Help identifying a snail with strange, soft shell!

[cuttlefishdiving]

Hi,
I've found a very strange snail on our driveway and I can't identify it - can anyone help please? It's about 4-5cm long with a grey body and the tail end was very flattened so that it looked almost see-through. The weirdest bit is its shell which is snail shell shaped but is completely soft. (It looks like I would imagine the inside of a snail to look like if you could pull it out of it's shell). The colour of the 'shell' is dark grey streaked with a small browner spiral on the top. It has a cream coloured lip around the bottom edge (the bit it would retract into if it was a proper shell). Has anybody any ideas about what it might be? Do snails lose their shells? Is there a variety of soft-shelled snail? I'm intrigued - Please help!
Thanks.
Sally
ps I brought it in out of the snow so it's now living in a jam jar on my desk. I will try and create a damp environment for it as I guess it might dry out with no shell - any advice on care of a snail would be very welcome.

[Dogghound]

Can you get a photo?

Snail's dont loose their shell's they grow with the snail. Possibly a disease or serious lack of vitamins/minerals, Or a type of poison.

[Lance Morgan]

Could be Cernuella virgata, young snails have very soft shells. Do you live near the coast?

[Jason Green]

It may have lost its shell - please give us a photo if poss.

I am currently studying three snails which I hope may breed - four Kentish, two Girdled and a Glass.

The damp environment is good, provide it with many types of leaves, particularly the ones it was on if it was eating some before you rescued it; and potato peel, lettuce leaves, tomato etc.

Give it somewhere to shelter, such as an upturned stone and dry leaves, a mud base of around five centimetres and finally a chunk of natural chalk for vitamin C for the shell.

Perhaps sprinkle some over the ground as well and consider giving it a bigger home - I use a plastic mouse cage with clear plastic sides and tiny aeration holes in the top if you plan on keeping it long-term as it may need looking after. Also don't forget to clean it out weekly.

Keeping snails is very satisfying, particularly when they breed. I hope mine do as the common ones did that I kept a while back that I had for a year.

Please keep us updated!!!

[cuttlefishdiving]

Thanks for your replies. I've got it out to photograph it and I don't think it looks very well. Although I gave it lettuce leaves to eat and hide in, and a dribble of water in the jar to keep the atmosphere damp, it looks as if its 'shell' has dried out a bit, and the brown coloured part seems to have seperated a bit from the rest of it. It's also not putting out its tentacles. I still can't work it out - we don't live near the sea, we live in mid-Wales. Our garden is completely organic so no chemicals or poisons around. I did wonder if a thrush could have had a go at it, but there was no solid shell at all; I'd have thought if it had been attacked it would have had some bits of shell still attached. I have taken some photos but I don't know how to post them on here - if someone can advise me I will put them on.

[Jason Green]

Use the gallery tab, then Upload on the right hand side, then choose Archive, then Browse to the files, then click the Upload/Submit button at the bottom. Then find your pictures and get the code that looks like

url=http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/archive/showphoto.php?photo=51256][/url

and post it in the message where you want it to appear.

If not, email it to me and I will upload it. If you want to do it via my email, PM me and I will send you my address.

I had problems uploading at first, but now its easy.

Take care,

Jason

[Tiggrx]

Try looking up Vitrina pellucida. This species is not uncommon in the winter months, and has an odd shell which might fit your description.

[Jason Green]

It certainly seems like it might

[cuttlefishdiving]

Thanks again. I don't think it is that snail as that one seems to have a thin translucent shell, whereas mine doesn't have a shell at all. For want of a better word, my snail's 'shell' is completely squelchy. I think it's just it's body organs with a small brown shell like appendage stuck on top. Even that isn't hard, although it feels a bit drier than the rest of it. I will have a go at following Jason's instructions to try and post some photos.
...Nearly did it but not quite - I'll try again tomorrow!