ARE snails born with their shells on?

If they change into bigger shells as they grow..how did the bigger shells get there in the first place if they were all small to begin with?

ARE snails born with their shells on?
hermit crabs change shells, but normal snails grow their own. they start out with a tiny shell when they are born, then they slowly add layers of calcium and other minerals onto the rim of the shell in a spiraling fashon and cause the shell to get bigger and bigger near the end, which is the only part they really occupy most of the time. the shell itself doesn't grow, it just gets more layers added on. if you try to remove a snail from it's shell, you will kill it, it is in a sense part of their skeleton, much like a turtle and it's shell.
Reply:Some types of snails are, but others aren't.
Reply:snails grow their shells, as they get bigger they will shed the smaller shells and grow larger ones.
Reply:The snail's shell develops while it is still an embryo. However, it is however very weak at that time and they need an immediate supply of calcium. Newly-hatched snails will obtain this calcium by eating the egg they hatched out of. Sometimes baby snails will even cannibalize other eggs (even unhatched ones) when they are born. The shell seems to grow with them.

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