Reproduction

 Snails are monecious, literally translated means "one house". That means that they they have both sperm and ova. Though reproduction is sexual and they can fertilize themselves, they can also fertilize each other's ova. It has been observed that one snail will bite the penis of the other snail during fertilization so it is likely that only one will become fertilized ( FWGNA).  A mating ritual takes place prior to fertilization and this could take any where from 2 to 12 hours. Then they can produce up to 100 eggs. The eggs look like gelatinous, transparent sausages.  The young will produce their shell while still in the egg, it will be very weak due to the lack of calcium. Immediately upon hatching they eat the egg shell and possibly the shells of other unhatched eggs. The maximum life span is 16 months and mating occurs almost non stop during the summer (Animal Diversity Web).


The above picture is of a Fossaria obrussa shell.