Now, here's a question

At a guess - no it cannot and yes you should.

No. The shell is present from the snail’s early development, is attached to the snail, and grows along with the snail in a spiral shape. A snail can’t crawl out of its shell any easier than you can walk away from your fingernails. The very center coil of a shell is where it began in life, and as the snail grows, the shell grows around and around that center in a spiral form.

They come out quite well in garlic butter.

I took the shell off my racing snail because I thought it would make it go faster, but it just made it more sluggish.

I took the shell off my racing snail because I thought it would make it go faster, but it just made it more sluggish.

!!!!

Wow comprehensive reply there Cornersteady. Clearly explained too. I thought you taught maths?!

Thanks Corners, i wont try to turn them round in their shell now, i bet it would hurt

No. The shell is present from the snail’s early development, is attached to the snail, and grows along with the snail in a spiral shape. A snail can’t crawl out of its shell any easier than you can walk away from your fingernails. The very center coil of a shell is where it began in life, and as the snail grows, the shell grows around and around that center in a spiral form.

I nearly walked away from my toe nails yesterday.....and my toes!

While cutting the grass, I was leaning over to move some over-hanging shrubs so that I could mow under them. The mower tipped up and dropped onto my foot

It chopped the toe off my gardening shoe but, apart from receiving a severe battering from the rotary blade, my big toe was thankfully intact.

Moral of the story ... wear sturdy boots for grass cutting.  

No. The shell is present from the snail’s early development, is attached to the snail, and grows along with the snail in a spiral shape. A snail can’t crawl out of its shell any easier than you can walk away from your fingernails. The very center coil of a shell is where it began in life, and as the snail grows, the shell grows around and around that center in a spiral form.

I nearly walked away from my toe nails yesterday.....and my toes!

While cutting the grass, I was leaning over to move some over-hanging shrubs so that I could mow under them. The mower tipped up and dropped onto my foot

It chopped the toe off my gardening shoe but, apart from receiving a severe battering from the rotary blade, my big toe was thankfully intact.

glad to hear your extremities are intact and still fully functional, but it would be remiss of me to not mention you have gardening shoes? An actual pair of shoes that you put on just for gardening? Respect!