How does a snail grow its shell?

The shell grows in an ever-widening spiral as the snail continues to add new shell material to its shell during its lifetime.

You have probably seen a common garden snail peeking out of its shell as it slowly creeps along on a slick pathway of ooze.

Where did the snail get its shell?  It was born with a tiny shell just the right size for its body.  The shell serves as a suit of armor to protect the snail’s soft body.

As the snail grows, it oozes a slimy shell liquid that hardens into shell, and so the shell grows with the snail. The snail gets its shell-building materials from its food.

There are many kinds of snails, in almost every part of the world.  Some live only on land, some live in lakes and ponds, and others live deep in the ocean. The most snails are hatched from tiny eggs and look very much like their parents when they are born.

Most snail shells are shaped like coiled spirals.  Some are brightly colored with gray stripes.  Some snails grow shells that are no bigger than a pinhead. But the biggest shells belong to the sea snails called conchs.  Their shell grows to be more than a foot long. - Dick Rogers