Giant land snails

Pythonmdk · Apr 22, 2014

Does anyone know where to find giant land snails. I find them extremely facinating and want to get a few. Especially giant tiger snails.

pardozer · Apr 22, 2014

I just found some yesterday actually! Their shell is about a good dollar size. Idk if they are tiger, but they did have stripes on their shells. Of course I didn't take pictures lol.

---------- Post added 04-22-2014 at 09:31 AM ----------

I think they were banded wood snails. I just looked on Google really quick.

MrCrackerpants · Apr 22, 2014

I am not sure of the laws in Canada. One species of African giant land snail is already on its way to becoming an invasive species in Florida. I believe possessing any giant land snail in the U.S. is illegal but I'm not a "snail guy" so I can't say with absolute certainty. I'm about 99.% sure

The USDA APHIS website probably has info on this...

Smokehound714 · Apr 22, 2014

They are a vector for hepatitis.

Cool snails, though.

Galapoheros · Apr 22, 2014

You might be talking about some freshwater snails(?) Smokehound, I can't find anything about the Af giant snail being a prob there, you find anything? I read they can carry other things that are dangerous though. I'd love to keep giant African snails, illegal here though. If you have them, the gov will come to your door and take them away if they hear about it, been posts about that on the internet. It kind of sounds like there is an established population in Florida. It might be the case that they never got rid of a population that got started there some years ago and only thought they did, not the end of the world either way. There are a lot of scare tactics to keep people from getting them here, dangerous pathogen carriers is big propaganda here in the US. They make you think they are all born with something that will kill you but after reading some about it, the case is that they only semi-rarely pick up something in the wild that is dangerous to humans. And even when there's an infected snail, you have to eat the thing not cooked long enough, or raw, for it to be a likely problem. Captive born snails would have a 0% chance of being "dangerous" as far as all that goes. Yeah, just scare tactics, don't eat them and you're OK, if you eat them, cook'em a long time. It's kind of like a dog getting rabies, they have to pick it up from something else.

Smokehound714 · Apr 23, 2014

It's not propaganda. however I got mixed up.. It's not hep, they carry, but a nematode that causes meningitis, which is far worse!

if you have one, don't handle it if you have cuts on your hands...

Snails in general are pretty dirty animals to begin with, especially wild caught individuals.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiostrongylus_cantonensis

This nematode species happily infests humans.

Galapoheros · Apr 24, 2014

Yeah that was it, meningitis, I looked it up a long time ago and didn't bother last night. I still do consider it propaganda though, it's the level of fear they rack it up to, ignoring the very low odds of getting sick and I read that you have to eat the infected snail. I just consider the number of cases in the US, we don't have such a big rat problem as in other countries, though it's getting worse in places, not much of an economic recovery here if you ask me. I'm not saying "don't worry about it", but the level of fear is exaggerated and that would be propaganda, just my opinion, I know some won't agree.

oddT · Apr 24, 2014

I dont want to crash the party but... they're also illegal in Canada.

Beary Strange · Apr 24, 2014

Smokehound714 said:
It's not propaganda. however I got mixed up.. It's not hep, they carry, but a nematode that causes meningitis, which is far worse!

if you have one, don't handle it if you have cuts on your hands...

Snails in general are pretty dirty animals to begin with, especially wild caught individuals.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiostrongylus_cantonensis

This nematode species happily infests humans.

That's good to know as a person who frequently rescues snails on the sidewalk...:|...

Smokehound714 · Apr 24, 2014

Belle Fury said:
That's good to know as a person who frequently rescues snails on the sidewalk...:|...

LOL, you know i think it is propaganda, because the list includes limax and other common species, but not Helix aspersa or the native shoulderbands (which are beautiful!).

Spinne · May 5, 2014

I know this thread is a tiny bit older but I wanted to clear up some things without making a new one.

First thing - If you don't have a taste for raw snail and snail mucus then you don't have to worry about parasites. Wash your hands after and you have about as much to worry about as contracting a brain parasite from pork. Your friend is safe to continue rescuing snails. ((I even know a fellow who eats them and as long as they are thoroughly cooked it is no problem))

As for the law regarding snails, I don't know about Canada but the U.S. is fairly strict. All snails are illegal outside their native state (or state they've become established in). So, unless you can collect it yourself in your own backyard it is probably not legal to keep.

((hopefully this sort of bump is OK- I know different forums have different "rules"and I am new here))

The Snark · May 6, 2014

The restriction on snails is related to control of potential diseases as outlined by WHO, not trying to deal with an immediate outbreak. To name some of the major diseases transmitted by snails and the number of cases world wide: Schistosomiasis - 250,000,000, Paragonimiasis - 8,000,000, Clonorchiasis - 20,000,000, Opisthorchiasis - 10,000,000, Fascioliasis - 1,000,000, Fasciolopsiasis - 10,000,000, Echinostomatiasis - 40,000,000, Heterophyiasis - <10,000,000, Gastrodisciasis - <10,000,000, Angiostrongiliasis - <1,000,000.*

Obviously, controlling snails is a little easier than dealing with the diseases they spread.

*Woodruff, D.S. and E.S. Upatham. Journal of Medical and Applied Malacology

Smokehound714 · May 7, 2014

Spinne said:
I know this thread is a tiny bit older but I wanted to clear up some things without making a new one.

First thing - If you don't have a taste for raw snail and snail mucus then you don't have to worry about parasites. Wash your hands after and you have about as much to worry about as contracting a brain parasite from pork. Your friend is safe to continue rescuing snails. ((I even know a fellow who eats them and as long as they are thoroughly cooked it is no problem))

As for the law regarding snails, I don't know about Canada but the U.S. is fairly strict. All snails are illegal outside their native state (or state they've become established in). So, unless you can collect it yourself in your own backyard it is probably not legal to keep.

((hopefully this sort of bump is OK- I know different forums have different "rules"and I am new here))

Well, if you have cuts or sores on your hands, it doesnt matter. that's the problem, really.

Galapoheros · May 7, 2014

The Snark said:
The restriction on snails is related to control of potential diseases as outlined by WHO, not trying to deal with an immediate outbreak. To name some of the major diseases transmitted by snails and the number of cases world wide: Schistosomiasis - 250,000,000, Paragonimiasis - 8,000,000, Clonorchiasis - 20,000,000, Opisthorchiasis - 10,000,000, Fascioliasis - 1,000,000, Fasciolopsiasis - 10,000,000, Echinostomatiasis - 40,000,000, Heterophyiasis - <10,000,000, Gastrodisciasis - <10,000,000, Angiostrongiliasis - <1,000,000.*

Obviously, controlling snails is a little easier than dealing with the diseases they spread.

*Woodruff, D.S. and E.S. Upatham. Journal of Medical and Applied Malacology

Many of those diseases are at least genus specific though, many people won't look into what you typed and will think every single snail should be avoided. Some will think snails are literally born with an infection and that all are dangerous and should be killed immediately, just the way we are. But, the scare tactic does work, and, I don't know, maybe at times it is a practical way to fix a problem. I saw a gov employee crack on TV and admitted to using scare tactics and propaganda. He said, "It works! We've helped a lot of people!", some bald guy that was sweating and about to lose it. It reminds me of my nephew that I could see was able to ride his bike without the training wheels. I said, "Hey you could take those training wheels off now, they aren't even touching the ground when you ride. His mom said to her son, "No, don't take off those training wheels. If you do, you will fall off, break both your legs and you will never be able to walk again." HAHA!, word for word there. But it's true, he never fell off his bike and broke his legs.

Smokehound714 · May 7, 2014

Oh, BTW, if you're collecting shoulderbands, you might wanna go put them back. A huge number of them are federally endangered, possession and collection totally illegal.

I find them all the time.

The Snark · May 8, 2014

Galapoheros said:
Many of those diseases are at least genus specific though, many people won't look into what you typed and will think every single snail should be avoided. Some will think snails are literally born with an infection and that all are dangerous and should be killed immediately, just the way we are. But, the scare tactic does work, and, I don't know, maybe at times it is a practical way to fix a problem. I saw a gov employee crack on TV and admitted to using scare tactics and propaganda. He said, "It works! We've helped a lot of people!", some bald guy that was sweating and about to lose it. It reminds me of my nephew that I could see was able to ride his bike without the training wheels. I said, "Hey you could take those training wheels off now, they aren't even touching the ground when you ride. His mom said to her son, "No, don't take off those training wheels. If you do, you will fall off, break both your legs and you will never be able to walk again." HAHA!, word for word there. But it's true, he never fell off his bike and broke his legs.

Speaking as a health worker in the third world. Schistosomiasis is the second most prevalent parasitic disease in the world, only exceeded by Malaria. It lives in water and can enter the body through cuts or scrapes, occasionally drinking the water or getting it in your eyes or nose when bathing. Almost any snail that lives in water can be a carrier of the parasite and it is presently found in 70 countries around the world. The leading way of preventing the spread of the disease is to restrict the movement of snails.

Galapoheros · May 8, 2014

OK but that's "aquatic sps."

---------- Post added 05-08-2014 at 12:40 AM ----------

Smokehound714 said:
Oh, BTW, if you're collecting shoulderbands, you might wanna go put them back. A huge number of them are federally endangered, possession and collection totally illegal.

I find them all the time.

I'd question whether they are "endangered" or not, if you find them all the time.

Smokehound714 · May 8, 2014

Galapoheros said:
OK but that's "aquatic sps."

---------- Post added 05-08-2014 at 12:40 AM ----------

I'd question whether they are "endangered" or not, if you find them all the time.

The thing is, the shoulderband genus has several different species, and they are all pretty restricted to small ranges.

An endangered species can be locally quite abundant, but restricted to a particular habitat type. Like Oak woodland, or coastal prairie, which is disappearing from california at a saddening rate.

The most endangered are the species that live amongst dunes, to my knowledge, a few may even be extinct by now.

Galapoheros · May 8, 2014

Hmm, OK, I did consider small areas and concentrated populations. It's just that I don't want to give in to letting small groups of people control my thinking, that's what some groups of "authority" do, and they are often wrong. It might be fun to explore yourself and find out. I've come across a couple of "authority" mistakes claiming range distribution exploring around on my own, one major claim mistake concerns the compass plant, it's in many more counties than the "authorities" claim it is here in Texas. Other examples, "Diplocentrus whitei are rare". "Aphonopelma moderatum is endangered". Authorities say this? Both those species are common in their range. It's that the collecting area is limited, that's all. There are 10,000s of private land acres untouched by development or collectors that this sps is on. When specimens dry up from a tiny collecting area that seems huge in an individual's small world, people start to say that they are rare but only because of the little world they live in, they don't see past that. Look over the wire fence for miles, we assume they aren't there only because we don't see them, that's bad logic imo but that's human nature, not going to change lol, just typing out loud.

dementedlullaby · May 11, 2014

If you're into aquatics Apple Snails get quite large if you have the right variety. Bridgesii stay smaller but Canaliculata get almost Baseball sized. They're easy to care for but I stopped keeping snails as they're poop machines. Tired of the frequent water changes and both bridgs and canas would destroy my plants even though people say bridgs don't...They are interesting creatures however.

Not sure on legality in the US. Probably varies State to State.

Giant land snails

Arachnopeon

Arachnoknight

Arachnoprince

Arachnoking

ArachnoGod

Arachnoking

ArachnoGod

Arachnopeon

Arachnodemon

Arachnoking

Arachnopeon

Dumpster Fire of the Gods

Arachnoking

ArachnoGod

Arachnoking

Dumpster Fire of the Gods

ArachnoGod

Arachnoking

ArachnoGod

Arachnobaron