| Achatina albopicta (juvenile) |
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Achatina albopicta
This is a very uncommon species to find captive in the U.K. The snail is not a true "giant", with a maximum size of about 7cm. The adult size is usually reached within the first year and a half although new growth is noticed throughout the snail's adult life as the shell lip becomes more pronounced. It has a beige shell with distinctive brown blotches and stripes and a slightly pink tip to the shell. New shell growth appears as entirely beige and the brown markings appear over the course of a few months. The shell tip is far more pointed than that of many African species (this picture fails to illustrate the pointed tip clearly.) The snail's body is pale brown to beige in colour. Achatina albopicta is a fairly secretive snail, staying burrowed under the substrate for much of the day and preferring to eat at night. It seems to thrive best at just over room remperature, around 26 degrees.
I have no breeding information for this snail, though I have been told it lays eggs similar to those of Achatina fulica, in batches of 30-90 at a time, and that the eggs are relatively easy to hatch.
Achatina albopicta are thought to live for around 5 years.
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