# Giant African land snail (*Lissachatina fulica*)

The Giant African Snail is a big, slow-moving snail with a spiral shell. They love to munch on plants and can be found in warm places. They are interesting creatures that can grow quite large!

- **Category:** [Invertebrate](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/invertebrate)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 2/5 · Low
- **Habitat:** Urban areas, Gardens
- **Also known as:** Giant African Snail

![Achatina fulica](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Snail_in_Ubud%252C_Bali%252C_2010_%281%29.jpg&width=800)

Photo: Alexander R. Jenner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Snail_in_Ubud%252C_Bali%252C_2010_%281%29.jpg)

## Appearance

The Achatina fulica is a very large land snail, typically with a long, conical shell that is mottled brown and cream or yellow. Its body is often pale grey or brownish, featuring two pairs of retractable tentacles on its head, with eyes located on the longer upper pair.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Mollusca
- **Class:** Gastropoda
- **Order:** Stylommatophora
- **Family:** Achatinidae
- **Genus:** Lissachatina

## Giant African land snail, up close

The giant African land snail (Lissachatina fulica, long known as Achatina fulica) is a large, air-breathing land snail from East Africa. Its narrow, cone-shaped shell is usually 5–10 cm long but can pass 20 cm. People have carried it across the tropics over the last 200 years, and it is now listed among 100 of the world’s worst invasive species because it eats hundreds of kinds of crop and garden plants and can carry the rat lungworm parasite.

Also called: Giant African snail, Kalutara snail, Lissachatina fulica, GALS.

A snail with a shell that can pass 20 cm, a menu of more than 500 plants and a habit of turning up where it shouldn’t. Spin it, tap it, then test yourself.

### Special abilities

- **Slime Trail** (>80% less bacterial film with slime extract (lab)): The snail glides on a ribbon of its own slime and leaves a shiny trail behind it. The slime also helps protect it from bacteria. [3][7][8]
  - Mucus lets the foot slide smoothly over soil, leaves, walls and rough ground.
  - The slime contains achacin, an antibacterial protein that acts as one of the snail’s defences.
  - In lab tests, parts of the slime slowed Staphylococcus bacteria and blocked more than 80% of the films they form. Scientists are still testing whether this could ever become a medicine.
  - Look for shiny trails on paths and plants after rain or in the morning. Look, but don’t touch.
- **Day Hideout** (7–9 shell whorls to tuck into): Giant African land snails come out at night or after rain. By day they climb into cool, damp hiding places and pull back into their shells. [9][3][6][1]
  - They are mostly active at night and hide in cool, damp spots during the day.
  - They are good climbers. Vets note that pet snails easily push up box lids or climb onto their own shells.
  - Pulling back into the spiral shell keeps the soft body safe and stops it drying out.
- **X-ray Snail** (1 lung breathes air, not water): Look inside the shell to find a lung for breathing air, a mouth with a tooth-covered ribbon and, sometimes, a batch of eggs. [4][6]
  - The radula is a tongue-like ribbon with rows of tiny teeth. It scrapes food like a grater.
  - The lung sits inside the shell next to the heart and kidney.
  - Vets use X-rays, CT scans and ultrasound to check pet snails. They can see the lung, the gut and eggs ready to be laid, and ultrasound can even show the radula.
- **Egg Factory** (up to 500 eggs in its second year): Every giant African land snail is both male and female. Once mature, it can lay hundreds of pea-sized eggs a year in soil and leaf litter. [11][3][1][9]
  - Young adults make only sperm. Older adults make sperm and eggs, and partners prefer them.
  - When two snails differ in size, the bigger one usually acts as the female.
  - A snail can lay up to about 100 eggs in its first year and up to 500 in its second. Eggs hatch in 11–15 days, but only when it is warmer than 15 °C.
  - Estimates of a lifetime total vary a lot: from about 1,000 to “many thousands” of eggs.
  - Eggs laid per year: Second year up to 500; First year up to 100
- **Shell Growth** (5–15 months to grow up): A hatchling starts with a tiny shell and keeps adding whorls. It can be ready to breed in a few months if the weather stays warm. [1][9][3]
  - Hatchlings need lots of calcium to build their shells until they are about 5 mm long.
  - Snails can breed from about 4 months old and are usually adult at about 6 months.
  - Cold weather sends them into a winter rest and can delay growing up to 15 months.
  - Most live 3–6 years. A few reach 9 or 10.
- **Leaf Shredder** (500+ kinds of plants eaten): This snail eats at least 500 different kinds of plants, which is why it is one of the most damaging snails in the world. [10][1][12]
  - As it grows, its menu widens to more kinds of plants.
  - In a test with 10 foods, including lettuce, cabbage, spinach, apple, pear and banana, the snails picked lettuce most often.
  - It is mainly vegetarian, but there is evidence that it sometimes eats other snails.
- **Dry-Season Sleep** (30 °C hotter than this, it shuts down): When it gets too hot and dry, the snail seals its shell with a chalky door called an epiphragm and slows its body right down. This is called aestivation. [1][3][13][14][15]
  - It is active at about 9–29 °C. It rests through 30 °C heat by aestivating, and through 2 °C cold by hibernating in soft soil.
  - The epiphragm is mucus hardened with calcite, the mineral in chalk. It forms quickly.
  - Its energy use drops sharply. It also turns waste ammonia into urea, which it can store without losing water.
  - When it wakes, its heart quickly makes extra protective enzymes.
- **Periscope Eyes** (4 tentacles: 2 to see, 2 to smell): Two long eye stalks rise up to look around while two short feelers below sniff out food. [3]
  - The eyes sit at the tips of the upper tentacles.
  - The lower tentacles carry the sense of smell, which is strong.
  - Together, sight and smell help it find food and partners, and notice danger.

### Body parts

- **Shell** (20 cm+ the biggest shells) [1][2]
  - A narrow cone about twice as long as it is wide, with 7–9 whorls when fully grown.
  - Most adult shells are 5–10 cm long, but some pass 20 cm.
  - Usually reddish-brown with darker or yellowish streaks. The exact colours change with where the snail lives and what it eats.
- **Eye stalks** (2 eyes, one on each tip) [3]
  - The upper, longer pair of tentacles carry an eye at each tip.
  - Sight and smell work together to find food and partners, and to notice danger.
- **Feelers** [3]
  - The shorter lower pair of tentacles hold the snail’s sense of smell.
  - Its sense of smell is strong, and it uses it to track down food.
- **Mouth and radula** [4][5]
  - Inside the mouth is the radula, a tongue-like ribbon covered in rows of tiny teeth.
  - It works like a grater, cutting and scraping plants, fungi and lichens.
  - The shapes of the middle teeth help scientists tell different giant snail species apart under a microscope.
- **Foot** [3][6]
  - The whole underside is one big muscular foot that glides along on a layer of slime.
  - It is strong enough to push up the lid of a box. Vets who X-ray pet snails say they easily climb out, or even onto their own shell.
- **Breathing pore and lung** (1 lung for breathing air) [6]
  - Giant African land snails breathe air with a lung inside the shell, not with gills.
  - On X-rays and CT scans, vets can see the lung next to the heart, kidney and gut.
- **Skin and slime** (>80% less biofilm in a lab test) [3][7][8]
  - The skin makes mucus (slime) that helps the snail move smoothly.
  - The slime contains achacin, a protein that helps defend the snail against bacteria.
  - In lab tests, parts of the slime slowed the growth of Staphylococcus bacteria and cut the slimy films they form by more than 80%.
- **Eggs inside** (2 years sperm can be stored) [3][1][9]
  - After mating, a snail can store its partner’s sperm for up to 2 years.
  - It lays its eggs 8–20 days after mating.
  - Each egg is 4.5–5.5 mm across, about the size of a pea.
- **Body colour** [10]
  - Many have greyish-brown skin, like the snails once found in South Florida.
  - Some have milky-white skin. These are sometimes called “albino” snails and are wanted in the illegal pet trade.
  - Snails found in Pasco County, Florida, in 2022 had light to dark brown shells with milky-white bodies.

### Stats

| Stat | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shell length | 5–10 cm | a typical adult; the biggest pass 20 cm [1][2] |
| Weight | ≈32 g | average adult mass in one account [3] |
| Shell whorls | 7–9 | turns of the spiral when fully grown [1] |
| Lifespan | 3–6 years | typical; a few live 9–10 years [1][3] |
| Grown up at | 5–15 months | sooner when warm; can breed from about 4 months [1][9] |
| Eggs a year | up to 500 | in its second year; up to about 100 in the first; 5 times more eggs in year two than in year one [1] |
| Hatching time | 11–15 days | eggs only hatch above 15 °C [3][1] |
| Food plants | 500+ | different kinds of plants eaten [10] |
| Active between | 9–29 °C | hibernates near 2 °C, aestivates at 30 °C [1][3] |
| Mating time | 4.6 hours | average in the wild (1.5–7.5 hours), always at night [17] |

### Photos

- [On the forest floor in Madagascar, where it was brought by people](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_African_land_snail_(Achatina_fulica)_Mantadia.jpg) (photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [Gliding over moss in the Seychelles](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caracol_gigante_africano_(Lissachatina_fulica)%2C_sendero_Dans_Gallas%2C_Mah%C3%A9%2C_Seychelles%2C_2025-09-10%2C_DD_11.jpg) (photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [A clutch of pea-sized eggs in the soil](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Achatina.fulica.eggs07.jpg) (photo: Tonton Bernardo, CC BY-SA 3.0)
- [Snacking on a fallen Surinam cherry in Hawaii](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_African_snail_(Achatina_fulica)_feeding_on_a_Surinam_cherry_(Eugenia_uniflora)_(16741946188).jpg) (photo: Scot Nelson, CC0)
- [A good climber: crossing a garden gate](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_African_snail_(Achatina_fulica)_climbing_gate.jpg) (photo: Scot Nelson, CC0)
- [A pet snail heading for a cucumber slice](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lissachatina_fulica_pet_'%22Morgan%22_by_PaleoGeek.png) (photo: PaleoGeekSquared, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [In Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_African_land_snail_(Achatina_fulica)_Ranomafana.jpg) (photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [Shell colours vary: this one is pale and streaky](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bekicot_(Achatina_fulica).jpg) (photo: 7hari, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [Captive snails with their greens at a reptile park in France](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ferme_des_Reptiles_-_Lissachatina_fulica_02.jpg) (photo: Tylwyth Eldar, CC BY-SA 4.0)

### Questions

- **Is it illegal to own a giant African land snail?** In the United States, yes: it is illegal to import or keep one without a permit, because the snail is such a serious pest. In parts of Europe they are popular pets and are even kept in nursery schools. In one study, 7-year-olds who looked after a classroom snail for seven months formed caring bonds with it. Rules differ from country to country, so check yours, and never release a snail outdoors. [10][6][28]
- **Is it safe to touch a giant African land snail?** Don’t touch one with bare hands. Florida’s experts say to wear gloves and to wash your hands afterwards. The snail can carry rat lungworm, but people usually catch that by eating raw or undercooked snails or slugs, or unwashed raw vegetables with a tiny snail on them. [10][19][20]
- **How big do giant African land snails get?** Most adult shells are 5–10 cm long, and the biggest pass 20 cm. One account gives an average weight of about 32 g. The shell is a narrow cone with 7–9 whorls. [1][3]
- **How long do giant African land snails live?** Usually 3–6 years. A few live to 9 or 10. [1][3]
- **How many eggs does a giant African land snail lay?** Up to about 100 in its first year and up to 500 in its second, in batches hidden in soil or leaf litter. Each egg is about 5 mm, the size of a pea, and hatches in 11–15 days when it is warmer than 15 °C. Estimates of a lifetime total range from about 1,000 to many thousands. [1][3][9]
- **What do giant African land snails eat?** At least 500 kinds of plants, including crops, garden plants and fallen fruit. In one test with 10 foods, they picked lettuce most often. Hatchlings also need plenty of calcium to build their shells, and adults sometimes eat other snails. [10][12][1]
- **Why are giant African land snails a problem?** They eat hundreds of kinds of plants, breed fast and are easily moved by people, so they spread quickly. They can also carry rat lungworm. That is why experts list the snail among 100 of the world’s worst invasive species. [21][10][29][27]
- **Is it Achatina fulica or Lissachatina fulica?** Both names refer to the same snail. Scientists moved it from the genus Achatina to Lissachatina, but you will still often see the older name, Achatina fulica. [25][23][26]

### Giant African land snail myths and facts

Guess first, then flip each card to see what the evidence says.

- "The giant African land snail is the biggest snail in the world." **Not proven!** Its family, the Achatinidae, has the biggest land snails, and its shell can pass 20 cm. But its cousin the giant West African snail grows just as big, up to 20 cm high and 10 cm wide. Most giant African land snails are 5–10 cm. [6][1][18]
- "One snail on its own can start a whole new population." **Fact!** It can’t fertilise its own eggs, but it can store a partner’s sperm for up to 2 years. So one snail that has already mated can start a population in a new place. [1][3]
- "Every giant African land snail is both male and female." **Fact!** Each one has both kinds of reproductive organs. Young adults make only sperm; older adults make sperm and eggs. When sizes differ, the bigger snail usually acts as the female. [11][3]
- "It only eats a few kinds of plants." **Myth!** It eats at least 500 different kinds of plants, which is one reason it is such a serious pest. [10]
- "You catch rat lungworm just by touching a snail." **Myth!** People usually get infected by eating raw or undercooked snails or slugs, or unwashed raw vegetables with a tiny snail on them. Still, wear gloves if you have to handle snails, and wash your hands afterwards. [19][20][10]
- "A snail can sleep through a dry season, sealed inside its shell." **Fact!** In hot, dry weather it aestivates. It closes the shell with a chalky door called an epiphragm and slows its body right down until the rain returns. [1][13][14]
- "Releasing rosy wolf snails is a safe way to get rid of giant African snails." **Myth!** Rosy wolf snails were released on Pacific and Indian Ocean islands from the 1950s. They ate local snails instead: 11 of the 18 Partula tree snail species of Moorea and Tahiti disappeared from the wild. [21][22][1]
- "You can keep one as a pet anywhere." **Myth!** In the United States, it is illegal to import or keep one without a permit. In parts of Europe they are popular pets, even in nursery schools. Always check your local rules and never release a pet snail outdoors. [10][6]

### Giant African land snail records

Big shells, big appetites, and records nobody wants.

- One of the world’s worst invaders: Giant African land snail, 1 of 100 (Picked for the IUCN invasive species experts’ list of 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species (2000).) [21]
- Biggest land snails: The giant African land snail family (Achatinidae), 20 cm+ (Achatinid snails are the largest snails living on land; this species can pass 20 cm.) [6][1]
- Four of the worst 100 in one food web: Giant African snail, rosy wolf snail, New Guinea flatworm, ship rat, 4 (The snail and three species linked to it in the food web, the rosy wolf snail, the New Guinea flatworm and the ship rat, are all on the same list of 100 worst invaders.) [21]
- Most-eaten menu: Giant African land snail, 500+ plants (Called one of the most damaging snails in the world by Florida’s agriculture department.) [10]
- Wiped out in Florida three times: Florida, USA, 3 times (Eradicated in 1975, 2021 and 2026, after detections in 1969, 2011 and 2022.) [10]

### Life of a giant African land snail

From a pea-sized egg to a full-grown snail in under a year, if it stays warm.

- **Day 0**: Eggs laid. 8–20 days after mating, a parent lays pea-sized eggs in soil or among leaves. [3][9]
- **Days 11–15**: Hatching. Tiny snails hatch, but only if it is warmer than 15 °C. [3][1]
- **First weeks**: Calcium hunt. Hatchlings need lots of calcium to build their shells until they reach about 5 mm. [1]
- **4–6 months**: Young adult. Ready to breed. At first it makes only sperm. [9][3][11]
- **Year 1**: First eggs. Up to about 100 eggs. [1]
- **Year 2**: Peak eggs. Up to about 500 eggs, then fewer each year after. [1]
- **Dry seasons**: Sealed in. In heat and drought it seals its shell and aestivates until rain returns. [1][13]
- **3–6 years**: Old age. Most live 3–6 years. A few reach 9 or 10. [1][3]

### Giant African land snails: invasions and safety

Giant African land snails are slow and harmless to look at, but they spread fast and can carry a parasite. Here is how to stay safe and help stop them.

- **500+** kinds of plants eaten. Crops and garden plants are at risk wherever the snail spreads. [10]
- **200 years** of spreading with people. People carried it from East Africa across the tropics. One genetic type is now found all over the tropics. [23]
- **3 times** eradicated in Florida. Teams found and removed every snail over years of searching. Parts of Broward and Pasco counties are still under quarantine. [10]
- **Gloves** never bare hands. Florida’s experts say: don’t handle these snails without gloves. Wash your hands with soap and water afterwards. [10][20]
- **Wash** raw fruit and vegetables. The rat lungworm parasite passes between rats and snails or slugs. People can catch it by eating raw or undercooked snails or slugs, or raw produce with a tiny snail on it. Most people who get it recover on their own, but anyone who is worried should see a doctor. [24][19][20]
- **Report** don’t move them. In places where it is not native, take a photo and tell an adult, who can report it to the local agriculture department. Never move, keep or release one. [9][10]

General information, not medical advice. If someone may have swallowed a raw snail or slug, tell an adult and see a doctor.

### Giant African land snail vs garden snail vs giant West African snail

How the giant African land snail measures up against a familiar garden snail and its biggest cousin.

| | Giant African land snail | Brown garden snail | Giant West African snail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific name [25][2][18] | Lissachatina fulica (formerly Achatina fulica) | Cornu aspersum | Achatina achatina |
| Shell size [1][2][18] | Usually 5–10 cm long; can pass 20 cm | About 2.5–4 cm wide and 2.5–3.5 cm high | Up to 20 cm high and 10 cm wide |
| Shell shape [1][2][18] | Narrow cone, twice as long as wide | Rounded, with a net-like brown pattern | Large cone |
| Native home [3][2][18] | East Africa | Not native to Florida (introduced) | Coastal West Africa, from Sierra Leone to Nigeria |
| Pest status [21][2][18] | One of 100 of the world’s worst invasive species | Listed as an exotic (non-native) snail in Florida | Crop pest in West Africa; stopped at US airports |

Sizes come from different sources and measure slightly different things (length, width, height).

### Is the giant African land snail endangered?

No. The problem is the opposite: this snail is spreading into places where it does harm.

- **IUCN Red List:** Not Evaluated (NE) (Trend unknown). It has no Red List assessment. Outside Africa it is an invasive pest that keeps reaching new places, such as the Caribbean islands from the late 1980s. But invasive populations often crash again after 20–60 years. [26][27][1]
- Not evaluated by the IUCN Red List (checked 2026-10-16).
- **Threat: Cold weather**: It needs temperatures well above freezing all year. It can only rest through cold down to about 2 °C. [1]
- **Threat: Predators**: In its native Africa, predators are a main cause of death. In many new homes it has almost none. [3]
- **Threat: Eradication teams**: Florida has wiped out its snail populations three times with searches, treatments and quarantines. [10]
- **Helping: Laws and quarantines**: It is illegal to import or keep in the United States without a permit, and quarantine zones stop snails being moved. [10]
- **Helping: People reporting snails**: A photo sent to experts lets them check a sighting before the snails spread. [9]
- **Helping: Learning from mistakes**: Releasing the predatory rosy wolf snail to control it wiped out many native island snails. Scientists now warn against that kind of quick fix. [21][22][1]
- **Partula tree snails (Society Islands)** (MIXED): 11 of 18 species on Moorea and Tahiti were wiped out in the wild by rosy wolf snails that had been released to eat giant African snails. Some survive in zoos and a few wild pockets. [22][21]

### Giant African land snail signs to read

- Eye stalks stretched up: Looking and smelling around for food, partners or danger. [3]
- Out at night or after rain: Its active time: feeding and searching for partners. [9][4]
- Tucked away in a damp spot by day: Resting until it is cool and dark again. [9]
- Shell sealed with a chalky white door: Aestivating to survive heat or dry weather. Leave it alone. [13][1]
- One snail climbing onto another’s shell at night: Courtship. Only about 1 in 10 courtships ends in mating. [17][3]
- Shiny trails on paths and walls: A snail passed by recently. [3]

### Forms

- **Adult**: A long, narrow cone of a shell with 7–9 whorls, reddish-brown with darker streaks, on a greyish-brown body. (Usually 5–10 cm long and about 32 g · some pass 20 cm) [1][10][3]
- **Juvenile**: A small, thin shell with fewer whorls. Hatchlings need plenty of calcium to build it. (Can breed from about 4 months · young adults make only sperm) [1][9][11]
- **White-bodied form**: Light to dark brown shell on a milky-white body instead of the usual greyish-brown. (Sometimes called “albino” snails and wanted in the illegal pet trade. In China, a farmed strain called the white jade snail is raised for food and research.) [10][16]
- **Adult with eggs**: An adult beside a clutch of round, cream-white eggs, each about the size of a pea, in soil or leaf litter. (Up to about 500 eggs a year · hatch in 11–15 days when warm) [1][9][3]

### Giant African land snail quiz

1. How long is a typical adult giant African land snail shell? **5–10 cm.** Most adult shells are 5–10 cm, though some pass 20 cm. [1]
2. Where are the snail’s eyes? **On the tips of the upper tentacles.** The eyes sit at the tips of the long upper tentacles. The lower pair smell. [3]
3. What is the radula? **A ribbon covered in tiny teeth.** The radula is a tongue-like ribbon with rows of tiny teeth that scrapes food like a grater. [4]
4. How many kinds of plants can it eat? **At least 500.** It eats at least 500 different kinds of plants. [10]
5. What does it make to seal its shell in hot, dry weather? **An epiphragm.** The epiphragm is a chalky door of mucus hardened with calcite. [13]
6. How does it breathe? **With a lung.** It breathes air with a lung inside the shell. [6]
7. What do young adult snails produce? **Only sperm.** Young adults make only sperm. Older adults make both. [11]
8. How long can a snail store a partner’s sperm? **Up to 2 years.** Up to 2 years, so one mated snail can start a population. [3][1]
9. How do people usually catch rat lungworm? **Eating raw or undercooked snails or slugs.** Eating raw or undercooked snails or slugs, or unwashed produce with a tiny snail on it. [19]
10. Why was releasing rosy wolf snails a bad idea? **They ate native tree snails.** They wiped out 11 of the 18 Partula tree snail species of Moorea and Tahiti. [22][21]
11. How many times has Florida eradicated the giant African land snail? **Three times.** Three times: in 1975, 2021 and 2026. [10]
12. How big is one of its eggs? **About 5 mm, like a pea.** Eggs are 4.5–5.5 mm across, about the size of a pea. [1][9]

### Sources (checked 2026-10-16)

1. [Global Invasive Species Database (2010s). Species profile: Achatina fulica. IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group.](https://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=64)
2. [FDACS Division of Plant Industry. Florida Snail Identification Sheet.](https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/23825/file/snail-id-sheet.pdf)
3. [Hoffman T, Pirie N. Achatina fulica (giant African snail). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Achatina_fulica/)
4. [Jones D (2016). Achatina fulica (Giant African Snail). The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago, University of the West Indies.](https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/images/Achatina%20fulica-%20Giant%20African%20Snail.pdf)
5. [Odaibo AB, Olayinka SO (2019). Shell morphology, radula and genital structures of new invasive giant African land snail species, Achatina fulica, Achatina albopicta and Achatina reticulata in southwest Nigeria. bioRxiv preprint.](https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.16.877977)
6. [Gumpenberger M, Schmidt-Ukaj S, Handschuh S (2023). Comparative diagnostic imaging in giant African land snails (Achatinidae). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10:1223784.](https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1223784)
7. [Ehara T, Kitajima S, Kanzawa N, Tamiya T, Tsuchiya T (2002). Antimicrobial action of achacin is mediated by L-amino acid oxidase activity. FEBS Letters.](https://doi.org/10.1016/S0014-5793(02)03608-6)
8. [Suárez L, Pereira A, Hidalgo W, Uribe N (2021). Antibacterial, antibiofilm and anti-virulence activity of bioactive fractions from mucus secretion of giant African snail Achatina fulica against Staphylococcus aureus strains. Antibiotics 10:1548.](https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10121548)
9. [FDACS Division of Plant Industry (2022). Pest Alert: Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich), giant African land snail.](https://www.fdacs.gov/content/download/104723/file/giant-african-land-snail-pest-alert.pdf)
10. [Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Giant African Land Snail (pest information, eradications, quarantines, colour forms).](https://www.fdacs.gov/Agriculture-Industry/Pests-and-Diseases/Plant-Pests-and-Diseases/Giant-African-Land-Snail)
11. [Tomiyama K (1996). Mate-choice criteria in a protandrous simultaneously hermaphroditic land snail Achatina fulica (Férussac). Journal of Molluscan Studies 62:101–111.](https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/62.1.101)
12. [Tang K, Zheng Z, Lu X, Han Z, Sun S (2025). Effects of macronutrients in ten different plant species on the food choice and growth performance of Achatina fulica. Animals 15:3333.](https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15223333)
13. [Struthers M, Rosair G, Buckman J, Viney C (2002). The physical and chemical microstructure of the Achatina fulica epiphragm. Journal of Molluscan Studies 68(2):165.](https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/68.2.165)
14. [Salway KD, Tattersall GJ, Stuart JA (2010). Rapid upregulation of heart antioxidant enzymes during arousal from estivation in the giant African snail (Achatina fulica). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A.](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2010.06.188)
15. [Hiong KC, Loong AM, Chew SF, Ip YK (2005). Increases in urea synthesis and the ornithine-urea cycle capacity in the giant African snail, Achatina fulica, during fasting or aestivation. Journal of Experimental Zoology A.](https://doi.org/10.1002/jez.a.238)
16. [Liu H (2026). Chromosome-level genome of the white jade snail reveals conserved genomic architecture and functional divergence from wild Achatina fulica. Research Square preprint.](https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-10863387/v1)
17. [Tomiyama K (1994). Courtship behaviour of the giant African snail, Achatina fulica (Férussac). Journal of Molluscan Studies 60:47–54.](https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/60.1.47)
18. [USDA APHIS (archived 2010). New Pest Response / fact sheet: Achatina achatina (giant West African snail).](https://web.archive.org/web/20100708224422/http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/gas/downloads/achatinaachatina.pdf)
19. [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024). About Rat Lungworm Disease.](https://www.cdc.gov/angiostrongylus/about/index.html)
20. [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024). Preventing Rat Lungworm.](https://www.cdc.gov/angiostrongylus/prevention/index.html)
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24. [Cowie RH (2013). Biology, systematics, life cycle, and distribution of Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the cause of rat lungworm disease. Hawai'i Journal of Medicine & Public Health 72(6 Suppl 2):6–9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23901372/)
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## Measurements & details

- **Length:** 5-20 cm
- **Lifespan:** 3-10 years

## Diet & Feeding

These hungry snails munch on many plants, decaying matter, and even calcium for their shells!

- **Primary Foods:** fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, decaying plant matter, algae, calcium sources
- **Foraging Method:** Foraging

## Ecological connections

- **Eaten by:** Rosy Wolf Snail (*Euglandina rosea*) — This predatory snail hunts Achatina fulica.
- **Eaten by:** New Guinea Flatworm (*Platydemus manokwari*) — This invasive flatworm preys on Achatina fulica.
- **Eaten by:** [Black Rat](https://www.snappit.app/explore/black-rat) (*Rattus rattus*) — Rats are known to consume these snails.
- **Eats:** Banana Plant (*Musa acuminata*) — Feeds on banana leaves and fruit, causing damage.

## Traits

- [Solitary](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/solitary): Solitary animals live alone for most of their lives, only interacting with others for mating or parental care.
- [Herbivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/herbivorous): This trait characterizes organisms whose diet consists entirely or primarily of plant material.
- [Longevous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/longevous): This trait characterizes organisms with an exceptionally long lifespan compared to others of their kind.
- [Giant](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/giant): Giant describes organisms or objects of significantly larger size than average for their species or type.
- [Urban Friendly](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/urban-friendly): This habitat trait indicates species that can coexist with humans in urban and suburban environments, utilizing man-made structures and green spaces.
- [Invasive](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/invasive): Invasive species are non-native organisms that cause harm to the environment, economy, or human health.
- [Nocturnal](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/nocturnal): Nocturnal animals are primarily active during the nighttime hours, typically resting or sleeping during the day.

## Collections

- [Mammals](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/mammals)

## Safety

**Danger:** 2/5 · Low

Don't touch snails you find outside. Tell an adult, who should wear gloves and wash their hands afterwards. Never eat raw snails or slugs.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Giant African land snail?

Compare body symmetry, shells, segments, legs, tentacles and how the animal moves. Invertebrates span many unrelated groups, so start with body structure. Invertebrate Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How long is Giant African land snail?

5-20 cm

### How long does Giant African land snail live?

3-10 years

### What does Giant African land snail eat?

These hungry snails munch on many plants, decaying matter, and even calcium for their shells!

### Where is Giant African land snail usually found?

Urban areas, Gardens

## More Invertebrate

- [Coral](https://www.snappit.app/explore/coral)
- [Crab Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/crab-spider) (*Mecaphesa asperata*)
- [Garden Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/garden-spider) (*Araneus diadematus*)
- [Brown Recluse Spider](https://www.snappit.app/explore/brown-recluse-spider) (*Loxosceles reclusa*)

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Source: [Giant African land snail: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/achatina-fulica)