Giant African Land Snails

Giant African Land Snails

Veterinary practice staff are giving away free giant African land snails after they took in more than 100 babies because a client could not look after them.

Nurses at Thamesmead Veterinary Surgery, in Joyce Dawson Way, Thamesmead, were given the baby molluscs which can grow up to 25 centimetres and live up to nine years.




Giant African Land Snail, Tanzania

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Now the practice has been forced to give the remaining hermaphrodite molluscs, which originate in East Africa and which are banned in some countries, to residents for free - as long as they can look after them properly.

Veterinary nurse Amy Coucher said: “We thought they were unusual but it seems a lot of people round here have them. They can impregnate themselves and can have hundreds of babies at one time. They can have up to 500 snails a year.

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