PP marking his shell with his body fluid??

[wodesorel]

I wish I had taken before and after photos of the starry nautica - it was intact when one of my Es put it on and perfectly hollowed out when he changed two years later!

It's just easier to repost the photos then to try and find that thread.

This is what a zebra littorina looks like whole:



And what it looks like once it's been modded:



And this is an extremely heavy and thick shell that was in the process of being modded before she found something better. You can see the hole starting along the spiral and the discoloration where the shell innards are being worn away:




Still don't know HOW they do it, but it doesn't take them long to get started on making changes - just a few months! A full gutting seems to take at least a year though. It might be a mechanical rubbing that wears it away, or it could be something more acidic than the shell that they secrete to dissolve it.

[kuza]

Wode, I believe it's a combination of the 2, and I believe I've witnessed this happening first hand now.

This is a picture of Hubert's shell changing over just 3 months. On the left you see the day Hubert moved into his new shell, May 15th. The shell is very sharp and very rough around the edge. On the right you see his shell this week, and the whole rim is now super smooth, and there is one spot that was starting to chip a bit, is now all worn out. It's a very very smooth wear down. There's no sign of it chipping at all at this point, and it's where he was painting his "secretions" on it the most. However, he paints the whole rim of the shell when he's working on it.

[wodesorel]

One-eye has large jagged pinch-marks on his since he carved out space in the front for his head and legs to move without the shell hitting him all the time. I'll have to keep a closer eye on him to see if he's ever going to try and smooth it out. I know some of my PPs have worn shells with chips around the opening for years and have never managed to change them. I wonder why Hubert is so special?

[kuza]

maybe he's just instinctively cleaning himself and then wiping his hands off on the outside of the shell and he's smoothing it out just by accident. They probably have the same ability as E's but rarely use it.

[wodesorel]

maybe he's just instinctively cleaning himself and then wiping his hands off on the outside of the shell and he's smoothing it out just by accident. They probably have the same ability as E's but rarely use it.

I have a feeling my last comment read the wrong way. I was't trying to imply that he wasn't doing it - I was honestly wondering why I've never seen mine do it! Maybe it's a local thing? Like how some chimp colonies have learned to use sticks to get termites while other's haven't, or how some crow colonies have learned to drop nuts into traffic to have an easy meal while the rest of the crows in the world haven't. Maybe a certain colony of hermit crabs learned they could be more comfortable by spitting on their shells to wear them down while all the others are too tidy to think of it?

[kuza]

lol no no I understood you, I was just going on with the topic trying to figure it out as well. I explore all options.