How do i get rid of slugs?

Swissy

Swissy

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Both my parents passed away recently :( and i have inherited their house, i will be moving in fully in the next few months.

Every morning when i go round to check things at the house i see slug trails on the living room carpet and kitchen floor, never seen a slug though, i have sealed all the gaps under the doors, there is a large garden at the rear of the property so i put mesh over all the air bricks that may be routes into the house, but to no avail, and after checking online i even tried a beer slug trap and that didn't work either.

Any members ever had this problem?

Any tips on how i can get rid of them?

Thank you.
 
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Sad to hear both parents died - always a turning point in life.

The difficulty with slugs is that they can squeeze through tiny spaces. Can you try to follow the trails to entry points? See if they are coming in from outside or living in cracks in the bricks / under floorboards etc.
 
Slugs like dark damp places and generally only seem to come out at night. Try finding the end of the trail and sprinkle some salt around that area.
 
Quoth said:
Sad to hear both parents died - always a turning point in life.

The difficulty with slugs is that they can squeeze through tiny spaces. Can you try to follow the trails to entry points? See if they are coming in from outside or living in cracks in the bricks / under floorboards etc.
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I'm devastated, they both died within 4 days of each other.

drounding said:
Slugs like dark damp places and generally only seem to come out at night. Try finding the end of the trail and sprinkle some salt around that area.
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The trails are not easy to follow i've tried to see where they start but it's not easy.
 
Sorry to hear about your parents. It's hard losing even one. If they're elderly when one goes quite often the other decides to die out of politeness not longer after :(

Slug are gits. I had them coming in too. Salt is the best answer. If there is a cat flap then they'll happily use that as well! Seal that up. Cracks down by doors fill with salt. You'll then find a trail of dead ones in it. They used to come in and eat the left over cat food. Now I have a greedier cat there is nothing for them to hoover up any more. They don't get that far now. There's just a pile of them where they are getting in.

Copper tape doesn't work. The duel copper wire idea doesn't work either. Salt does. It will kill them before they go tramping across the carpet. It just means sweeping up the shrivelled left overs of them and re-salting the area.
 
In my last house I would come down in the morning to find a huge slug in the cat food bowl - uuuggghh! I never did work ou how they came in.

Sorry to hear about your parents, I was orphaned five years ago when my dad died, I'm only just able to start sorting out the boxful of family photos I inherited :(
 
Put something yummy, like a cold chip, in the middle of the living room floor in the evening.
Go round to the property again between 10pm and midnight with rubber gloves and a plastic bag and round up the intruders.
Dispose of them how you see fit.

If you choose to release them outside, don't do it anywhere near your property; slugs/snails have been shown to have a homing instinct, so they'll be back in a few days.
 
srichards said:
Sorry to hear about your parents. It's hard losing even one. If they're elderly when one goes quite often the other decides to die out of politeness not longer after :(

Slug are gits. I had them coming in too. Salt is the best answer. If there is a cat flap then they'll happily use that as well! Seal that up. Cracks down by doors fill with salt. You'll then find a trail of dead ones in it. They used to come in and eat the left over cat food. Now I have a greedier cat there is nothing for them to hoover up any more. They don't get that far now. There's just a pile of them where they are getting in.

Copper tape doesn't work. The duel copper wire idea doesn't work either. Salt does. It will kill them before they go tramping across the carpet. It just means sweeping up the shrivelled left overs of them and re-salting the area.
Click to expand...

Cartus said:
In my last house I would come down in the morning to find a huge slug in the cat food bowl - uuuggghh! I never did work ou how they came in.

Sorry to hear about your parents, I was orphaned five years ago when my dad died, I'm only just able to start sorting out the boxful of family photos I inherited :(
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Tori_T said:
Put something yummy, like a cold chip, in the middle of the living room floor in the evening.
Go round to the property again between 10pm and midnight with rubber gloves and a plastic bag and round up the intruders.
Dispose of them how you see fit.

If you choose to release them outside, don't do it anywhere near your property; slugs/snails have been shown to have a homing instinct, so they'll be back in a few days.
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone, they had been together 70 years so it was expected, but doesn't make it any easier, had the funeral on Friday, taking them back to Italy next week.

Will try the cold chip, and the salt tonight.
 
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The nocturnal chip trick worked both times with the two slugs that got into the office.
With salt... placement is limited by gravity, which slugs can happily ignore. :(
Crafty little b*****d.jpg

One thing; if you have a really heavy infestation, and they eat the chip and run off before you can collect them, a circle of salt round the next chip will have them sitting there salivating, while being unable to reach it.
 
We have similar issues but only minor with our house.
We find that when we see a slug trial a spray of some household cleaning product on floor (all ours are wood) and a quick wipe and it is never seen again.
big deep clean with loads of spraying and wiping.
 
i have somehow arrive at my year no 82 with out ever before seeing a slug in any house that I have lived in.
This year, for the first time, I have seen and caught close to a dozen of all sizes.
Must be Global warming Or they are coming in away from all the pollution.

The Hostas in my garden, what is left of them. look like fine lace work.
This morning a snail had climbed up to my door bell. but was unable to ring it.
but was at least polite enough to try.
The slugs just burgle their way in.
 
Apparently they are attracted to beer! So a container half full might be worth a try.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
i have somehow arrive at my year no 82 with out ever before seeing a slug in any house that I have lived in.
This year, for the first time, I have seen and caught close to a dozen of all sizes.
Must be Global warming Or they are coming in away from all the pollution.

The Hostas in my garden, what is left of them. look like fine lace work.
This morning a snail had climbed up to my door bell. but was unable to ring it.
but was at least polite enough to try.
The slugs just burgle their way in.
Click to expand...

Get a pet hedgehog...
 
An old gardener told me the way he got rid of slugs was to catch a few. put them in a bowl and then squash them. Then fill the bowl with water, mix it up and then spray the water around areas where they are likely to be found. Not really practical for indoors or if you are squeamish but outside around any air vents might work. I imagine when the slugs are killed they release some sort of pheromone as a warning to others and when they sniff it they get out of Dodge pretty quick.

My uncle tried putting a dish of beer in his garden as a slug deterrent. However it was always empty in the morning. Late one night he found out why - a local fox was drinking it!
 
Beer doesn't deter them; they all get drunk, fall in and drown.
Best way is to dig a hole so the beer bowl rim is at ground level (make it easy for them!) and cover it with something solid, stood on four bricks, to keep animals and rain out, but still let the slugs crawl under.
 
Al1944 said:
Apparently they are attracted to beer! So a container half full might be worth a try.
Click to expand...

Tried this, didn't work

Plastic bottle slug trap
bottle-trap.jpg


A beer trap can be made from a plastic bottle.
Using scissors or a sharp knife, carefully remove the top third, invert it, and simply insert it into the bottom section.
The two parts are held together by piercing a couple of holes through both pieces and secured with a twist of wire or nylon cable ties.
Part fill with fresh beer and part bury as before, and you have yourself a trap that’s very difficult to escape from.
You’re also doing your bit for the environment by recycling.
 
Slugs don't like jumping off stuff, so the funnel trap bit will be a barrier between them and alcoholic annihilation, especially for the fat ones.
Take that bit out, and they'll slide down the side, get drunk, fall in and die.

The design you have there makes an excellent hornet/wasp trap if filled with sugar water though.
 
Hollow out an orange and put it on the floor propped up slightly so theres a way in. They will crawl under and you can get rid of them. I occasionally get them in my house, I'm sure they come in where the fire used to be in my living room or under the skirting boards. If you have no animals then maybe spread a few slug pellets round the edges of the room.

Sad to hear about your Mum and Dad, I've lost all my family now and I'm the last of my family line. It's really hard at first but you somehow manage to get past the sadness and remember those fond times. My Mum was in care after a massive stroke for 3 years before she passed away for her a blessing but I still miss her dreadfully now and then.
 
I am really surprised so many people get slugs indoors and I would have assumed it was a sign of dampi in the house. I have zillions of slugs in the garden and encourage* them with lots of dead wood, leaves and othe plant material but have never had one in the house despite my not keeping the house particularly warm and dry.

Maybe try a dehumidifier to dry out the house?

* my ducks love them but the ducks can only roam over half the garden so can’t be keeping the numbers down.
 
Dehumidifier is a good idea. It might be worth getting the heating on to help dry the house out too.

If they are coming in from the garden I can recommend keeping a few chickens. They love slugs and snails and there's the added benefit of fresh eggs each day.
 
Btw... @Swissy I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.
My mum's been gone for 25 years, my dad for 15.
I still miss them dreadfully, but it does get easier. :hug:
 
My house isn't damp but Scotland is and I get them every year. The only way I've found to combat them is to go to where they leave trails (after dark) and catch them manually when I find them. It can take a few weeks because they're sometimes about during the very early hours. Once caught, drop them in a bucket of water to drown them, that generally stops them coming back :)
 
We do not get them indoors but normally have lots in the garden. My wife does the slug dance to get rid of them, we have not had many at all this year so it must be working.
You can use any steps to do the slug dance, just make sure that the slug is under your boot!
 
Suvv said:
We do not get them indoors but normally have lots in the garden. My wife does the slug dance to get rid of them, we have not had many at all this year so it must be working.
You can use any steps to do the slug dance, just make sure that the slug is under your boot!
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We get the odd one coming inside, but they just get tossed out again. Quite a lot in the garden, but it's a rural area and hedgehogs, birds and whatever else comes visiting at night seem to cull them well enough.
 
Graham W said:
Is that you in your profile pic? If so I think you know the solution. :)
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I am told Hedgehogs like their slugs young and tender.
But as they are only shell-less snails perhaps the French would like them.
 
I've looked for recipes for slugs but they seem to be few and far between (for ones that appeal, anyway!). Besides, I don't like snails that much and slugs are allegedly even less palatable.
 
Nod said:
slugs are allegedly even less palatable.
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The main ingredient of slug poison is metaldehyde, which is pretty toxic,
Now, particularly the orange under bellied slugs, ( no idea what the correct name is) have the unpleasant trait of being able to eat the poison and "hold" it
within their bodies, without dying, small birds etc, do find them pretty unpalatable, but some will eat them, the slug in return, will then kill the bird with the "stored" poison
(metaldehyde). I know this to be true, I lost a young imprint Spar that I was training some years ago, when it decided to kill and eat one.

As a professional pestie, I have treated premise pretty successfully using FICAM W a professional grade insect killer, ( yes I know slugs aren't insects) that shouldn't be on sale to the general public, but sadly
is through the likes of the evil bay ( I didn't say that out loud btw and its not exactly cheap).

I sachet, in 5L water sprayed around potential entry points door frames, window frames air bricks, both internally and externally, in the form of a barrier, and left down, for a minimum of 2 weeks, ie don't wash the floor or vacuum carpets etc..
It dries a little "white" on hard surfaces, and is invisible in carpets.
It continues to work even when its dried, and can washed or vacuumed away.

Warning it is also highly toxic to cats and fish...
DATA SHEET
 
Does that mean poison fed orange bellied slugs can be caught, dried, and used as firelighters?
 
Cobra said:
The main ingredient of slug poison is metaldehyde, which is pretty toxic,
Now, particularly the orange under bellied slugs, ( no idea what the correct name is) have the unpleasant trait of being able to eat the poison and "hold" it
within their bodies, without dying, small birds etc, do find them pretty unpalatable, but some will eat them, the slug in return, will then kill the bird with the "stored" poison
(metaldehyde). I know this to be true, I lost a young imprint Spar that I was training some years ago, when it decided to kill and eat one.

As a professional pestie, I have treated premise pretty successfully using FICAM W a professional grade insect killer, ( yes I know slugs aren't insects) that shouldn't be on sale to the general public, but sadly
is through the likes of the evil bay ( I didn't say that out loud btw and its not exactly cheap).

I sachet, in 5L water sprayed around potential entry points door frames, window frames air bricks, both internally and externally, in the form of a barrier, and left down, for a minimum of 2 weeks, ie don't wash the floor or vacuum carpets etc..
It dries a little "white" on hard surfaces, and is invisible in carpets.
It continues to work even when its dried, and can washed or vacuumed away.

Warning it is also highly toxic to cats and fish...
DATA SHEET
Click to expand...
Good info thanks.
Will look into it when I return from Italy.
 
Tori_T said:
Put something yummy, like a cold chip, in the middle of the living room floor in the evening.
Go round to the property again between 10pm and midnight with rubber gloves and a plastic bag and round up the intruders.
Dispose of them how you see fit.

If you choose to release them outside, don't do it anywhere near your property; slugs/snails have been shown to have a homing instinct, so they'll be back in a few days.
Click to expand...

Don't have them in the house but this is good advice. I tend to wander the garden around 10pm and pick up the slug/snails and put them in the compost bin where they can get to work on the mix of peelings and shredded paper.
 
We get a lot in our garden, but we have one in particular that lives in the void under the patio door track. Every night it manages to squeeze in through a tiny crack, does a little tango on the door mat and then goes back to bed.

Might give the chip thing a go, maybe in the middle of a salt maze just to make it a little more taxing.
 
Tori_T said:
If you choose to release them outside, don't do it anywhere near your property; slugs/snails have been shown to have a homing instinct, so they'll be back in a few days.
Click to expand...

I read somewhere anything under 10 meters and they'll come back.
 
Anything over 10m and it takes them a week!
 
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