Slugs in Edwardian house

GeX

GeX

GeX

Soldato
Joined
17 Dec 2002
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Location
Manchester
My house was built in 1903, and has suspended timber floors. The dining room and hall are polished floorboards.
Been away for a week, and have come back to find slug trails in the kitchen (tiles on solid floor) and on the rug in the dining room.
I'm weary about putting pellets down in the house as my daughter is almost crawling.

Any suggests on what else I can do / keep them out (other than move, and buy a newer house!). The floors aren't sealed, so there are gaps under the skirting boards in places - once we've finished needing to take boards up and put them back the plan is to seal them.
 
Orionaut said:
Ha!

I was just going to post that!

DO NOT EAT SLUGS RAW! (They can contain parasites that can destroy your brain)

But, are they OK cooked? I mean, free food!

:D
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I believe the way to cleanse them is to keep them in a tub for a few days without letting them eat any plant matter from outside. I could be wrong though... I've no idea where I learned how to prepare slugs for ingesting.

OP, we get slugs in our back cupboards as there are some gaps with the external wall. They love to creep up flour bags, eat through the paper and generally gross me out. We've started putting everything in jars or plastic bags but I guess that won't work for your floors...
 
The sub floor is slightly damp, despite having added extra air bricks. I've put slug pellets outside, and started blocking up gaps. I guess there's *that* much more I can do till the floors are sealed.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I believe the way to cleanse them is to keep them in a tub for a few days without letting them eat any plant matter from outside. I could be wrong though... I've no idea where I learned how to prepare slugs for ingesting.
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I believe that is earth worms, and though I have never tried it myself, I understand that they are actually quite tasty (Fry them)

Not going through the above procedure will not kill you but they wont taste so good (The clue is in the name! ;) )

(The same procedure for Slugs/Snails probabally also applies. Ask a Frenchman :) After all, Slugs are mollusks. just like "Escargot" and indeed whelks so in principle I dont see why one shouldn't eat them. Just make sure they are well cooked and haven't been living somewhere where they might have picked up poisons)
 
LuckyBenski said:
It's standard advice for dog owners to stop their pets eating slugs and snails. Plenty of dogs have died of heartworm. I'm sure they're a risk to humans too!
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I am not advocating eating slugs. Im just pointing out that it is unlucky to be effected from slugs. Especialy for the guy in the article who had two unfortunate complications that ended up killing him. Its not the slug that kills it is a parasite that some of them carry.

Just to be clear dont eat slugs if you dont want to risk the chances of dieing. Just like Blowfish.
 
Agree with comments above- there is likely some damp/ food being left (they can smell it from far).

I've just spent the whole afternoon dealing with the exact same problem:

Kitchen waste had come loose so water was splashing onto outer wall causing damp, hadn't noticed as we rarely use back garden. The loose kitchen waste had led to gaps around the pipe.
This had caused damp patch under sink (again couldn't see it until took away plinth)

Sorted the kitchen waste, water flowing direct to drain now
Removed plinth under sink and cleaned it all out
Spread salt under sink, plinth back
Sealant around kitchen waste both internal and externally, spread salt on outer wall also.

I'm hoping that should solve it. Absolutely hate them!
 
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