Kizzi Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 Is the shell of a tortoise an external skelleton that grows as the tortoise grows because the shell is somehow attached to the tortoise? Or if you pushed in the tortoise feet, and gave a yank on the head, could you pull the tortoise from the shell? If so, how does a tortoise shell grow? KiZzI ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kizzi Posted October 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 Snails also have shells. What makes a snail shell grow? Kizzi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockytriton Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 The turtle shell is a part of the turtle, you could yank it out I guess but it would be ripped apart. The shell grows from calcium in the turtle's body, just like the bones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAHD Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 Turtle's shells are fused to their spine: you can't detatch them without killing the turtle. Snail shells grow as the nail does; they are also fused to the snail. There's a part of the snail right behind it's "foot" that secrets the proteins to make the shell. Crabs shells are exoskelitons, but they're only loosely fused to the crab's "meat". They do not grow: when the crab's flesh gets too big for the shell, the shell cracks and the crab spends hours squirming out of it, then the crab's freshly exposed 'skin' dies & hardens over the course of a few days, resulting in a new shell. That help ya Kizzi? What makes you ask? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockytriton Posted October 18, 2005 Report Share Posted October 18, 2005 they make excellent sandwiches when they get out of their shells too! (crabs that is) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merek Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 lol what does the banned mean beneath rockies name, does that actually mean he got banned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockytriton Posted October 19, 2005 Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kizzi Posted October 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 Turtle's shells are fused to their spine: That help ya Kizzi? What makes you ask? Just curious. That's all. Kizzi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishteacher73 Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 In a alltogether random tangent (yet vaguely attached to the original idea)...did you know that the force that it takes to swing a gerbil by the tail to snap its neck on a table (The standard method for pre-killing rodents before feeding them to snakes...) is too much for its tail to with stand. You will lauch a skined-tailed gerbil through the air and be left with a tube of grbil tail fur.... Just the facts ma'am...Fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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