Achatina iredalei are fairly commonly seen for sale at the moment, this is mainly because of a few recent breeding successes with them, despite recent success in breeding them they are by no means established yet in captivity, though they are not as rare in collections now as they were in recent years.

This species was first brought into captivity in 1992, when Georg Gassner found one Achatina iredalei, as well as five Achatina reticulata, on Zanzibar island. The iredalei was found in a tree, and later give birth to 26 young snails, from which all captive iredalei almost certainly descend from, as no snails are ever imported from Zanzibar Island.

This species is found in coastal woodland, on sandy ground. The snails that are in captivity now are the only ones that will ever likely be available, and so captive breeding is a must, even though these snails don’t lay eggs, they are ovoviparous, meaning they give birth to fully formed live young, so population control could potentially be difficult for some keepers, even though all captive Achatina iredalei descend from just one snail, direct inbreeding of siblings should still be avoided.

Like other East African species, Achatina iredalei are more tolerant of a range of living conditions than West and South African species, and can be kept fairly cool in captivity, around 18-24c, and at low-moderate humidity with no problems. Growth may be slow at these temperatures though, and keeping them at a constantly higher temperature (around 28c) and at fairly high humidity, but not overly humid and wet, is recommended, breeding seems much more likely at higher temperatures also. A heatmat can be used, covering 1/3 of the back of the snails housing.

The snails in captivity can have both light and darker body colour, snails with light body colour are much more commonly seen, some may have darker heads than the rest of their body.

These snails are usually smaller than many other GALS, usually adult at around 5-7cm in captivity, sometimes getting to around 9cm, though this is usually unlikely. And so can be kept in smaller housing than other species, a 2ft x 1ft tank can house several adults, a large, plastic storage container can also be used to house several adult snails.

These snails aren’t that fussy, and will accept many fruit and vegetables, so it is worth trying them on a range of different foods, they must always have a source of calcium, and so cuttlefish bone can be used.

(top) Achatina iredalei juveniles

(bottom) Adult Achatina iredalei