Invisible slugs in the house

[daginge]

We obviously have got slugs in the house as each morning their trails are visible on the rug, we don't see them when we get up though, anyone got any ideas how to get shut of them? Obviously we can't use anything too poisonous as we have children who regularly get up before us!
TIA

[spudqueen]

If you're ever awake in the night (eg going to the toilet) remember to pop downstairs. You'll probably catch the slug in the act of going across the floor.

[boxtops]

We had this for a while, slimy marks across the carpet - I finally sussed that they were coming up through a tiny gap in the skirting board from the gap under the house (they must have got under there via the air brick to outside). See if this might be the same for you?

[Wak]

I found that the best thing to kill slugs is aluminium sulphate.(? I'm sure that's correct?)
It's a commercial slug killer and it says on the container (cardboard tube) what it contains. Note, they are not slug pellets.
Aluminium Sulphate is a crystalline substance which attacks the slime glands of the slug and kills it immediately. Scatter the crystals where the slug operates and when they have all been killed you can simply vac up the crystals.
Hope this helps.

[boxtops]

Are they safe for children, though, wak? My best option was to stop the little beggars getting in in the first place.

[Wak]

It's certainly safe for garden use but I don't think it mentioned children.
It's a few years since I bought any so it's quite possible that the E.U. have probably banned it!!!! However it was excellent stuff for killing slugs and well worth it if you can find any.

[AlBags]

Decent door seal strip .. E or P seal.
They get through the cracks.

[carlton23]

We had this problem until I ran some salt along the carpet edge...and haven`t seen any since.

[AlBags]

... Bare copper wire/strip works too.

[The-HouseHusband]

Salt is brilliant as it stops the slugs and is not poisonous to children, 9unless they eat loads of it and get high blood pressure!!!)

[brenda]

I have one as well, swear it comes out to watch the tele when I've gone to bed.!!!!!

[thedodge]

I did the same as spudqueen no problem since. I was thinking of putting salt down but my friend says that any ants going past the house from the chippy may pop in to put some on their chips.
If you go down during the night get a few pieces of thin stiff card , get the slug on the card and put in bin with a little sprinkle of salt on top of the slug.

[daginge]

Tried the salt thing, kids thought it'd been snowing there was that much all around the front door and through the lounge ;-) To no avail! Did set out early one morning for work like 3am-ish and walloped 4 bigguns through the door, seemed they either came back or there were others besides LOL Thanks loads everyone though I'll try a combination of all methods methinks!

[ttfn]

I recommend you persist with the salt attack, daginge. It only takes the smallest of continuous lines around part of the room until you find the point of entry. It worked for me and then, as boxy said, I was able to identify a tiny gap twixt floor and skirting board which I then sealed. No more slugs since.

[pastafreak]

Salt is about the safest method you can use...it dehydrates the critters. I used to go around my mum's garden-salting the slugs-when I was small.

[Barney's pal]

Get some hair clippings from the hairdreessers and put them where you think the slugs are coming in. This dries up all the slime, and they die a very slow painful death, its fun to watch!!

[whiskeryron]

from some of your comments it's obvious that I am going to have to get in touch with The R.S.P.C.S.

[pastafreak]

LOL ^^^^^^

[badgerpie]

We just moved into an old house and it had some damp problems which we have now had put right. We had slugs in the house. I'd find their trails in the morning but never actually saw any of the little bastards. I salted their trails which seemed to make it die down a bit. I cleaned out a massive drain where i thought they were coming up from. The winning punch was when the damp guys came round. They drilled holes in the stone walls and injected them with silicone. I went out into the hallway after dinner one night to find this big slug on the carpet with it's head having been exploded off. BRILLIANT! It obviously soaked up the sillicone and died a death. Try the salt first, clean out any areas you think they are coming up from. One person said they went down in the middle of the night to find out what they were doing and where they were coming up from then they cleaned the areas they were hanging out and put slug pellets down and then they never came back.....good ridence i say.