How are snails/slugs born? with or without the shells?

I was helping my dad plant some flowers and he found an ordinary garden snail. Then a question hit me, we don't live by the shore so how in the world did the snail get its shell? does it grow with it, does it hatch from an egg???


Please anyone, it would be very helpful to know.


(By the way for the time being I am keeping him as a pet, and his name is Fred.)

How are snails/slugs born? with or without the shells?
Land snails build their shells from calcium in the foods they eat, and the dirt they live on.





I keep land snails as pets as well. They do hatch from eggs. If you turn logs and rocks in your area, you might see bunches of translucent balls, clear or yellowish white in moist crevices. Those are snail or slug eggs.





Keep your snail in a large jar or small tank with moist dirt on the bottem, some rooting leaves or bits of rotting logs. Cover the top or it will escape, but you need good air circulation as well, so cover with a screen or cloth.





Feed your snail leaves from the yard, you can "bruise" them first by rubbing them in your hand, Use green leaves, bits of grass and weeds. You can also feed your snail bits of fruits and veggies, and occasionally offer a bit of meat for protein. Some need this, some do not, I don't know what species you have.





To make sure it gets enough calcium for a strong shell, you can put a cuttle bone, sold for birds, in there, or even a few clean sea shells, a bone or rinsed out egg shell. The snail will chew on it if it needs extra calcium.





The snail eats by rasping it's food with a rough tongue. You can watch the food go down the back of the snails neck while it eats...pretty cool.





Snails make a lot of poop and slime which you will have to clean off the sides of the enclosure with a damp paper towel.





Your snail might lay eggs and soon you might have a lot of tiny snail friends, they are lovely to watch grow.





Have fun
Reply:Snails hatch from their eggs with their shells, which form slowly spiral shapes as they grow from the middle out. The center of the snail's shell is the oldest part.





Some slugs have the small remains of shells left in their "mantle," but they essentially have no visible, "normal" shell like a snail has due to evolution.





Each snail or slug has both female and male sexual organs, which means any snail or slug can lay eggs after mating. In fact, many have been known to skip that step and self-fertilize instead.