This is a house... and a skeleton.

But you probably know it as a snail shell.

Snails are actually born with their shells when teeny tiny snails hatch out of their eggs, they already have a shell around their soft body parts, but the early shell is soft and transparent.

Some snails eat their egg shells after they hatch to start the process of getting calcium, a mineral they need to harden that shell and help build new sections.

as they get bigger.

Calcium is important to our bodies too.

It helps us have strong bones and teeth, and the shell of a snail is like a skeleton on the outside, called an exoskeleton that helps protect their squishy bits.

As they grow, snails will build on to their shells, adding layers of calcium carbonate to the opening so it gets bigger and wider.

Some snails continue to grow their shells for their whole lives, while others have a kind of adult point where they basically stop growing.

Did you know that almost all snail shells curve or whirl clockwise?

Follow the coil of the smallest part as it widens out, and it will follow the direction of the hands on a clock.

Very occasionally you'll find a snail that was left handed or more appropriately, left footed.

Since snails are part of the gastropod family, a word that literally means stomach, foot.

Some other animals build their own shells too, like oysters, clams, and mussels.

Snails keep their shells for their whole lives, but after the snail is gone, sometimes its shell provides a home for an animal that doesn't grow its own: A hermit crab!

Hermit crabs take discarded snail shells to protect themselves, and often have to find a new one when the one they have starts to feel crowded.

And try this on for size.

If you really like shells, maybe you'll become a conchologist.

That's someone who studies them.

To make sure you never miss.

But why?

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