Mr. Snail's poop - Where does it come from?

Pranita Rao
Jan 19
2 min read

A YouTuber recently taught me to care for my bowel health with turmeric tea. I have been concerned about my bowel health recently, and this makes me wonder about digestion.

Poop!

Phew! Now that I've said it a few times, I have released my shame and am writing about it.

What is wrong with poop?

Nothing!

Then, let's talk about it.

Let's make it more interesting by talking about snail poop.

Have you ever thought about the digestive system and excretory system of snails?

Well, let's ponder about it, together.

Mr. Snail, a mollusk, has pooped on my hand once. Also, recently, I fed Mr. Snail while it had mud all over its body, and I didn't realize that it was mixed with its poop. It was only after I picked it up from my hand, that I realized that its poop was also resting on my palm.

I did catch myself thinking as to where does snail poop come from?

Here is the answer to my question:

Similar to us, humans, snails have a well-functioning digestive system.

I usually feed Mr. Snail a flower. Now, when I feed Mr. Snail a flower, its saliva digests the food. Mr. Snail uses muscles that contract and move the food through the esophagus. The digestive juices in Mr. Snail's glands break down the flower further and continue breaking it down while the flower particles move into the gastric pouch. The next step in digestion happens in Mr. Snail's gastric pouch. The gastric pouch connects to a large digestive gland; wherein, the flower is absorbed. This large digestive gland connects to an intestine. Flower waste is formed in Mr. Snail's large digestive gland and intestine. From the intestine, the flower waste travels through the rectum, and then, voila--it's a poop show!

Poop or excreta comes out of Mr. Snail's anal pore, located at the edge of the snail's shell.

In reality, Mr. Snail's poop looks like tiny, folded ropes (as seen in the image in this post).

To my imaginative mind, it looks like noodles!