# giant African land snail



## sybsey (Dec 28, 2014)

I am so sorry if this has been asked before but there is so much conflicting information on the internet. I have a giant African land snail and have been told not to stick a heat mat under the glass tank because the snail might burn itself or dehydrate and that it is best to stick it on the side but will the snail still burn itself when it climbs the sides, and can I put conifer branches ( without foliage ) in the tank as long as I bake/microwave them first. Thank you any advice is appreciated


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

mine are kept without heat mats or much fuss at all

I keep mine at a fairly stable 23C (that's the room temp), coir/spag substrate and a few oak branches (uncleaned), the substrate also has springtails and ghost woodlice, which clean up after the snails quite nicely, they get fed fresh veg every 2-3 days, aswell as having calcium available all the time, no problems at all, and no need to additional heating...I get hundreds of babies every couple of months


don't know if confer/pine is ok for these snails...something to investigate due to terpene content


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## sybsey (Dec 28, 2014)

Thank you for your reply, snail bob ( as my little one has called it ) is in the kitchen just under boiler as we have not long moved in and being in a house that was built in 1897 the warmest place at the moment is the kitchen. The temperature drops to about 19c at night and I noticed that bob stays tucked up in his shell all night and becomes active about 7am


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

sybsey said:


> Thank you for your reply, snail bob ( as my little one has called it ) is in the kitchen just under boiler as we have not long moved in and being in a house that was built in 1897 the warmest place at the moment is the kitchen. The temperature drops to about 19c at night and I noticed that bob stays tucked up in his shell all night and becomes active about 7am


 
as long as the temp doesn't go below 19C, you should be ok, they will start to get unwell/die at around 17C, ideally you want them to have access to a steady 21~23C for optimal growth and health

If you use a thermostat, there is no danger using a heat mat at all, depending on the depth of the substrate it may be difficult to maintain a good temp having the mat underneath, having the heat mat on the side of the enclosure is a better idea, but it still needed to be stated


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## sybsey (Dec 28, 2014)

Thank you, I have ordered a heat mat, thermostat and some more substrate as it is only about an inch deep at the moment which should arrive tomorrow and will pop out later to get a thermometer and other bits to add as decor. Like I said he is active during the day and sleeps all night, last night he slept on the side of the tank at the top so was thinking that he might be getting cold at night.


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