|
What
and how do snails eat?
Most land snails eat plants and other vegetation. Snails eat mostly living
plants as well as decaying plants. They also chew on fruits and young
succulent plant barks. Snails also eat algae. A snail has something called
radula in its mouth for grinding up its food. This radula is like a rough
tongue, something like a file with rows of tiny teeth, which it uses to
scrape off leaves and flowers to eat. Snails can also gnaw through limestone.
They eat the little bits of chalk in the rock, which they need for their
shells (calcium). Many people get upset and farmers get angry when snails
eat their plants and crops. Snails can cause serious damage to crops.
|
|
What
is a snail's habitat?
Some snails live on land and some live in water. The body of the snail
is soft but snails have the perfect home, which is their shell. Land snails
are very well adapted to changing weather conditions. Some land snails
have very thick shells. Snails that live in moist areas usually have thinner
shells. Some snails that live in the desert can stay sealed in their thick
shells for two or more years. Some types of snails are called "burrowing
snails." These are only found above ground in rainy weather. When the
weather is hot and dry they burrow about 7.5 to 15 cm into the ground
and become dormant until rain softens the ground.
|
Who
are snails' enemies?
Snails are a very important part of the food chain. Snails have many natural
enemies. Birds, hedgehogs, toads and trout all love to eat snails. Ground
beetles, snakes, toads, turtles, and birds including chickens, ducks and
geese are enemies of the snail as well. We can eat snails, too.
|
|
How
does a snail protect itself?
The snail can retreat into its shell when danger threatens. The spiral
shell gives it protection from predators and from being damaged. Also,
the snail is able to move on very sharp pointed needles, knife, razors
and vines without being injured because of the mucus they secrete.
|
What
are the main characteristics of snails?
Snails can be found in gardens, in ponds and even in the sea. They belong
to a group of animals with a soft body called molluscs (mollusks) which
are related to oysters, clams, and other shellfish. Their soft bodies are
protected by a hard shell. The scientific name for the snail is Helix
aspersa. It is a gastropod which in Latin means, gastro for stomach
and pod for foot. The body of the snail is long, moist and slimy. It has
a shell to protect its soft body. When the snail is disturbed, it simply
withdraws or pulls itself back into its shell. The snail also retreats into
its shell and seals the entrance in dry weather to protect its body from
drying up. A snail is most active at night and on cloudy days. It does not
like the sunshine very much. During very cold weather or winter, it hibernates
in the ground. Snails have different shaped shells. It can be a single shell
that is rounded, spiral high and pointed or it can be flat. Snails do not
like hot and dry conditions. They like it moist or humid and not too bright.
Snails can live up to 5 to 10 years. Some have been known to live up to
15 years. |
|
How
does a snail move?
The snail moves by creeping on a flat "foot" underneath the body. The
band of muscles in the foot contract and expand and this create a kind
of rippling movement that pushes the snail forward. The "foot" has a special
gland that produces a slimy mucus to make a slippery track. You can often
see these silvery tracks in the garden. The slime comes out from the front
and hardens when it comes into contact with air. The snail is able to
move on very sharp pointed needles, knife, razors and vines without being
injured because the mucus-like secretion helps to protect its body.
|
|
Where
are snails' eyes?
The eye is on the tip of the tentacles. The snail has two pairs of tentacles
on its head. One pair is longer than the other pair. The eyes are on the
longer pair. The shorter pair is used for smelling and feeling its way
around. The tentacles are very important to a snail.
|
|
Are
snails male or female?
The snail is both male and female. Isn't that incredible? An animal which
is both a male and a female is called a hermaphrodite.
|
|
When
and how do snails lay eggs?
When they are about three years old they lay eggs. It can lay eggs up
to six times a year. Snails spend many hours courting before they mate.
They twist themselves around each other and cover themselves in frothy
slime. After mating, each snail will go search for a soft ground to dig
and lay its eggs. The snail lay its eggs in a nest, 2.5 to 4 cm deep in
the soil. Each snail can lay an average of 85 eggs and they hatch in 2
to 4 weeks, depending on the temperature and moisture of the soil. The
eggs are round and small and are white or yellowish. The eggs are concealed
with a mixture of soil and mucus. Low temperatures and low humidity inhibits
laying eggs. Snails lay eggs most often during the warm and damp weather.
It can be as often as once a month or every 6 weeks. Their most active
months are from February to October.
|
|
What
do baby snails do one they hatch?
 |
The first thing that a newly hatched snail does is to find food. It
will eat whatever that is left of its eggshell too. It will also eat
any eggs that have not hatched yet. As the snail grows, its shell
grows too in a spiral shape. The new shell is added at the opening
of the shell. The part of the shell the baby snail was born with,
ends up in the middle of the spiral. |
|
|
How
big can a snail grow?
The largest known land snail named Gee Geronimo was a Giant African Snail
collected in Sierra Leone in 1976. It weighed about 2lb (900g) and measured
over 15 inches (39.3cm) from snout to tail.
|
|
How
long do snails live?
Snails can live up to 5 to 10 years. Some have been known to live up to
15 years.
|
|
What
is the life cycle of a snail?
A snail begins life in an egg. When it is first hatched, its shell is
soft and and somewhat transparent. A snail is considered an adult at 2
years of age. It begins to lay eggs at about 3 years of age. A typical
snail lives for about 5 years. Some have been known to live as long as
15 years.
|
|
How
do snails hibernate?
Snails hibernate
in the winter. This means they go to sleep while the weather is very cold.
Snails bury themselves and close up the entrance to their shell with a
door of slime. This hardens into a tough skin. This tough skin keeps predators
out buy a tiny hole allows air in. Some snails that live in the desert
have been known to remain in their shells for two or three years.
|
How
do you draw a picture of a snail?
|
|
Do
you want to see a diagram of a snail?
|
|
|
|
|
