How to Immediately Get Rid of Those Gross Slugs in Your Bathroom

Pests in our homes are disgusting, but seeing slimy creatures crawling along bathroom walls or slug trails is enough to cause concern. Slugs, which are often described as shellless snails, are often found in gardens or farms. They are attracted to food and moisture and love to eat vegetables and flowers. Since slugs and snails like moist conditions, some people might end up with a slug infestation in and around bathrooms, including the shower, shower floor, or toilet.

If you’ve ever wondered why slugs are in your bathroom and how to get rid of them, here’s a brief overview of what they are, what attracts bathroom slugs, where you might find them around your home. house and how to prevent slugs or get rid of them at the first sight of mud trails.

What is a yellow cellar slug?

The yellow cellar slug, sometimes called a cellar slug or a tawny garden slug, is yellow-brown or green-yellow in color. They are part of the gastropod family, which consists of slugs and snails. They are pests and can do a lot of damage outdoors, especially in gardens. Slugs like to eat decaying plants, including leaves or plant material.

Why are there slugs in the bathroom?

Slugs and snails are food oriented and like dark, moist refuges. They don’t need larger spaces to find their way inside a home. Ideal entry points are as simple as a small hole in a wall or a crawl space.

If you see evidence of a slug in your bathroom, whether it’s hiding near a tub drain, or you see slime along a tub or shower, you’ll want to look possible leaky boundaries or other possible entry points. Do you have pet food that will attract slugs? Slugs have been found eating leftovers. Since slugs also eat mold (or, as the Brits like to say “eat mold”), like those dark spaces in your home where there’s heat and cold where algae grows, you’ll want search for evidence in these areas.

Look for a possible entry point in your home, look for a hole near a shower wall or near drains. If you see the telltale sign of a snail or slug from its slimy line under a drainpipe or near a shower, which often looks like a thread running along the bathroom floor, whether it’s during the night or in the morning, you may need to figure out how to create a bait to trap them.

Are there slugs in other rooms of the house?

More often than not, a snail or slug will find its way to a bathroom during the night because that’s the conditions it likes best: dark and damp. In addition, there are holes via the drainage pipes. That doesn’t mean they can’t get into other rooms in your home. As long as there are easy access holes to get into a house and access food, especially in the form of rotting plants or pet food, they don’t need to go through. a bathroom.

If they initially displayed their flag in a bathroom, it will be much easier for them to slip into other rooms of the house. So it’s best to consider ways to get rid of slugs when you first notice them.

How to deter slugs from entering your home

The best way to not attract slugs to your home in the first place is to cut off all entry points and have no food available to them. If you notice any holes along the windows or floor, seal them with silicone caulk. You may have slugs feasting on your plants outdoors or on a patio, so line planters and your entryways with copper tape as a deterrent.

If slugs or snails make it inside, some have resorted to pellets and other attempts to get rid of them.

Can I kill slugs with slug pellets?

Slug pellets or slug baits are small cylindrical “balls” that contain metaldehyde, a substance toxic to slugs. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, approximately the use of slug pellets to eradicate slugs“Metaldehyde works by disrupting the mucus-producing ability of snails and slugs. This reduces their digestion and mobility and makes them susceptible to dehydration. Snails and slugs that have eaten metaldehyde often seek hiding places, become inactive and begin to die within days.”

It is important to note that these pellets contain poison and the UK has banned their sale from 1 April 2022 as they pose an unnecessary risk to birds, dogs and mammals. Although they are still allowed in the United States, it is important to consider where they are placed so that an animal does not mistake it for pet food or a child accidentally consumes it while crawling. On the ground.

Ways to get rid of slugs in your apartment

Slugs, in general, do not pose a health risk. But slugs and snails serve as hosts for some parasites in the larval stage. You really don’t want them in your house if you can help it.

If you don’t want to go the pellet route, some people go for other methods to show those slimy nuisances that they’re not welcome. They can also trap or kill them and get rid of their squishy bodies.

According to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), iron phosphate is a compound that combines phosphorus and oxygen with iron and can kill slugs and snails when eaten. Another NPIC-recommended product that is not toxic to humans is products that contain “food grade” diatomaceous earth. “Diatomaceous earth causes insects to dry up and die by absorbing oils and fats from the insect’s exoskeleton cuticle,” according to the NPIC. “Its sharp edges are abrasive, which speeds up the process. It remains effective as long as it is kept dry and undisturbed.”

As mentioned earlier, copper tape can repel slugs. Other easy, affordable, do-it-yourself approaches are to place eggshells around the perimeter where slugs might enter. Or, place beer in a bowl as they are attracted to the yeasty smells found in beer. You can also add a bowl that contains standing water so they can slip their slimy bodies into the water trap and drown.

Slugs also avoid salt because salt crystals retain moisture. The salt draws water from the slugs and dehydrates them. You can always experiment and sprinkle salt in half of an area and not the other area. Then you can see if you notice the telltale signs of slugs in the area you haven’t watered.

Keep slugs away from your apartment

Pests are not welcome in your apartment and slugs are no exception. We want our bathrooms to be a place of calm and respite and our homes to be clean, dust-free and free of unwanted guests. Finding out how slugs get in is one way not to put out the welcome mat. But if they do find their way inside, it’s comforting to know that there are several ways to stop them in their slimy way.