All 43,000-plus species of snails hatch from eggs. While the little mollusk is forming in the egg, it grows a mantle, a unique organ that is committed to making a shell. Babies snails can hatch with tiny shells or the shell can start forming as soon as the snail hatches. If the mollusk does emerge from its egg with a little shell, it is not a hard, calcified shell. That comes after the shell is exposed to air. Young snails are at their most vulnerable when they are newly-hatched and their protective shell is not hardened. From the moment the baby snail is born, it is on the search for food rich in calcium to feed its mantle the material it needs to continuously grow the shell.
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