# How Slugs Make Babies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192 "2003-05-29T04:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/1 "2003-05-29T04:56:23Z")
Nature is _amazing._ As we watched a slug ooze its way down his Dr. Pepper can, my friend asked me tonight how slugs reproduce. We were at a total loss, so we decided to research. What I’ve found is fascinating and mind-boggling. Surely they don’t lay eggs, I thought. However, [this pest control site](http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/homepest/slugs.htm) claims that slugs do in fact lay eggs, but less than snails do, which may include up to 100 eggs at a time, depending on species. [Here](http://sjhweb.norshore.wednet.edu/scienceseven/Slug/sluganatomyresearch)we discovered that slugs are hermaphrodites! Usually slugs start as ‘males’ because their sperm matures first. Once the sperm is expelled, the female organs mature. In some species, a slug can mate, lose its penis and then become a female. > [@](#): > > \*\* The complications of mating in the Bannana slug are so great that, in some cases, the animals can only separate after sperm deposition by the mutual act of chewing off the partner’s penis at the genital aperature!\*\* [Sea slugs](http://www.seaslugforum.net/seahmat.htm)do even weirder things during sex. > [@](#): > > **During mating they can operate as both male and female simultaneously. This is somewhat difficult to achieve when there are only two animals, because the penis is just to the right of the head, and the vagina opens into the mantle cavity between the large parapodia.** Yeah, you would _think_ that this isn’t an easy task! [Last but not least,](http://www.lrb.co.uk/v22/n22/meek01_.html) we discover the true secret horrors of slug reproduction. > [@](#): > > **Slug penises are immense - as much as seven times the length of their bodies. Far from their owners, the penises entwine and exchange sperm - and often become knotted together. The only way for the slugs to free their tangled members is for one of them to bite his off at the base. From that moment, the self-castrated slug is female-only.** :eek: Questions? Comments? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/2 "2003-05-29T06:44:07Z")
I nominate this thread for "Least Popular Thread _Ever."_ ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/3 "2003-05-29T07:44:53Z")
I second that. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/4 "2003-05-29T10:31:56Z")
Maybe if it was titled “Slug bites off own penis!” ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/5 "2003-05-29T19:25:56Z")
Consider me ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/6 "2003-05-29T19:39:20Z")
No no, don’t be ashamed. It’s interesting, just… depressing. ---
**Author:** ![angelabaca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@angelabaca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelabaca)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/7 "2003-05-29T19:45:48Z")
well, I find it fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/8 "2003-05-29T20:01:43Z")
This is a great thread. Whodathunkit? If only my ex would have chewed his off after we mated… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/9 "2003-05-29T20:24:48Z")
So slugs are transgendered? I _so_ did not need to know that . . . ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/10 "2003-05-29T20:36:36Z")
I’m taking this with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/11 "2003-05-29T22:57:36Z")
**Searching For Truth** , don’t despair! The search for knowledge cannot be fettered by the petty. Personally, I was forced to write sentences in eighth grade science class for daring to ask if snails had orgasms. I never did get a straight answer and I think I was scarred for life. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/12 "2003-05-29T23:12:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*AskNott \*\*\* > Maybe if it was titled “Slug bites off own penis!” Yeah… who would draw the cartoons? ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@MonkeyMule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMule)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/13 "2003-05-29T23:28:27Z")
Who else but the great Slug Signorino? I crack me up ---
**Author:** ![Peg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Peg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peg)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/14 "2003-05-29T23:28:49Z")
I actually saw a picture of 2 snails in the act, with the super extendo slugpenis. It was… words fail to describe the ookie feeling. ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/15 "2003-05-30T03:07:14Z")
**Jpeg Jones** , you rock my world. And, geez, **Kalhoun**! Yowzers! And yet, I commiserate. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Peg \* > \*\*I actually saw a picture of 2 snails in the act, with the super extendo slugpenis. It was… words fail to describe the ookie feeling. \*\* Link? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/16 "2003-05-30T04:15:01Z")
I have seen nudibranchs (sea slugs) mating often. (Nudibranchs fascinate me, so I’m looking out for them all the time, not just trying to perve on them!) It’s cute to watch them line up head to toe 😃 Click here for [hot](http://zubi.merseine.nu/student/broschi/Pictures/Zubi/Weichtiere/Nudibranchs/HypselodorisPaar.jpg) [nudibranch](http://zubi.merseine.nu/student/broschi/Pictures/Zubi/Weichtiere/Nudibranchs/Nembrotha-kub.jpg) [loving,](http://www.grrldive.com/nudibranchs.html) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/17 "2003-05-30T06:09:46Z")
> [@](#): > > The complications of mating in the Bannana slug are so great that, in some cases, the animals can only separate after sperm deposition by the mutual act of chewing off the partner’s penis at the genital aperature! No wonder everyone in [Santa Cruz](http://admissions.ucsc.edu/graphics/fiat-slug.gif) is a lesbian. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/18 "2003-05-30T06:17:56Z")
Apophallation. Not likely to be the next big fetish. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/19 "2003-05-30T06:19:01Z")
> [@](#): > > have seen nudibranchs (sea slugs) mating often. (Nudibranchs fascinate me, so I’m looking out for them all the time, not just trying to perve on them!) Your username is disturbingly evocative in this instance, **Goo**. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192/20 "2003-05-30T06:21:51Z")
BWAHAHAHAHA 😃 Lucky I haven’t posted in the “spit or swallow” thread, isn’t it 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-slugs-make-babies/178192.md?page=2)