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Snails & Slugs

J

Janie1

Young Bun
Hi

Has anyone got any ideas on how to keep Slugs and Snails out of Jake's hutch without killing them and harm to Jake?

When I have put Jake into his outdoor hutch this week, it has has had several Slugs and Snails snuggled up inside. I clean the hutch (1-2 times a week) and disenfected the whole thing, but then the next morning they are all back again. It has a rain cover and a fly net on it, but they still manage to get it.

I don't like them but don't want to kill them. It makes me feel sick seeing them in there, and Jake has to live in the hutch during the day.

Thank you
 
hi, i'm sorry i dont know the answer but just wanted to say i am glad you asked because i am having the same problem!! every morning they are in the food bowls and all over the hutch and run - it looks horrible! then later when they have gone the hay is all covered in slime!
 
Thank you for answering, it really makes me feel ill seeing them in there, as you say there is slime everywhere. Does this do any harm to bunnies?
 
It won't hurt the bunnies and to be honest they probably don't care about them :D

Raising the hutch up on legs helps (and prevents rising damp too) You can then put tape (sticky side out) around the legs which puts them off. I think egg shell is supposed to as well so you could put a ring around the hutch of that.

If you've got an enclosed garden you could try calling your local hedgehog rescue and offering your garden as a foster home - they cut down on them :lol:

Tamsin
 
I use copper wire to protect the cabbages you can get it from any garden center. It is completely harmless to buns. It works if you create a circle and then the slug makes a circuit when it tries to slide over it and gets an electric Buzz which sends it in the opposite direction.

I would imagen if you stick some round the bottom of the hutch they will not be able to slide over it to get in. Hope this helps.
 
Thank you everyone, will try some of the tips suggested, lets hope the rain stops and we don't get so many of them.
 
you could try a finer wire mesh staple gunned over the original so that they can not fit through the gaps of the mesh orrrrrrr

I find that slugs travel quite far bounced off a tennis racket and judging by one of my neighbours saying how bad she has got them this year, they have obviously survived the journey from my end:lol: :lol: :lol: Snails dont stand a chance in my garden as Marcelly seems to crush them when he is bounding around:roll:
 
put a small bowl of cheap and nasty beer (well, any beer really) next to the hutch, they will all go for that instead - then again, you would kill them by drowning, but at least they would die a happy drunk death...

I've go slugophobia, so as far as I'm concerned only a dead slug is a good slug...:cry:
 
Its quite often the dry food they are tempted by and then end up staying the night.

If you feed him his dry at night maybe change the routine or let him eat and then take away whats left?
 
I just go out on an evening slug hunt from time to time, to clear the whole garden of all I can find. I've done this for a while and it seems to be reducing numbers slowly. There's also something called Nemaslug (I think) which will help get rid of them. Can you clear back any plants near the hutch which might be their home?

My rabbits don't seem to find the slugs a problem, but I hate it when I reach into the cage to pick up the bowl and unwittingly grab the slug as well. Bleurgh.
 
Oh my God. We have had a snail in the hutch a couple of times which Louise has had to remove. I have a complete phobia about slugs so if I found one of those.................................................:(

By the way snails have a homing instinct. My ex-neighbour used to paint numbers on the back of snails she found then chucked them over a high garden wall. They all found their way back! Now that could be an idea for a competition!

I have read that this is a 'good' year for slugs cos of the weather. Garden centres will sell slug traps that you can fill with beer. But so GROSS!
 
I make slug traps from coke bottles for the plants I cant surround with copper tape ( they seem to like cheap bitter best) but copper is by far the best solution I have found for keeping them out of the area
 
One time when I'd just got poppy I went to the hutch in the morning and there was a slug riding on her head - I was nearly sick. :(

Here is how to keep them out using household items - it's a bit of a faff but it works for me

Get one of those plastic box thingies that strawberries come in; cut it into long strips about 3" deep.

Cut really spiky zigzags along one side of the strip.

Glue/nail the non-zig-zagged edge around the legs of the hutch, then bend the spikes up a little. they don't like to go past the spikiness, its scrapes them.

Failing that some razor wire should suffice! :evil:
 
clutterydrawer said:
One time when I'd just got poppy I went to the hutch in the morning and there was a slug riding on her head - I was
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but I had to giggle at that :lol:

Back on topic, you could even put scraps of vege's near the hutch, make a different spot more desireable.

I have no idea if that'd work though, others had some great suggestions. :)
 
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