its hpgoneforgood daughter here!
i have 3, they rock!
You can get different species depending on whether you would like them for show or whether you wnat them just for the delight of your ds1.
If you buy from a store, it is most likely to be a common giant african land snail(achanita fulica). these will grow to about 12-13cm in captivity but if you get wild caught ones from brixton or somewhere they will be much bigger.
They will eat any fruit or veg on this list:
www.petsnails.co.uk/care/feeding.html#f_food
i clean mine out around once a month, or sooner if they start to smell.
Thing they will DEFFINATLY need are: spray bottle to keep their tank humid, cuttlefish to help their shells grow, food, water (make usre its not deep because they will drown if it is).
i have cocnut fibre in the bottom of my tank, with some spaghnum moss in a tub for egg laying.
They are recomended by me!
Other info:
tanks: http://www.petsnails.co.uk/care/equipment.html#e_types
for two snails, your tank would have to be:
L (cm) x H (cm) x D (cm)
40 x 30 x 30
37 x 30 x 32
35 x 30 x 35
I have 3, all old enough to breed, but they dont
so it depends on the snails you buy whether they will mate or not. you may end up with loads, you may not, its up to them :D
if you do tho, you could always just freeze the eggs over night if you didn't want to hatch them.
They are easy to look after. but depending on how old your ds1 is, they may get abit boring for him because they manely come out at night, unless you make them used to the light by handling them in the day.
hope i answered everything xD
they rock
katie xxx