Shell will not bend, it will break. This is how shell purflings are installed though, and why abalone is preferred for that... the cracks don't show because they look similar to the natural pattern of the shell.
Here are a few options for installing shell inlays in a radiused fingerboard.
1. Rout before radius. You could either radius the board with the pocket empty, or glue the shell in so its gets radiused along with the board... be very careful of dust if you do this.
You'll have to be just as careful when leveling the shell if you glue it after radiusing the board, but you have less to worry about at the same time then, plus you can use a scraper for most of it, which won't fluff up so much dust.
2. Rout after radius, but try to hold the router level while you work, so it's registering off the highest point of the radius the whole time, rather than "picking up" the radius of the board.
3. If you are doing multi-piece inlays, you can do each piece like style 2, and choose your "router plane" to be perpendicular to the radiused surface at the center of the piece. That is, minimize sanding depth into each piece. This is good if you have a tight radius like 12" and thin materials.
4. Do what you did and use epoxy or CA to fill the gaps under it whilst you glue it in. Also could scrape a radius into the bottom side of the shell to reduce gap size, but be careful not to make the center thinner than your pocket depth.
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