We live in an old Victorian-era home, and we often find slugs inside the house (yuk). And as luck would have it, they mainly seem to get into the kitchen. To try and get rid of them once and for all, I did some research on some of the methods you can use.
Having looked at a number of methods here is are the 4 main methods of removing slugs from your house:
- Using copper foil on entry and exit points.
- Seal up any holes with a silicone sealant.
- Fix any water leaks as the damp can attract the slugs.
- As a last resort, use slug bait.
I really don’t like (in fact, hate) finding slugs in our house, especially the slimy trails they leave around, and I’ve tried most of the methods listing here to get rid of them.
Top Tips for Getting Rid of Slugs from Your Home
Use a torchlight in a dark room to see where the slug trails are, this will lead you to the entry and exit points of the slugs. You should also check for any holes, gaps, or small joints which slugs could use to get in and out of in the future. This could be in various cabinets, vents, or pipes.
If you have any rather large holes or cracks you may have to get them professionally sorted out as these methods will normally only work for smaller problems, you have in your home.
After you have done this you can use any of the following methods to prevent them from ever coming back!
- Place a thin strip of copper foil tape along the area in which they normally go in and out, for some reason, slugs won’t cross the copper line, and therefore won’t come into your house again!
- Use sandpaper or
loose sand around the areas which are the main problem as slugs don’t like going over anything that is scratchy as it hurts them. In the long term, it may be more practical to use sandpaper as it won’t make your house messy and can just be stuck onto the floor or area which is affected by slugs. Loose sand can be used, and it is as effective as sandpaper but as a long-term solution, it isn’t ideal to have a lot of sand around your home! - Try to stay away from salt if you can (as it kills them) although you can make salt trails that they will avoid as they know it kills them, however, pouring salt straight onto them will slowly kill them. We would only recommend this as a last resort, the salt trails can sometimes even attract the slugs as they won’t initially realise it can kill them until they are really close to it.
- Seal any holes or cracks a silicone or sealant. There are a lot of good brands out there that aren’t too expensive such as Everbuild and Unibond. A good sealant will fill up any cracks and holes throughout your house and stay set for quite a while, therefore preventing
slugs coming into your house again! We would recommend this tip as the most long-term solution to your slug problems as it simply doesn’t even let them anywhere near your home. - Sort out any water leaks you may have in your house as this is a common reason
slugs appear, as we discussed before, slugs are attracted to wet places, therefore if you have a leak somewhere in your home, you will more than likely find a slug or two hiding by it. If you sort out the leaks and get a professional to fix it, your slug problem will ultimately fix itself. - Try a slug bait, this (again) isn’t a long-term solution and may only work for a few people however, you can get slug bait which will entice the slugs to come to the bait, eat what is provided (the bait is poisonous to the slugs), they will then crawl away to die. However, this isn’t an ideal method if you have any other pets such as a dog or cat. There have been situations in which these pets have got very ill from consuming the bait. For a similar reason, people don’t tend to use toxic powders anymore as it can seriously harm other pets or babies in the house if it is accidentally consumed.
Why Do Slugs Appear and What Are They Attracted To?
Slugs typically turn up during the rainy months and will more likely appear when there has been heavy rainfall the night or day before. Slugs have an amazing sense of smell, and this is something to look out for. Most of the time, the reason behind finding slugs in your house will be due to the fact that they’ve smelt something they like on your porch or hallway (such as dog food) and have proceeded to slide into your home. They are attracted to kitchens, pantries, and even dog food.
They also have no bones at all in their body, which means they can get through tiny cracks and holes in the smallest places throughout your home. People have even shown that slugs can get themselves through cracks less than half as small as they are! As they are sticky, and they glide on surfaces, they can also take a vertical or upside down approach to getting into your home, therefore just because a hole is in the ceiling doesn’t mean to say that a slug won’t get in from there.
What Are the Common Entry Points for Slugs?
Common entry and exit points for slugs include under doors, joints along walls (if they’re not tightly sealed), dryer ducts or holes for any electric wiring, and if there are holes in the floor for any water or gas pipes. It is very surprising how small of a crack or hole slugs can actually use as an entry point, which may be the reason you don’t think there is a cause to your slug infestation, when in fact there is!
How to Remove a Slug from Your House
There are various methods you can try to get rid of the slugs in your house, however, the bad news is that the ones that are already in your house will have to either be picked up and taken out or killed using salt or toxic powder.
The best method for getting rid of the slugs already in your house is to use tissue (kitchen roll is best) to pick up the slugs and take them outside of your house, placing them back in the grass or road away from your garden and front door.
If you want to use the salt method then this requires pouring table salt onto the slug or around them, this will kill the slug and leave a big slimy mess afterwards so we would recommend not using this method if you want a clean and quick method.
Related Questions
Are slugs harmful? No, not even if you have eaten them. Just think about how many slugs are in your garden and in fields and how many may have got into things like salad leaves without you knowing. Whatever you do though, make sure slug pellets are kept away from any
Are slugs good for anything? Slugs are not really useful for much once inside your house. Out in the garden, however, they provide food for a whole host of animal including birds and even worms.
