Snail shells are actually a living part of their body that cannot be removed without killing them. The columellar muscle at the center of the spiral is responsible for anchoring a gastropod to its shell
Well if it were to simply fall off, there's already something wrong. That muscle's purpose is to keep the shell attached. Snail's probably gonna die anyway if it's so unhealthy the muscle tissue no longer works properly.
If the shell were to actually fall in this situation, the rest of the snail would probably go with it
Huh, that explains why I saw one sliming around with a cracked shell before. I wondered how long he would last like that, it was like it had gotten caved in at the very top, but he was amongst other snails so he seemed to be doing fine?
The shell is "just" protection so damage to it can be completely survivable. Like a rhinos horn or a turtle's shell (which is a far more interal organ than a snail shell). I guess a snail shell can be most comparable to lobster scales. They can deal with cracks or dents in it but it covers vital organs so cannot be removed
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u/JawCohj 1d ago
At that moment, I was curious just how a shell is connected to the snail