# Giant African Land Snail - HELP/ADVICE



## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

Hey, yesterday I went to the pet shop and got myself 5 baby African land snails.. The snails came with their "set up" which is like a smallish plastic tank a bit of cork bark and eco earth substrate. 

The tank was a bit grubby ad the substrate was too wet (it had puddles in it) so today I have completely emptied it and have cleaned it up a bit. When I handled the snails to remove them from the tank I noticed on one of them a MITE. I only see it for a slit second as it moved across the snails body.. It was tiny and white. As I cleaned the tank I checked to see if there were any hiding in the substrate and I soaked the cork bark in HOT water..

What question is.. are these mites harmful to the snails or do they effect their health in anyway?? If so what can I do to get rid of them!? Would giving them a "bath" help in anyway???

Also I was planning to wait for them to have babies and then eventually use them as food for my Bosc Monitor.. I don't want to do that and then these mites make my bosc ill !!


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

Its a springtail....









They are completley harmless, infact they can be pretty beneficial as they will eat snail poop and left over food....although personaly I dont like them and give the snails a bath and clean the tank out with hot water...!


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

IceBloodExotics said:


> Its a springtail....
> image
> 
> They are completley harmless, infact they can be pretty beneficia as they will eat snail poop and left over food....although personaly I dont like them and give the snails a bath and clean the tank out with hot water...!


OHHHHHHHH I feel soo stupid now :lol2:

Thank you so much, was starting to worry :blush:


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## IceBloodExotics (Sep 17, 2012)

MrJsk said:


> OHHHHHHHH I feel soo stupid now :lol2:
> 
> Thank you so much, was starting to worry :blush:


Dont feel stupid, I think everyone on here at some point has asked this question :lol2:

Thats why I have that picture on my photobucket: victory:

Btw they will multiply pretty quickly.


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

IceBloodExotics said:


> Dont feel stupid, I think everyone on here at some point has asked this question :lol2:
> 
> Thats why I have that picture on my photobucket: victory:
> 
> Btw they will multiply pretty quickly.


ahaha 

Yeah they will at some point become food for my bosc so I am not too worried about it. No such thing as too much food with BIN :lol2:

Although after today actually sitting watching and handling them they are soo cute don't know if ill be able to bring myself round to making them lunch for my bosc :blush:


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## alexsaunders1991 (Feb 23, 2011)

hey, when i collected snails I had loads of mites in my tanks, as was mentioned giving them a bath will reduce the number of them as well as cleaning their tank out. I did find tho that they made my skin itch a little after handling my snails, but i dont know if that was a physcological thing lol. but they are harmless and should be fine for your bosc if you feed him the snails


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

alexsaunders1991 said:


> hey, when i collected snails I had loads of mites in my tanks, as was mentioned giving them a bath will reduce the number of them as well as cleaning their tank out. I did find tho that they made my skin itch a little after handling my snails, but i dont know if that was a physcological thing lol. but they are harmless and should be fine for your bosc if you feed him the snails


Cheers for the advice, I am pretty sure they are springtails..I only saw 1 for like a split second and was like OMG NO! I cleaned the tank and everything and didn't see any others..

Was that snails that you collected from the garden!?


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## EffyDaydream (Jan 29, 2012)

These are good mites.  It's alright when there's some of them, but if it gets so much that your snails start to become covered in them, give them a bath and get some new soil/substrate for your tank. You can also feed them pumpkin seeds that get rid of any infections in their tummys and stuff, just to be safe.


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## MrJsk (Jul 29, 2012)

EffyDaydream said:


> These are good mites.  It's alright when there's some of them, but if it gets so much that your snails start to become covered in them, give them a bath and get some new soil/substrate for your tank. You can also feed them pumpkin seeds that get rid of any infections in their tummys and stuff, just to be safe.


I have only seen 1.. I bathed the snails and completely cleaned the tank and substrate, I didn't see any more! But if they are GOOD then I don't mind it was just that I wasn't sure sure what it was and was like :gasp: lol

Oh thanks for the advice :thumb:


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## alexsaunders1991 (Feb 23, 2011)

lol no i had Achatina achatina x 3, loads of achatina fulica, 2 x Megalobulimus oblongus and a few albino variations


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