Slurtle

Slurtle=

Snurtle=

"He's just misunderstood."

- Woodie

The Slurtle is a neutral mob that spawns from Slurtle Mounds found in Caves. They are small and slow, but they have high health and can retreat into their shells after a number of hits, which absorbs 95% of damage, so they are very difficult to kill. When killed, they drop two Slurtle Slime and Broken Shell or Shelmet. Every once in a while they will drop slime while still alive, similar to how Beefalo drop manure.

They will consume any mineral item left on the ground. When there aren't any of those rocks around, and the character's inventory has them, the Slurtle will attack the character. A successful hit will knock a rock out of the character's inventory onto the ground (just like how Frogs attack), which the Slurtle will then attempt to eat. It will also knock rocks out of a backpack left on the ground or from a nearby chest. Upon eating a rock-type item, there is a chance that it will drop slime. If the player hits a Slurtle while it is chewing its food, the mineral will be dropped back onto the ground.

Snurtle
A Snurtle is an alternate version of a Slurtle with a different kind of shell. It actively flees from the player, and will retreat into its shell of attacking back. Upon death, Snurtles drop two Slurtle Slime and sometimes a Snurtle Shell Armor or a Broken Shell. They spawn rarely from Slurtle Mounds.

As with Slurtles, they eat minerals and can be forced out of a Slurtle Mound by hitting the mound. When ignited, a Slurtle or a Snurtle will explode in a few seconds, dealing 300 damage in a small radius; a useful bomb. Killing them this way will not drop any items, however.

Hunting
Players can kite Slurtles: strike one a few times, then run in the opposite direction before it can snap. Try not to fight more than three at once, since they're slow and group easily.

Snurtles are rarer than Slurtles but have a large chance to drop Snurtle Shell Armor. Due to their hiding ability and moderately large health, they take some time to kill. For this reason, it is a good idea to fight them when no other creatures (which might join the battle) are nearby. Like Cave Spiders, one of the easiest ways to kill Snurtles is to simply attack them each time they poke their head out of their shell until their health is worn down. Doing such is also more efficient, as you do far less damage whilst they are in the shell, making it more taxing on your weapons to get a kill.

With normal damage modifier characters, when they're not hiding in their shells, it takes 18 and 6 hits with a Spear, 15 and 5 with a Bat Bat, 12 and 4 with a Tentacle Spike, 11 and 4  Ham Bat and a Thulecite Club, and 9 and 3 with a Dark Sword to kill Slurtles and Snurtles respectivelly. They are immune to the Pan Flute and take two hits from the Ice Staff to be frozen.

Slurtles will retreat into their shell when faced with a boomerang, mitigating most damage yet still consuming the 10% per throw durability.

Slime Production
This guide contains details of what these creatures like to eat, and how this relates to how frequently they produce Slurtle Slime. While this one shows how to farm it.

Trivia

 * The name "Slurtle" is a portmanteau of "slug" and "turtle."
 * Maxwell does not remember creating either the Snurtles or the Slurtles, and Wickerbottom does not recognise it from her home world, meaning that the creature's origins are a mystery.
 * The name "Snurtle" is a portmanteau of "snail" and "turtle."
 * Like the Slurtle, the Snurtle won't make a breaking noise (the breaking noise is when a Broken Shell is dropped) when the Shell Armor is dropped upon death.