Giant East African Land Snails (Lissachatina fulica) ‘Wild Type’ - Mixed Sizes
Looking for a gentle, slow-paced giant to add to your home? The Giant African Land Snail (Lissachatina fulica) is one of the most popular and rewarding invertebrate pets in the world.
Famous for their impressive size, ease of care, and curious personalities, these "GALS" can grow shells exceeding 12cm in length.
At EntoScapes, our L. fulica are UK captive-bred and hand-raised to ensure they have perfectly smooth, healthy shells and robust appetites. Whether you’re a first-time keeper or an educator, these docile giants offer a fascinating window into the world of gastropods.
Explore the sections below for our biology-led guide on calcium supplementation, humidity requirements, and how to create the perfect tropical environment for your giant snail to thrive.
Please note: 1-2cm are usually sold as livefood (e.g for pufferfish) as they’re too small at this size to determine which are runts. You are welcome to keep this size as pets but you are responsible for dealing with runts and keeping healthy snails within the trade if you choose to breed them!
- Origins: L. fulica is known as the Giant East African Land snail, as it originated from the eastern coastal regions of Africa before being introduced to various countries worldwide. These giants habituate grasslands, savannahs and forests in the wild, and are also frequently found on farmland where they are considered an agricultural pest.
- Size: These snails have earned their name by how big they get as adults, with many growing to sizes of 20cm in length and 10cm in diameter!
- Reproduction: L. fulica can become sexually mature within 6-8 months of hatching at around 7-10cm long and are hermaphrodites, meaning they possess both male and female reproductive organs.
- Appearance: Usually mature adults have seven to nine whorls on their cone-shaped shell, which is a very pretty tan brown colour with creamy brown stripes running through it. The shell colour can vary depending on the environment the snail lives in, and often acidic soil can strip the shell making it appear faded and white. We find that a little calcium sand can help reduce the effect of bleaching on the shell.
- Further Reproduction and Ovum Production: Interestingly, these choose a potential mate based on size, as larger individuals are able to produce both spermatozoa and ova compared to smaller, developing individuals which only produce spermatozoa. Each snail is capable of laying an average of 200 eggs per clutch, which are deposited in moist substrate or leaf litter, and new clutches can be laid every 2-3 months if conditions are favourable. L. fulica can live on average between 3-5 years with many reaching 10+ years in captivity!
- Behaviour: As these are a nocturnal species, they prefer to spend most of the daytime secluded in their shell and are most active throughout the night. However we often see ours venturing over to new food in their enclosure in the morning and exploring their environment.
- Diet: Like other molluscs, these snails have a structure called a radula which is a belt-like structure of teeth that scrape against food. In our experience, these snails are not picky eaters and will devour a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Younger snails prefer softer fruits like banana and cucumber and decaying matter like leaf litter. Older snails prefer living plants and vegetation, but will still occasionally graze on leaf litter and wood.
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