saw a snail this morning and it made me wonder (for all of about 3 seconds) ... where do they get their shells ?

do they make them ?

do they inherit them ?

Originally posted by Jamie
saw a snail this morning and it made me wonder (for all of about 3 seconds) ... where do they get their shells ?

do they make them ?

do they inherit them ?

I keep finding lots of empty snail shells (well, the dogs do, they like to crunch them like some kind of delicious doggy maltester..)

This makes me wonder - where is the shell-less snail? Does it now look like a slug? Has it moved into a larger, roomier new shell in a better area? Will a poorer snail come along and (dogs permitting) move into one of the emptied shells after being ages on the shell waiting list?

I should be working....:loopy:

Always feel bad when I accidently step on one and break its windows :(

Don't they get their shells from 'Shellfriges' :hihi:

shells R us

shell stretcher

Shells U like

Mcshell


Topshell

:suspect: :hihi:

Don't they just nip to there local 'shell' petrol station

and if there got a nice enough shell the can work for Royal Mail, deleviering the Snail Mail :suspect:

Poor i know

Come on you ladies and gentlemen ... this is a very serious matter !!!

I need to know ...

Apparently they grow then, starting with the point of the spiral and adding a bit to the bottom over time.

Source: http://www.backyardnature.net/snail&sl.htm

Originally posted by spiffymonkey
Apparently they grow then, starting with the point of the spiral and adding a bit to the bottom over time.

Source: http://www.backyardnature.net/snail&sl.htm

Excellent link!! So I was right about a slug being a snail without a shell then!!

*pats self on back*:thumbsup:

The answer is that they grow them, themselves, it is a part of there body and there body is actually fused into the shell and they cannot live without it.

Originally posted by scottf
The answer is that they grow them, themselves, it is a part of there body and there body is actually fused into the shell and they cannot live without it.

So if we find an empty snail shell, where's the snail?

If you're really that curious and have a desire to read all about it, here you go!: Snail shell development (http://www.weichtiere.at/Mollusks/Schnecken/morphologie/schale.html)

I don't think it explains it that well, so: they develop a little shell before they hatch, and the circular bit that they come out of is called a 'growth ring' and they keep adding these rings so the shell gets bigger and bigger with the snail (and the coil longer and longer if that makes it clearer). Don't ask me how I know I have no idea!

Originally posted by msbehavin
So if we find an empty snail shell, where's the snail?

In the great snail theme park in the sky :P

Originally posted by msbehavin
So if we find an empty snail shell, where's the snail?

On his holidays of course!!!!

Ok here goes... thanks a lot for that... you got me started and then I had to know too.... GRR!!!

found this: Shells: Snails are gastropods, which are mollusks in which a hard shell covers most of the body. The snail is born with its shell already formed, but it does not outgrow its shell; rather its shell grows larger as its body grows. A thin skin called the mantle covers the snail’s body under the shell. The growing part of the shell is called the lip, and is the edge of the shell closest to the snail’s head. Most snails can pull their entire body inside the shell to be safe. Some snails have a plate on the bottom of the foot called an operculum that seals the shell when the snail pulls inside.

http://mamba.bio.uci.edu/~pjbryant/biodiv/Teachers/Snails.htm
There we go :0)

Originally posted by scottf
On his holidays of course!!!!

So if you wait long enough, you might see a neighbour snail come to feed the cat ;)

LOL
And the hamsters too?

Originally posted by msbehavin
So if we find an empty snail shell, where's the snail?

Making its way through a song thrushes digestive track usually! Snails bodies breakdown very fast and so that empty shell was probably being dragged around your garden a few weeks ago.

I think some animals like hedgehogs are pretty proficient at getting the snail out of its shell.

Bloke going down the road....
Stark naked.....
Carrying a woman on his back.

"What's going on?"

"I'm on my way to a fancy-dress party!"

"uh?"

"I'm going as a snail!"

"Uh?....."

"....and the woman?"

"That's Michelle!"

:P :thumbsup:

That’s the worse joke I have ever had the misfortune to hear [read]!! :shakes:

The empty shell means the snail has been eaten by a bird, normally a magpie. There extract them as you would eating snails yourself, but they use their beaks of course, not a wooden skewer. And they dont have them with garlic.

Over the Bolehills early morning you can see the magpies doing this.

If you walk by the side of a grassy verge on a dew laden morning you will find snails of all sizes, some smaller than a pea. The shell grows with the snail and your bones grow with you

Sorted

Originally posted by Jamie
saw a snail this morning and it made me wonder (for all of about 3 seconds) ... where do they get their shells ?

do they make them ?

do they inherit them ?

they would be slugs without them

Originally posted by henpecked
they would be slugs without them

Slugs have a very small shell remnemt within their bodies. I can't remember school boiligy enough to remember if evolutionarily slugs are snails that have lost the ability to grow a shell, or if slugs are the decendants of snail ancestors that never developed the ability to grow their shell.

--
JGH

Theres a snail goes shopping in town. He's walkin up the high street and sees a slug by the side of the road.

"Big Issue Sir?" says the slug.

Ha Ha Ha Ha :D

They collect them at the seaside, like everyone else.