On 7th September 1997 I went to Zoologica '97, a pet exhibition with an emphasis on exotics, at the Ardingly Showground, in England. I went with the intention of buying a book on Giant African Land Snails and some tortoise food ..... as is usual with my shopping trips, I didn't get what I went out for - what I did return with was something completely different - three A. marginata (now called Cyclops, Pac-Man and Atlas, BTW!!) and a new tank!
I have a feeling that the three I brought had been taken from the wild (the guy who sold them to me did tell me where they came from, but I forgot - duhh!!). I didn't realise this until I got them home, and eventually managed to get them out of their shells - they were very dehydrated, and their bodies were covered in scars and healing cuts. One of them (Cyclops, obviously!) only had one eye - only I could buy a one-eyed snail! :D - and showed evidence of cuts around the base of both eyestalks (he has a stump!). Whether these were caused by a predator in the wild, or man made, is anyone's guess. The scars and cuts are all healing nicely now, and fading rapidly. The shells are looking better, and the only marks they'll be left with seem to be the gaps where chunks have been taken out of the edge of the 'foot' . It took over a week to get them eating (and indeed having 'bowel movements') properly. They now devour the cuttlefish with vigor!
They're very shy, and I really only get to see a good view of them just as I'm about to go off to bed (guess they must have been nocturnal in the wild!). I have had 7 eggs from them (on Boxing Day 1997) though. Unfortunately only one hatched, now called "Little It". They only lay around six eggs, of about 15 mm (OUCH!!), compared to the hundreds of 4-5 mm eggs that A. fulica lay. I'm still working on breeding them properly, so I've set up a record of the successes and failures. I have also typed up an abridged version of a research paper on breeding margies.
Looking at the actual snail, they are again, very obviously bigger! In fact, they are scary snails!! :-D The main trunk of the body is thicker than my thumb. My original margies and babies are dark grey in colour, though my new snails are a beautiful light 'coffee' colour, as this picture shows:
All my A. fulica are various shades of light brown, with the exception of Herc, who is a kind of dark brown/grey colour! Their skin also seems to be a lot thicker than the soft, dainty A. fulica. When fully extended, these things have eyestalks of around 2 inches, and can eat a soaked pellet of tortoise food in one bite (that's how Pac-Man got his name :-) Also, if you look at the tail of the actual snail, you notice that the margies seem to have a pattern on their tail - a kind of serrated V shape - very pretty!
They are very strong snails (built like little tanks!!) - as they are so shy I brought them a plant pot to hide in (one of the type meant to go on a wall - ie with one flat side and one rounded side - like a little cave!) - they hid under it!! Now I've got them a cork bark tunnel which they love, but I've given up trying to landscape the cage - whatever I do, the buggers have trashed it all by the next morning! :-D
Updated 2 April 2000
Text and photos © copyright Annette K Goodman, 1998-9, 2000/01/02/03. Any part of this information may be printed off and used by individuals for non-profit purposes only, as long as the appropriate acknowledgement of authorship is noted.