# i have slugs getting into my pet food **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201 "2003-09-08T02:34:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![poiema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@poiema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poiema)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/1 "2003-09-08T02:34:20Z")
i keep my pet food in containers in my utility room. i have found slugs in the food the last two nights. how can i fix this problem? the room doesn’t have any cracks or anything that i can see so i can’t figure out how they are getting in. it’s freaking me out so any help would be appreciated greatly!!! thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![poiema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@poiema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poiema)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/2 "2003-09-08T03:05:18Z")
help please??? please??? ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/3 "2003-09-08T03:10:17Z")
Give it more than 30 minutes and I’m sure someone will… ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/4 "2003-09-08T03:18:55Z")
There’s some stuff you can buy in the pest control section of any store that carries that kind of think, called something like “Slug-Get-A.” It’s a thick gray liquid, which you put around the perimeter of the area. Slugs are attracted to it, eat it, and die. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/5 "2003-09-08T03:31:44Z")
Slugs love beer. ---
**Author:** ![Fop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/91b2a8/32.png) [@Fop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fop)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/6 "2003-09-08T06:12:37Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_073.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_073.html) I have no idea if that helps… ---
**Author:** ![3.885AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/58956e/32.png) [@3.885AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3.885AM)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/7 "2003-09-08T11:48:22Z")
Get some 5 gal plastic buckets, we get ours from a local donut shop (the filling comes in them}. They have airtight snap-on lids and stack nicely, we use them for bulk storage of sugar, flower, rice and such, never had any problems with bugs or mold. The only ones that didn’t work out came from a sandwich shop and had held pickles, never did get rid of the vinegar smell, ended up using these in the garden. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/8 "2003-09-08T11:58:33Z")
I’ll second the beer suggestion. My mom had the same problem with slugs getting into the cat dishes on the porch, and she would buy the cheapest beer she could find (usually a malt liquor) and fill up a bowl for the slugs to enjoy (she says they drown themselves in the beer). Well, that was the excuse she gave me when I discovered her stash of Colt 45 in the kitchen counter, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![dinoboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dinoboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinoboy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/9 "2003-09-08T13:31:36Z")
Beer works, Slug-get-a probably better, sealed containers are best, however, these may just be symptoms - my concern would be the Slug-in-the-house thing. There is, of course, no immediate danger; slugs aren’t exactly aggressive predators (you seldom hear, “help, I’m being chased by a ravenous slug!”) but they do indicate (usually) that you have an excess water problem. They couldn’t exist in your home without it: Slugs that come in from the outside usually dry up quickly without a water source, but with water they can stay indefinitely - and reproduce. :eek: I’d look for and remove standing water; under the sink, in a drain (a little bleach down a drain works wonders) and such. ---
**Author:** ![poiema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@poiema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poiema)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/10 "2003-09-08T15:14:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dinoboy \* > \*\*Slugs that come in from the outside usually dry up quickly without a water source, but with water they can stay indefinitely - and reproduce. :eek: > > I’d look for and remove standing water; under the sink, in a drain (a little bleach down a drain works wonders) and such. \*\* EEK!!! that’s what i was afraid of!!! bleach and slug-get-a, here i come!! thanks all for the help! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![breaknrun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbce88/32.png) [@breaknrun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breaknrun)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/11 "2003-09-08T18:31:37Z")
Are you sure you cats don’t have some form of parasite that they are coughing up? I ask this because one of my cats was hacking up something that looks like a slug. My vet appeared perplexed about this but gave me some worming pills. I have since dewormed her and am still waiting to see if it happens again. ---
**Author:** ![Tal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/54ee81/32.png) [@Tal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/12 "2003-09-08T18:36:43Z")
if you’re going to use a slug control product (i’d call it snail pellets, but maybe that’s an australian thing) it will work really effectively but be very VERY careful because if you happened to get any in the pet food, or the pets happend to get hold of it it’d be really bad news ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/13 "2003-09-08T20:05:13Z")
Count your blessings: Free escargots! ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-slugs-getting-into-my-pet-food/200201/14 "2003-09-08T21:07:38Z")
I just put my pet food in a big plastic bag.