Can snails heal their broken shells?

Question

If a snail is stood on and the shell is broken, do they have the ability to heal it somehow, or will they die? I was wondering if they would be able to produce something to coat the cracks, like when an oyster has some grit it produces the nacre to coat the grit to it doesn't irritate anymore, so can snails do something similar to fill in the cracks if their shells break?

Answer 1

From my knowledge, the answer is yes. Snails first develop their shells while still in their eggs, but is weak, and so they eat things from which calcium is absorbed and then their shell grows larger and stronger. When the shell is broken or is cracked, as long as the snail still is eating a calcium rich diet, most snails will over time be able to heal it's shell with calcium. From what I know, snails do not produced something to coat the cracks (other than calcium...)

Answer 2

If the shell is crushed, the snail will almost certainly die. But a crack, chip, or small hole in the shell can be repaired by the snail. Shells of snails often show scars from past repairs.

Answer 3

If the wear and tear isn't too undesirable the snail can heal it, even regardless of the undeniable fact that it grows new shell from the interior so the wear and tear on the outdoors will by no potential circulate away. however the snail can nevertheless be healthy and stay regularly. Ian

Answer 4

check out wikipedia.org.