invasion of molluscs/gastropods

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Pepperdog

Pepperdog

Adult Guinea Pig
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in other words slugs and snails

Every day I am removing endless amounts of them from the hutch outside, they are mostly around the dry food or on the walls, its a good job they dont bother me as I flick the slugs off and throw them over the wall (and the snails).

I have always had them in the hutch when the herd is outside but not to this extent, the wet warm weather is the only thing I can think has caused them to emigrate to the hutch rather than the rest of my garden.

The only plus side, last year they were in the house, never found where they come in but in the bathroom, the kitchen and found one in the bed once :)>>> so at least they are staying outside (a few have come in, but nothing like last year)
 
Pepperdog said:
in other words slugs and snails

Every day I am removing endless amounts of them from the hutch outside, they are mostly around the dry food or on the walls, its a good job they dont bother me as I flick the slugs off and throw them over the wall (and the snails).

I have always had them in the hutch when the herd is outside but not to this extent, the wet warm weather is the only thing I can think has caused them to emigrate to the hutch rather than the rest of my garden.

The only plus side, last year they were in the house, never found where they come in but in the bathroom, the kitchen and found one in the bed once :)>>> so at least they are staying outside (a few have come in, but nothing like last year)
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I've seen a lot of slugs lately, all little black ones!

It was raining last night as I was loading boxes into my car, and there was one on the top metal step of the steps going down from my flat, I stood on him (sorry Sluggy) and nearly went arse over tit down the steps...again!

Our old flat was quite like yours. Victorian house with a garden, convereted into flats. Our doors were rubbish and the slugs used to come under, and we'd wake up to slug trails around the place....but never saw any slugs....
 
I think they are coming in through various places - the ventalation brink in the larder for instance (cant stop them if they are) the hole the toilet outlet pipe goes through the wall - might be able to slug pellet it and under doors etc but unless I wrap the whole flat in clingfilm or something there is not way of stopping them, the disadvantage to having a garden flat, victorian era and the lovely cool flat is also nice for the slugs.

The OH gave me a scare the other day, squished slug on kitchen floor and he says he thinks the dog tried to eat it, for 5 mins I am panicking and examining her for signs of slug poisoning then he says "oh I might actually have stood on it" mallethead
 
we've had loads of them too, there was a fat one stuck between the wire of the boys hutch this morning! i've been putting salt all around the hutches and it has worked (although the rain washes it away in the night again)! grrrr
 
problem is they can just slide up the walls, the shed or anywhere else and still gain entry to the hutch. And they are not supposed to like rough pebbly ground yet have trodden on so many on the pebble path I think this is not true any more
 
Paddy ate a slug the other day, up by the airport field :)>>>

He was due an application of advantix, so he got advocate instead! No lungworm for my dog thanks!
 
Slugs and snails cannot stand crushed up egg shells! I know this wont help with them climbing up the sides but should stop them from gettting in at ground level if you sprinkle them around the outside of the cage. Hopefully wont was away too easily either! Hope this helps a little!
 
Our garden is absolutely overrun with slugs and snails! The odd 'snail pet' I can deal with, but we've been invaded! We remove between 10 and 20 slugs from around the hutch each night! They keep climbing in the girls hutch (they rarely make it to the boys top hutch) and sliming all over their food! :)>>> And the walls are now covered in slime and gross stuff, took me ages cleaning it this morning.

Is there anything cat-friendly to deter slugs? My Cat will eat anything, so I'm worried about putting something like egg shells down.
 
You can buy Copper Tape, gardeners use it to put round planters etc and from the reviews I have read, it seems to work and is fairly cheap! Maybe this could be an option? :Ayociexp113: Being a fledgling Mummy to guineas, please dont be cross at me should this not be appropriate! ") x
 
You can put copper strips round the legs of the piggies cage, but if you have any frogs, toads or hedgehogs, they do just as well! I go round our garden collecting slugs and snails and put them on the bird table (which has copper round it) and the blackbirds and robins love me...
 
Eugh... Slugs, i keep finding them in the hutch too, there seems to be so many around at the moment. The worst of it is when they get into the storage box and get on the outside of the hay bag and I put my hands on it. I scream like a girl... I mean i am a girl but still.

If any one has any ideas on how to keep the slugs out they would be much appreciated.
 
Katie Krafter said:
You can put copper strips round the legs of the piggies cage, but if you have any frogs, toads or hedgehogs, they do just as well! I go round our garden collecting slugs and snails and put them on the bird table (which has copper round it) and the blackbirds and robins love me...
Click to expand...

still wont stop them sliding up the wall behind and then onto the hutch, or up the bamboo sticks that hold the cover up, or the shed next door, or the big bin with the hay stored in it. And they even climb the copper water pipe I have around the hutch.
 
I had a problem with slugs coming inside our last student house - once I was mortified to find slug trails inside my piggies cage, so then took to sprinkling salt around the edge of the cage on the carpet. But then piggies started nibbling the carpet where the salt had been during floortime so probably not a good idea.

I've heard they love beer, so you could put a pot with beer in next to the hutch to distract them (apparently they go in and drown - poor sluggys). We tried that with lager in our kitchen but nothing happened - maybe they are picky lol!
 
Glynis said:
fair enough! :(|):(|)

yeah whee do have snakes and BIG 's' things don't whee! :)>>> NOT ALLOWED in my house tho! (must go de cobweb again........)
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You can come and decobweb my flat if you like, would save me a job! I'm very jumpy at the moment, I haven't seen a spider since I started moving, there's got to be one in here somewhere.... rolleyes :...
 
:)>>>:)>>>:)>>>:...:...

EEEGUUUGHGHG.

When I had my sets of piggies when I was younger this used to happen ALL the time, no matter what time of year/weather. It was horrific and now I've got a horrendous phobia of slugs, snails (and worms - I think they just crept in via association). But eugh. Put me off ever having piggies outside again, and really made it a struggle for me to look after the piggies.

They'd thread themselves through the wire on the cage front, be all over the food, all over the cage, on the underside of the cage cover, on the underside of the cage ramp, over the cage locks. :...

We never found a way to get rid of them that wouldnt risk harming the pigs.
 
We've been getting loads of snails too, but not many slugs. The other night I went to put the boys to bed and there was a big snail in Spike's hutch - he saw me go to pick the snail up and came running over and sat on it, and then started popcorning like a crazy fool :))

I've thought of getting one of those snail traps but feel guilty killing them.
 
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