Slugs tend to have the nasty habit of coming inside the house, although this is usually the case for older houses. Serious slug infestations can easily spread from the garden to the house if there isn’t enough food for them.
To get rid of a slug infestation in the house, you will have to check their slime trails to know from where they are getting inside. After you have found the spot, simply block it with foam filler. If the slugs are already living and reproducing inside your house, then make sure to eliminate all their food sources and bait them out with a beer trap. Slugs will eat almost anything in the house, especially if it is in a dark and cool environment, they will even eat the mold growing on the walls and your pet’s feces.
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Slugs that tend to venture into the house are usually searching for food or for a dark and humid place. Once they find a nice hiding spot in the house they will start searching for food. Although usually dark and humid places will also provide them with food. As slugs are mostly nocturnal you might only notice their slime trails during the day. As for food, slugs can eat almost anything, from decaying organic matter to even fungi growing on the basement walls.
If your house has a serious slug infestation, then odds are that there are other problems as well with the house, like high humidity, mold growing inside, or rotting wood, which ultimately will attract more slugs. If you want to know what slugs eat in the garden then check out my recent article What Do Slugs Eat? ( Top 21 Slug & Snail Food Sources ).
Slug Infestation In House
Slug infestations in houses are relatively uncommon but can occur under certain conditions. Slugs are typically outdoor creatures that thrive in moist environments, so their presence inside a house is usually an indication of excessive moisture or dampness. Slugs may enter a house through small cracks or openings, attracted by moisture sources like leaky pipes, damp basements, or waterlogged areas around sinks or bathrooms.
Once inside, they can be found in dark, cool areas such as basements, crawl spaces, or areas with high humidity. Slug trails, slimy residue, and chewed plant material may indicate their presence. To address a slug infestation in a house, it is important to identify and eliminate moisture sources, seal any potential entry points, and employ slug control methods like traps, barriers, or organic slug repellents.
Where Do Slugs Come Into The House
The older the house is the more entry points the slugs will have to come inside. Usually, they will use places that tend to be dark and humid in order to enter the house, like cracks, vents, holes next to water and gas pipes, and so on. Slugs tend to use the slime trails left by others, this way they conserve energy, and it will make your time finding where they hide a lot easier.
What Attracts Slugs Inside The House?
Slugs that come into the house are usually in search of food or shelter. If the outside temperatures are fairly high, and it didn’t rain for a while, then the slugs will be desperate enough to go and look for a more suitable environment that is cool and moist. The lack of food can also be a major factor in why some slugs come into the house, you will even see them climb up the wall and under the roof if they are desperate enough. If slugs are eating your plants then you can protect them with copper rings, for more information check out my recent article Copper Slug Rings ( Do They Work? ).
What Do Slugs Eat Inside The House?
Slugs are detritivores, which means that they eat decaying organic matter, although they will not shy away from eating plants, earthworms, fungi, and even insect eggs. If you have pets then the slugs will not hesitate in eating their food and even their feces. Areas that are under the sink tend to be an ideal feeding ground for the slugs, usually, it’s dark and humid, and most likely they also have access to the garbage.
Generally speaking if you have slugs in your house then they are most likely in the kitchen, or in the basement, as these areas are fairly humid and have plenty of food for them.
How To Get Rid Of Slug Infestation In The House
The first thing you need to do is to inspect the house and search for areas that are dark and humid, it is very likely that you will start seeing some slug trails in these locations. Clean the house as best as you can, and remove any kind of food source the slugs might use. Try to figure out where the slugs are coming into the house, if you have a vent then this is an obvious place to check, but small holes and cracks should also be checked, usually, by following the slime trail you will find their entry point as well.
Fill these holes up as best as you can, although you might still notice a couple of slugs in the house, but this usually means that they are already living in the house. From this point, you can either use bait or slug pellets in order to get rid of them. In the case of bait, something as simple as a beer trap will be enough, although you will have to manually remove them.
Slug pellets, on the other hand, kill them after they have ingested the pellets, although I do not recommend this approach. When slugs die from slug pellets they tend to eliminate a lot of slime, and as slug pellets take their sweet time to act, the slugs will have more than enough time to go back into their hiding place where they eventually die and start smelling.
If you have a difficult time finding where the slugs are hiding in your house, then start sprinkling some salt, this is deadly to slugs and they will try to avoid it at all costs. If you have pets that are messy feeders then make sure to clean up their mess as fast as possible, the slugs might have gotten used to this food source. Copper is toxic for slugs, and you can use it as an effective slug deterrent, for more information check out my recent article Copper For Slugs ( Does It Really Work? ).
Key Takeaways
- Slugs need dark and humid environments, if there is a place in your house that is dark and humid the slugs might move in.
- Make sure to clean the house, especially if you have pets, and remove anything the slugs might eat.
- Something as simple as a foam filler should be used to fill up the crack or hole from where the slugs enter the house.
