Giant African snails can be housed in a variety of containers, depending upon the size and number of snails that you have. A good container is a glass or plastic aquarium tank. These type of containers allow easy cleaning and you will be able to watch your snails through the sides. The snails like to burrow, so when you have your tank, fill it with several centimeters of peat and a large piece of bark. (If you collect the bark yourself make sure that you soak it in water overnight to remove any nasty chemicals). Make sure that the peat is kept moist at all times, but not soggy. Leaf litter and moss are also good at keeping the soil damp. Compost can be used, but it does not hold the moisture very well and therefore is best avoided. The tank should be kept at 20-25oC, which means that a small heat mat or pad is necessary during the winter months.

The African Land Snails are very easy to feed, as they will eat a wide variety of things. The best food is lettuce and cucumber but apple, banana and cabbage can also be given. However, if you give your snails food that goes off quickly (like banana and apple) be sure to remove it when it has gone brown so as not to make your snails ill. An essential part of the snails diet is calcium. This is used to keep their shells strong and healthy and calcium can be provided in the form of a cuttlefish bone. The tank should be kept moist and a plant spray is ideal, providing it hasn't been used with chemicals as these could harm your snails.

Below is a list of some but not all of the foods that your snails can eat, try as many of them out as possible, just like you and I snails like a varied diet and in the wild they would find all sorts of foods on their journeys so it is best to try to offer them as much as possible, don't worry if they don't like something, many of mine are quite fussy, having particular favourites, where others we eat almost anything put in front of them.

VEGETABLES - Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrot, Courgette, Cucumber, Cauliflower, Green Beans, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Peas, Potato, Pumpkin, Spouts (ewww!!!) Swede, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potato, Turnips

FRUIT - Apple, Banana, Blackberry, Grapes, Kiwi, Mango (my snails fight over this) Melon, Orange, Pear, Plums, Raspberry and Strawberry, Tomatoes

SEEDS AND COMMON PLANTATION - Ground/Crushed Hemp Seed, Sunflower Seeds , Oats, Chicken Mash, Brown Bread, Dog Biscuits (dry or soaked) raw meat (mine like mince), Dandelion Leaves and other common leafed plantatio

Your snail should have few health problems if kept in the right conditions. It is critical that it is not exposed to any chemicals around the home. If the environment is too hot, cold or dry it will hide and become inactive, and a membrane may form over the aperture of the shell. A healthy snail has a clean, unbroken shell, and no unusual lumps or patches on its body.

There are many pests and diseases that attack African Land snails in their native environment but many of them do not seem to occur with captive snails. There are too many to list here and most vets know very little about the subject. With proper care most snails will live to a ripe old age of 8 - 10 years.

Giant African land-snails are nocturnal by habit and move around less during much of the day, becoming active in the early evening. They can be woken with a bath and don't seem to mind. The very outer edge of the shell lip is thin and delicate because it's where they add new shell to make themselves larger. When handling, avoid touching this part. The snail will repair small breaks on the edge of the shell, but it makes that part more fragile, and leaves a mark.

Breeding land snails is very easy. In fact, for some, it can become a bit of a problem having so many eggs...which can leave you stuck with so many young!

Snails are hermaphrodites, which means they possess both male and female sex organs. They have a rather odd way of mating; males will develop a large white bulge on the side of his head, which can look like some kind of growth. This will be filled with sperm, which he will inject into the female upon mating. To get the snails to mate requires no input at all...when they are ready, they will do it!

Eggs are laid deep in the soil, usually on the bottom of the enclosure. They are white/yellow in colour, with a very hard shell. They are laid in large clumps, of up to several hundred. Now you can see why people may have a little problem when they all hatch ;) Some people leave them in the enclosure, but some remove them. If you decide to remove them, keep them in the same conditions as the enclosure was kept in, considering you want to hatch them that is. If you do rehouse the eggs, submerge them in soil or peat, like they were originally. Keep them moist, and warm...and in 2-3 weeks, you will see lots of little baby african land snails!