We bought a snail and two goldfish for my son about 2 months ago. The snail looks like it has closed itself in the shell. He has been in that shell for about two weeks now and not moving. It kind of looks like the shell has grown. Yesterday I saw the snail's body out a little. I am not sure what type of snail it is. Just picked it up at the pet store. The opening is covered by a hard cover. Now there is some type of film coming out of the snail. I believe it is dead, but my son just won't give up hope. So what is the deal, is it dead or growing? :blink:

How big is your tank? How big is the snail? Without knowing more than you've said, I would guess the snail to be an apple snail. See applesnail.net for information on them.

Snails will close themselves into their shells for long periods of time sometimes because of temperature, bad water quality, illness, or harrassment from other animals (goldfish will pester snails). Some snails will come out and drive around at night but close up during the day in such situations.

Read these sections on my site for more on how to tell if a snail is dead:
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail.htm#dead
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snailfaq.htm

Growing snails do not close themselves up for that reason.

The film is not a great sign but I've seen some films from my snails, usually from growing or when something was wrong with the tank water. The film may be skin sloughing off as new skin grows or if the skin is hurt by poor water quality. Have you tested your pH, ammonia, and nitrite levels?
For more on water chemistry, see http://www.fishpondinfo.com/chem.htm