Recent studies, has shown that they are all the same species of highly variable snail, Achatina immaculata, though because of the huge differences in some of them, dividing them into different forms, for clarity, makes sense.
Achatina immaculata has a pink, purple or red columella, they can get to around 15-18cm shell length, though in captivity all the different forms usually get much smaller than this, around 7-10cm shell length.
Many are prone to suffering from bad health, this may be because of inbreeding, especially in the case of immaculata var. “two tone,” but this isn’t proven.
They are found mostly in South Africa, and Madagascar, snails from different regions may appear completely different to each other, this may explain the differences in captive snails.
* Achatina stuhlmanni are not Achatina immaculata, they are a completely different species of snail, native to Central Africa, snails sold in the past listed as Achatina stuhlmanni were misidentified, because they're elongated, plain shell resembles that of true Achatina stuhlmanni.
(above) Adult Achatina immaculata var. "panthera" (formally misidentified as Achatina smithii)
*2, Achatina smithii are not Achatina immaculata, like Achatina stuhlmanni they are a completely different species of snail, they are native to South Africa, and superficially resemble striped, elongated Achatina immaculata, an easy way to tell them apart is that Achatina smithii has a bluish white columella (like Achatina fulica) and Achatina immaculata has a pink, purple or red columella.
(above) subadult Achatina immaculata var. "stuhlmanni"
Keeping this species in captivity has sometimes proved difficult, especially with the “two tone” and “stuhlmanni” forms. Both require a lot of heat and humidity, snails that appear to be healthy may have serious growing problems and retract, despite their housing appearing to be adequate for them. Eggs of the “stuhlmanni” form has also proved very difficult to hatch.
It is safe to assume ventricose specimens of immaculata be called Achatina immaculata var. “immaculata” and elongate, striped forms be called Achatina immaculata var. “panthera” this is just for clarity, and to differentiate between them, this isn’t the official scientific description of them. All the different forms of immaculata will crossbreed, and potentially weaken their unique forms, so it is advised to house them in captivity in groups that appear to be of the same form only.
Both the immaculata and panthera form has proved much easier to keep in captivity than other forms, and are quickly becoming established in captivity, especially the elongate panthera form that were once misidentified as Achatina smithii.
They need to be kept fairly warm, around 26-30c, a heatmat is advised, the humidity needs to be quite high as well, these aren’t as tolerant of a range of temperature as Achatina fulica, especially var. “two tone” and var. “stuhlmanni.”
Housing is as described for Achatina achatina but as these snails usually attain a much smaller size then smaller housing is ok, a large storage container can house several adults.
These snails will accept a lot of different fruits and vegetables, so it is worth experimenting with them, cucumber and sweet potato seems to be a favourite.
A lot of recent evidence has shown that both the immaculata and panthera form of this species are very likely to rasp at both the shell and bodies of other species of snail, and may inflict potentially fatal injuries. It isn’t proven whether every immaculata would do this, but the evidence of snail-keepers seems to suggest that it is very likely, so keeping this species separate from all other snails is advised, they don’t appear to cause any damage to each other though, they may not be able to recognise other species as snails, and may simply see them as a source of calcium.
This species readily accepts cuttlefish bone, and eat it at a faster rate than many other species, so a high dependency of calcium may be needed, this would maybe explain this strange behaviour in them.
Achatina immaculata usually lay around 30-60 eggs at a time, hatch rate is quite high, but usually slightly less than Achatina fulica, the baby snails are fairly quick growing, and require the same care as the adults, when they reach 2-3cm they can then be kept with the adults, if you keep this species I would suggest you don’t freeze the eggs, though some keepers now do this, they aren’t nearly as common as Achatina fulica, and if advertised responsibly, permanent homes should be easy to find for baby snails of this species.
Achatina immaculata var. "two tone"
Achatina immaculata var. "panthera"
Achatina immaculata var. "stuhlmanni"
(top) Adult Achatina immaculata var. "immaculata"
(2nd) Adult Achatina immaculata var. "panthera"
(Bottom) Achatina immaculata eggs
