Snails do not change shells

[kyryah]

A couple of times I have seen where someone has mentioned that perhaps a snail has lost it's shell because the shell was too small for it.

I want to disabuse this notion.

A snail's shell is part of it's body. They are born with them and they grow along with them. If a snail looses it's entire shell, the most humane thing to do is quickly euthanize. There is no way to reattach or offer a different shell.

Hermit crabs on the other hand, do change shells and require that you keep extra shells of varying shapes and sizes in their enclosure. Hermits do not grow their own shells, but rather use the shell of a deceased snail as a housing for their tender bodies.

Kristina

 

[The Zigman]

Yeah!

What she said..

 

[vampie]

Where are these people. I need a good laugh.

 

[Wycco]

She's right snails keep the same shells from when they're tadpoles all the way until they grow up to be turtles.

 

[huffmagx]

:bowing::rofl::rofl:

 

[kyryah]

Where are these people. I need a good laugh.

I am not here to make anyone feel bad for being misinformed, lol.

She's right snails keep the same shells from when they're tadpoles all the way until they grow up to be turtles.

:rofl: :screwy:

Kristina

 

[ayra321]

its okay unfortunately i know some of these people,sigh....:shakehead:

 

[barbuto]

Wouldn't they just be slugs then?

 

[zzyzx85]

I've actually found a pond snail without a shell in my tank. It looked like a snot at first ("hmmm...did someone sneeze on the tank?") when I saw it move. Then I realized it had no shell. I'm pretty sure an angel or tetra picked it off later on.

But like the OP said, a snail without a shell is a dead snail.

 

[Hebily]

Lol... the other night, my wife saw two bladder snails gettin' frisky and thought at first that it was one snail, and it was 'molting'. She very quickly realized the error of the statement, however, and corrected herself before I could.