How To Get Rid Of Slugs Inside The House

By Hunker Team Updated Mar 17, 2009

Many people try to get rid of slugs in their garden. But some people have trouble with slugs getting into their houses. I ran into this problem when I moved into a new apartment. I had hard time finding information on how to stop this disgusting invasion so I am sharing my findings for others who may have slugs inside their homes.

Step 1

CAULK Look to see where the slugs are getting into the house. You can probably follow their slime trail. They may be coming in around a door or window. The absolute best thing to do is to seal off the cracks with caulk or foam or a new door threshold.

Step 2

ROUGH SURFACES Slugs have soft bodies. It hurts them to crawl over rough surfaces. You can put diatomaceous earth, crushed egg shells, sandpaper, and/or salt (which melts slugs) around the edges of doors and windows.

Step 3

CHEMICALS You can buy slug repellent, but it may cause other animals to get sick. Metaldehyde is toxic if animals eat it, breathe it in, or touch it. Iron phosphate is safe.

Step 4

LURE You can lure slugs to something and then collect them and kill them to reduce their numbers. You can put a propped up board, upside down flower pot, or a citrus or lettuce near the house to attract the slugs to one location. That way you can kill several at one time.

Step 5

KILL There are several ways you can kill the slugs. You can drop them in a bucket of soapy water, pour salt on them, and spray them with vinegar or diluted ammonia. Be careful though. Salt and vinegar are bad for plants so apply directly to the slugs.

Step 6

PREDATORS You can increase slugs' natural predators to keep them at bay: toads, ducks, lightning bugs, and rove beetles.

Step 7

COPPER Supposedly, when slugs touch copper wire it gives them an electrical shock and deters them. Friends have told me that does not work. Copper is expensive. With all the other ways I have told you, why bother with this one?

Step 8

BEER TRAP You can buy or make your own beer trap. The slugs are attracted to the beer and then can't get back out and drown.