# garden slugs ....OK or get rid of 'em ?????



## Rangerswild (Oct 27, 2008)

Have a huge Viv, about 5feet long by 4 high..........every thing is great and has been going well for some time now. But, I have noticed more and more slugs on the glass where its wet...........now and then see them cruzing around other areas. So far I have seen no real hassles with the set up, such as slugs over eating things , but are they OK ????
If they are bad for the Viv what would you say to put in to eat them ???? ruight now I have no frogs in there. A common toad do the trick or a tree frog??? would they eat eat them up??? 

Thanks,

Rangerswild..........not sutre if this is the place to post this so........


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

GET RID OF THEM!

It sounds like you have an infestation. In one of my vivs I know I have slugs and snails, but it's not half as bad as what you're describing and I've already had to spend about $40 replacing plants that they've destroyed. Bad bad slugs.

If you don't have anything other than plants in it I'd get a cube of dry ice and put it in there early in the morning. Hopefully the ice will have evaporated by night (limiting the harm it can do to your plants, plants consume CO2 during the day, but I believe the Krebs cycle requires oxygen).


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## Rangerswild (Oct 27, 2008)

Ya , I have read about the dry ice method of ridding the tanck of unwanted critters before.........was hoping to find some thing that might eat them as a fist shot at getting rid of them /////////before moving to the dry ice idea..........


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## fishdoc (Apr 24, 2007)

One of my many beginners mistakes... Oh look! snails its a little ecosystem....slugs, wow we don't have those in the desert...wow, what kind of wierd tropical millipede is that (literally hundreds, well maybe dozens of inch long critters)...lets see what else...don't know but nothing goes back into the new set ups until its been quarantined.. slugs were bad, ate the plants, and who knows what else. Did I mention the jumping spider in my man creek cage... talk about an OH SH!!!t moment...he was literally bigger than the frogs and had hitchhiked in on the bromeliads...so my advice: be merciless and mercenary- the first time you see an uninvited guest, kill em dead. Kill em all.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Don't know of any animal that'll eat slugs. Maybe some kind of day gecko? Although I don't know that I'd want my animals eating slugs even if they would... they're nasty little creatures.

You can try a more mild approach, putting cheap beer in dixie cups will get some of them, if you put a fresh piece of lettuce or cucumber in and check those right before the lights come on you'll get some. But to my knowledge dry ice has the most kill points. Even after dry icing there's a possibilty (a good one at that) that some will survive. I'd dry ice the thing and dry ice it hard, then seed some springs, then get your frogs.


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## JoshH (Feb 13, 2008)

The only thing that I know of that will eat slugs are box turtles, probably not a good option....I had slugs infesting my plant grow out tank awhile back and they did considerable damage. Then I nuked them with dry ice, killed a few plants in the process though.


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

It depends on the species of slugs--I have just ignored my infestations of a small brown slug, and they have eventually petered out to just an occasional slug, without actually devastating valuable plants-- but this does take a long time to happen, and in the meantime, you will at the very least have to put up with holes in the plant leaves. 

There is a predatory snail--Decollate snail--that preys on other snails and slugs. While I have not ever tried these, and they should not be released in the wild because they prey on some endangered snail species, and cannot be imported to certain parts of California, you can purchase a few on line and try them. They apparently also eat some organic material in leaf litter, which isn't a bad thing, but never attack living plants. 

There is also a relatively "pet-safe" bait called Sluggo, which I've researched in the past, but have never used myself. The baits containing metaldehyde will kill slugs, but are also poisonous to pets and other animals that might ingest them. 

The problem I see with the CO2 treatment is that it kills off a lot of beneficial aerobic organisms that have been established, as well. Beer baiting, while fun to see slugs get drunk and drown, is rather awkward if you have to screen out other critters in the tank that might get into it, and inefficient, in my experience. 

Has anyone here had first hand experience with Decollate snails? I admit that I have not--have just heard about, and researched them a bit.


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## littlefrog (Sep 13, 2005)

The decollete snail will eat plant material when it can't find prey, so probably not really a good idea in a small enclosed environment...

I have two approaches to slug control. First, ignore them or pull out the occasional slug you see, and eventually your tank will reflect plants that can tolerate mild slug/snail pressure. You won't have any jewel orchids (those are the first to go). Second, go bonsai on the stupid little buggers and try to kill them all. You can do it if you try long enough (lettuce traps, beer, sluggo - it works in tanks). But you need to really keep up on it for several months, even after you don't see any slugs, the eggs are hiding.

When you are setting up your tank, assume nothing. Remove all soil and potting material from every plant, rinse them well. Slug eggs are quite distinctive, they look like shiny pin-heads. Don't let any of those in. If you are meticulous in setting up your tank, you shouldn't have a problem. A lot easier to start clean than to work your way back.


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## fraser2009 (Jan 4, 2009)

on a garden program over here the advised covering the beer with something to create a small cave. When they did it they went from a few slugs a night to a tub full of them so sink a cup fill with beer/lager and put a coco hut or somthing over to create the same thing might help


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## slaytonp (Nov 14, 2004)

How you handle them does depend a lot on whether you have dart frogs (or other critters) in there that might be affected by the treatment. If you have only plants, the problem is much more simple, and Fraser's beer method suggestions would be much more effective than having to keep frogs from getting in the beer vat, which will also attract fruit flies and other insects, and perhaps not coming out in a sober, healthy condition.


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