About Us

At Snout and Shell, our mission is to enhance the well-being of pets, whether they're the ones you share your home with or the fascinating critters that grace your outside habitat. We invite you to explore our world of exceptional pet food and accessories, where our passion for animals shines through every product and interaction.

An Early Start with Animals

The founder, Meg Renninger, grew up in a home filled with animals of all types including tortoises, parrots, cats, dogs, hermit crabs, tropical fish, lizards and more. Some of her favorite animals over the years included mudskippers, an interesting fish that spends more time out of water than in it, hermit crabs with their curious exploration of their surroundings and parrots with their sense of humor and deep intelligence.

From a Passion to an Education

In college she completed a degree in wildlife management and worked on lesser prairie chicken population studies which involved driving up to their mating grounds way before dawn to avoid spooking them. 

Wildlife Biologist

After college she worked with conservation nonprofits and government organizations including the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. Her work took her across the landscapes of Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, and more and she engaged in a wide range of projects, from studying Lynx in Colorado to Leopard Frogs, Mule Deer and Greater Sage Grouse in Nevada and horned frogs, pronghorn antelope and ravens in Wyoming.

The Start of Snout and Shell

Her entrepreneurial spirit was kindled during these journeys, but in 2016, the seed for Snout and Shell was planted. It all began with moving to Texas, where she discovered large snails the size of a quarter in her yard. These non-native milk snails were so captivating that she decided to create a haven for them, complete with a feeding station.

Drawing on her background in wildlife biology, she meticulously researched the snails' dietary needs and conducted countless experiments to formulate the perfect meal. This blend eventually became the foundation for our very first product: Snout and Shell's Snail Food. Since then, our brand has blossomed, driven by a commitment to science-based, animal-centered care that enables pets and the animals you care for to thrive.