C, any fluctuations are unacceptable.
• A moist coconut substrate is used as bedding; the thickness of the soil is at least 10 cm.
• The terrarium is constantly cleaned and cleaned.
• The mollusks are provided with nutritional supplements: calcium, shell rock, chalk and mineral stones.

Many owners of African Achatina are interested in what to do if both snails are ready to reproduce, but pregnancy does not occur. In this case, it is necessary to carefully check the conditions for keeping the mollusks: if the purity, humidity or thickness of the substrate is insufficient, breeding is impossible.

The mollusks mate for about two hours: during this time they gently touch each other and crawl. If both snails are the same size, then fertilization will occur on both sides, and if one individual is larger, then fertilization will be unilateral. It is better if Achatina mates in a separate container. After this, the mated mollusks are seated in houses, and with successful fertilization, Achatina is able to lay eggs every month.

Who should not be paired:

• Large and adult individuals that have reached one year of age are selected for reproduction;
• direct relatives: mother and children, brothers and sisters;
• sick, young or elderly Achatina.

The mollusk's pregnancy lasts about two weeks, and after this time the snails produce from 50 to 300 eggs, which are laid in or on the ground.

Interesting fact: some species of Achatina are viviparous, for example, lemon - it reproduces by immediately giving birth to small snails.

Egg care

Achatina snail eggs white and oval in shape, surrounded by a calcium layer. The number of testicles increases each time, and the first clutch may be small. You cannot touch the clutch with your hands, otherwise the mollusks will die, but you can carefully lay the eggs with a spoon if they are scattered on the ground. Not all eggs will be viable, and some of the eggs laid will be empty. The soil under the masonry should be moderately moist and the temperature should be 28C. If the number of eggs exceeds expectations, some are frozen or boiled to destroy them.

After the tiny Achatina hatches, they remain under the substrate, and only after a couple of days do they crawl out into the light. The baby eats the shell. There is no need to resettle baby and adult mollusks, as snails are friendly towards their offspring. However, as soon as the descendants reach sexual maturity, you will still have to place the pets, which will not be possible new portion little ones.

Achatina snails easily and willingly reproduce at home, and caring for eggs and pregnant snails is not at all difficult. However, having decided to breed shellfish, you should carefully monitor the health of your pets and the number of eggs, because snails short time capable of filling the entire terrarium.

Video about Achatina reproduction and how to care for eggs

If you are the owner of such fascinating pets as snails, you certainly need to know everything about them. reproductive function. Most snail species breed easily in captivity, however, there are some factors to consider. About how Achatina snails reproduce in natural environment habitats and at home and will be discussed in our article.

Before you start breeding Achatina at home, you need to weigh and think about everything again. Since the snail grows at a slower rate during pregnancy, or its growth may stop altogether. This is due to the fact that the mother snail gives all the calcium to her babies, who need it to form the shells of their eggs, as well as the shells of their babies. Therefore, if you want to grow your pet to a large size, it is better not to refrain from mating the mollusk.

If you are still wondering how Achatina snails reproduce and want to see their babies, you should immediately think about where you will put the young individuals, the spread of which is not such an easy task. After all, the number of babies that can be born is in the hundreds! To prevent offspring from appearing unexpectedly, snails should be kept in different aquariums so that they do not have access to each other.

The reproduction process of Achatina

To understand how Achatina snails reproduce at home, it is necessary to study their structure. Snails have the opportunity to reproduce in about one and a half one year old. Achatina appears on her neck reproductive organ, which indicates their ability to reproduce. It looks like a white speck and is located near the snail's head.

Despite the fact that Achatina are hermaphrodites, they, like everyone else, need a partner in the process of reproduction.

An individual that has reached the age of large sizes. Snails that emerged from the same clutch of eggs and are relatives are not suitable for further reproduction.

Creating conditions for snail breeding

For snail mating to take place the best way, as well as for laying eggs, you need to create pets the necessary conditions. Should be observed temperature regime+27-+28 degrees. You also need to moisten the flooring from coconut flakes with a certain frequency.

Snails should be given calcium before the breeding process. Chalk, shell grits, mineral stone, and egg shells are quite suitable for obtaining calcium. Calcium must be constantly present during gestation and egg laying.

The African snail reaches sexual maturity at 6-7 months. Achatina are hermaphrodites, i.e. have male and female genital organs. An incentive for the snail to reproduce can be a general cleaning of the terrarium, a complete replacement of the soil, and keeping conditions as close as possible to the natural habitat of the mollusk. About the entry of an animal into reproductive age signals the appearance of a white tubercle on the snail's neck - this is the genital organ. Read more about the reproduction of Achatina.

To reproduce, Achatina needs a partner; two mature mollusks are placed in a separate container and left for one week. Mating games last from two to ten hours. The snails touch their genitals and exchange sperm.

Only healthy snails with a beautiful and regular shell, rich color and from a different clutch are allowed to reproduce. Reproduction between “relatives” is prohibited.

If the snails are the same size, then bilateral fertilization occurs (each mollusk will lay a clutch of eggs). If Achatina different sizes, then the larger snail will act as a female and lay eggs. Pregnancy requires a lot of strength and energy expenditure. Read how to grow a big snail.

Sperm is stored in the snail's body for about two years. During this time, Achatina actively lays eggs, 3-4 clutches per year, even without a sexual partner nearby.

The body of young snails produces only sperm, while adults produce mainly eggs.

For this reason, an adult Achatina is paired with a young one. A week after fertilization, tiny testicles are visible in the breathing hole. During this period, do not forget about caring for the gestating Achatina.
The eggs stay in the mollusk’s body for about two weeks, then the snail digs a hole in the ground, lays a clutch and sprinkles it or scatters the eggs throughout the terrarium.

Achatina masonry

The eggs of the African snail are white or light yellow, covered with a hard shell. Oval in shape, 4-5 mm in diameter. The number of eggs in a clutch varies depending on the type of Achatina, but on average from 50 to 400 eggs.

The older the snail gets, the more the number of eggs in the clutch increases.

The Achatina snail is an oviparous animal, but viviparous African snails are also found. They do not lay eggs, but give birth to live snails up to 1 cm in size.

Incubation of Achatina snail eggs

The African snail lays a clutch of eggs buried in the ground. The incubation period for development is from 3 to 5 weeks. This period depends on how long the eggs were in his mantle.

Cases are described in the literature that if Achatina does not have suitable soil to lay eggs, she carries eggs until she has enough patience or suitable soil is not found. There are cases of snails hatching a week after they were laid.

How to care for Achatina eggs

Do I need to relay snail eggs? Many snail keepers transfer the snail clutch to another container so that the ever-digging adult snails do not damage the eggs. If you notice that Achatina has laid eggs, carefully remove them with a spoon and transfer them to a separate container, at the bottom of which add 1-2 cm.

Irrigate the soil and container walls daily warm water and close the container tightly with a lid. Avoid changes in temperature and humidity. If the container is too hot and dry or too cold and damp, the masonry will die.

The optimal temperature for incubating snail eggs is 25-27 degrees, humidity - 70%.

How to transfer Achatina eggs

Replant the egg clutch with a silicone or plastic spoon. You cannot pick up Achatina eggs, since the temperature of our palm is detrimental to snail embryos. From the warmth of the hands, the testicles crack and in the future none of them will hatch.

When and how are snails born?

If during the incubation of the eggs you maintained comfortable temperature conditions, then the snails are born a month after fertilization. The shell of eggs becomes thin and transparent, all the calcium from the shell is spent on the formation of the baby's shell.

Many snail keepers watch with interest the hatching of eggs. The birth process itself can take 4-6 hours. The snail slowly separates from the egg half and begins its first steps. The kids strive to get out of the ground, but this is not an easy task.

If you notice several kids who have climbed out of the masonry to the surface, dig up the soil around and above the masonry, this will help the kids get out faster. During the first few days, the snails eat the remains of their eggshells. You can additionally give grated vegetables and calcium mixture. Small snails require special care.

What to do if Achatina laid eggs

To the decision this issue you have no more than one week. The right solution would be to get rid of the snail eggs, because the main problem in breeding Achatina is that the number of newborn snails is 300-400.

They need to be installed within a month good hands, since mollusks grow very quickly. A large number of Achatina requires a spacious home and a lot of food. You must clearly understand why you are leaving Achatina eggs. Many snail breeders freeze snail eggs and then throw them in the trash. This may not be humane, but it’s still better to freeze snail eggs than not later know what to do with the growing Achatina. We offer houses.

If you decide to professionally breed snails as a additional income, then mate only healthy, strong and beautiful Achatina. Select the best from the kids and raise them separately, when the due date comes, they will become your “breeding horses”.

3 snails and one of them laid 6 eggs... is this normal? All snails emerging from the eggs of these clutches were more than viable. If it is less than 4 centimeters, then the snails simply have nowhere to lay their eggs. If the soil is dirty, Achatina is also unlikely to reproduce in it.

Achatina are hermaphrodite snails, that is, they have no division into males and females. For reproduction, two sexually mature individuals of the same species are sufficient. Fertilization is always internal. Mating of a number of gastropods, e.g. grape snails, is a very interesting sight. These arrows stimulate the production of reproductive products in both snails. The snail (even in the absence of a partner) can stick it out or hide it inside, causing it to disappear almost without a trace.

All the Achatina that I had the opportunity to deal with were oviparous, although I have more than once seen references to the fact that there are also viviparous species of Achatina. Often, the stimulus for reproduction (egg laying) is the complete replacement of dirty soil with clean soil, especially if before this the terrarium was “somewhat neglected.”

Most Achatina species (specifically Achatina fulica and two other species I kept) reach sexual maturity at around 5-7 months of age. Although, it should be noted that the maturation period varies depending on the conditions of detention: the worse the conditions, the slower the snails grow and develop. However, from the moment this organ appears until the first laying of eggs, quite a long time can pass (sometimes several months).

How to care for a clutch of Achatina eggs

Sometimes the laying of eggs by a snail lasts for 2-3 days: the mollusk can scatter eggs over the surface of the ground or lay them in selected places(in small piles at different depths). But, as a rule, eggs of the same clutch lie in one place at the bottom of the terrarium. I was able to successfully transfer the clutch, either entirely or partially, to another terrarium.

In almost all species of snails that I have kept, the hatching rate of juveniles from eggs is 70-100%. The eggs die if it is not possible to notice the clutch in time and pay due attention to it: to prevent liquid from accumulating at the bottom of the terrarium or, conversely, from drying out the soil. The death of eggs occurs more often among those hobbyists who keep a lot of snails and serve a large number of terrariums. Question cohabitation management of young and adult snails is decided depending on the conditions of detention that a snail lover can provide for his pets.

I have never noticed that big snails harmed small snails. I prefer to keep my young snails, if possible, separately from their parents and select the largest ones about 1-2 times a month, separating them into a breeding core for further breeding.

Which Achatina snails cannot be mated?

Next, if you plan to raise snails maximum dimensions, they should be kept separately. My brother brought a grape snail from the forest and within a week or two it was laying. Damn, I'm 12 years old and I have 4 snails in one 17 liter aquarium. I have 74 small snails, but every time I find empty shells in the aquarium, what should I do? Please tell me!

10 pieces. For now they also lie and don’t show up. On the weekend there was a surprise - a tiny snail in the aquarium) apparently she missed an egg. Now he lives separately from his mother. And today - ta-dam! Hello, I have Achatina Reticulata, a couple of adult snails. I saved two eggs and now their babies live with me. These children are three months old and live together separately from their parents.

1. Do snails have 3 teeth? 2. I have two albinos, they are about 6-7 months old! 3rd snail, I advise you to buy a cuttlefish shell. Hello, I read here and didn’t understand whether Achatina can reproduce on its own. The thing is that there were two of them and I gave it to a friend. And now I don’t know if it’s possible for her to bear offspring??? SELF-FERTILIZATION, therefore: oxy, your snail can bear offspring on its own! To me Native sister I couldn’t think of anything else to give a snail for my birthday.

And then we left for 4 days, we came, I went to the snail to feed and clean. Tell me when there will be offspring and how to care for the eggs. And then my dad bought it at a pet store and they said it was for Achatina. I have 3 snails at home. Tell me how to care for the Achatina eggs, put them in a large pot with a palm tree... True, the snails are mating again, the babies have not yet appeared, they are making others again, some kind of “stupid”.

Ekaterina 2011-11-23 19:49:55 please tell me where can I get such a snail??? Please tell me, do I need to lay eggs in a separate aquarium? We have two healthy snails in our pet store. I think Achatina. Hello...before the snails hatch...shovel away required quantity and flush it down the toilet. Achatina land snails are beautiful creatures that can make wonderful pets for you.

At the age of about 6 months, the snail's body reaches puberty. True, this figure can be either more or less. It all depends on the conditions in which Achatina lives. Also protect sick snails or those that are actively growing from this. Achatina usually hatch 2-3 weeks after the eggs you've worried about were laid.

Reproductive system of Achatina snails

Usually their number reaches hundreds. Owners whose pets have not yet given birth usually wonder what the eggs of Achatina snails look like. The main problem for a person is something that needs to be placed in good hands great amount snails

Today we would like to invite you to talk about such a delicate topic as the reproduction of Achatina. Before you start doing this professionally and devote the next few years of your life to breeding Achatina snails, we would advise you to read the following information. Despite the fact that the reproduction of snails in nature proceeds without problems, at home you may encounter a number of difficulties. Pregnancy negatively affects the health of the snail itself, and there are often cases when, after laying eggs, the snail stops growing or grows very slowly.

My snail has lived for 4 years, but it has never laid eggs. Living alone may be the reason. It is noteworthy that after mating of Achatina snails occurred, they still for a long time are capable of making clutches, even if you plant them in different terrariums. And at the bottom there is a clutch of 100 eggs!!! I received the gift in January, the snail is medium (see 4-5), the month of May and suddenly a clutch. After Achatina has laid eggs, the owners need to understand what to do and how to care for the clutch.

Freshwater snails are as integral to the aquarium as fish and aquatic plants. Some of them settle in the ground on their own, since their eggs and young live on the roots and leaves aquatic plants. Having bought and planted a new plant, the aquarist after a while discovers that the number and variety of his snails has increased dramatically.