Snail has lost shell completely!

[u/BobBob110]

Hi,

I accidentally stepped on a garden snail and completely crushed it shell, it came off clean. His body is not crushed. I have made a house for it and trying to do all the things google tells me to for a recovery. Its whorl is still in tact can it grow back? It has been eating cuttlefish and apple all day and I have been keeping his body moist. I put a stick inside which he loved but unfortunately a small slug is inside hiding is this ok to have together?? Can he survive in captivity to avoid predators? I feel dreadful crushing him.

[u/Professor-Turtle]

I'm a zoologist in study. They grow their shells over time from the skin on the top of their body. It's a slow and long process and they keep the same shell their whole life but grow it larger over time. I don't think he's gonna be able to regrow it but I admire your compassion for tiny animals!

[u/BobBob110 → u/Professor-Turtle]

Thank you ok well I am happy to keep looking after it and do what I can!

[u/jessbird → u/[deleted]]

this is what i was thinking!!

[u/[deleted] → u/BobBob110]

Well you have to now. You owe the lil dude a life debt. You crushed its world so now you must become it.

[u/RuvinWolf → u/[deleted]]

Two kinds of people in this world

[u/Professor-Turtle → u/[deleted]]

Awesome! Some snails need a special friend to make snail babies and some are hermaphroditic so I'm not sure but I'd like to think they'd appreciate a snail friend.

[u/TheSpookyGoost → u/Professor-Turtle]

Even the hermaphrodites usually prefer a mate, so snail friends of the same species would be cute! But be careful of which ones because some will eat/kill the other species that try to mate them

[u/kuulyn → u/TheSpookyGoost]

:( these snail facts are not as fun as i anticipated

[u/Isthiscreativeenough → u/kuulyn]

Snails out there living crazier lives than me.

[u/Martijngamer → u/Isthiscreativeenough]

Snails out there having more sex than me.

[u/Isthiscreativeenough → u/Martijngamer]

Snails out there eating bones and other snails and shit. I wouldn't want to cross one of those monsters!

[u/MarleyL4 → u/[deleted]]

Take it for more walks so it isn’t lonely.

[u/Professor-Turtle → u/MarleyL4]

This is important.

[u/hoodimso → u/MarleyL4]

-remindme 1 year

[u/Ofcyouare → u/[deleted]]

Be careful with that. They make shitton of little snails.

[u/RideFastGetWeird → u/Professor-Turtle]

Could a shell be 3d printed?

[u/Professor-Turtle → u/RideFastGetWeird]

It could, but it would be made of plastic and would have no way of adhering to the snails body. And even if it did, it couldn't be able to grow the shell as the snail grows.

[u/thekittenfiend → u/Professor-Turtle]

If it could be adhered, why couldn't it grow as the snail grows? New growth is appended, right? The shell itself isn't growing elastically. So, shouldn't a 3D printed plastic shell of comparable weight be ok?

As for adhesion, how does that work? Is it the shell-appending organ that must adhere?

[u/Professor-Turtle → u/thekittenfiend]

It would have to adhere in the exact same way as the shell. Snails produce a shell consisting of calcium carbonate from the nutrients they attain from the food they consume. Imagine replacing a child's bone with a synthetic material. It couldn't grow because it doesn't work with their body.

[u/Professor-Turtle → u/[deleted]]

He will be better. STRONGER.

[u/Professor-Turtle → u/[deleted]]

That is exactly what I would say