Question What are people using for snails?

Aimee

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Hi All!
Im having troubles with snails. I’ve killed all those eggs that people helped me identify but I still have an influx. I can’t use snail pellets as dogs and a child that will literally put anything in his mouth. He even put a snail in his mouth . I’ve done the beer thing so I’m guessing Perth snails don’t have good taste. I also tried different types of beer. I even got desperate and tried wine So I need something that’s not going to hurt a child or dogs or chickens. Any suggestions?
Cheers!
 

Marika

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I’m the same as you, dogs, children and chickens - snail pellets is not an option!
We had a terrible infestation in our yard a couple of years ago. We have stacked stone retaining walls in our garden and they love it so much because of all of the hiding spaces.
Now it is a surprise to see one in my garden!
I’ve been going out on snail hunts in daytime rain and collecting them for the last couple of years.
The most I’ve caught at once was 380 :eek:
When I see the eggs I dispose of them even though I think that they are pretty.

Good luck, this is what has worked for me but someone may have better advice..

Cheers.
 

nzmitzi

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When it's not raining you can put down a trail of salt, it dehydrates them pretty quickly.
Teach the children to stomp on snails - make it into a game! If the children are older pay them a coin for every snail they bring you! I t may even peak their interest into learning about garrdening.

If you have chickens feed them the snails, they go crazy over them once they learn what they are. If you feel brave you could let the chickens into the garden.
 

Aimee

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I’m the same as you, dogs, children and chickens - snail pellets is not an option!
We had a terrible infestation in our yard a couple of years ago. We have stacked stone retaining walls in our garden and they love it so much because of all of the hiding spaces.
Now it is a surprise to see one in my garden!
I’ve been going out on snail hunts in daytime rain and collecting them for the last couple of years.
The most I’ve caught at once was 380 :eek:
When I see the eggs I dispose of them even though I think that they are pretty.

Good luck, this is what has worked for me but someone may have better advice..

Cheers.
Wow! 380!!! That’s hectic. Yeah I’ve been going out every day. My dad told me to put coffee grounds around the plant. That works until it rains and it’s been raining a or in Perth so the keep smashing them :(
Thanks for the reply
 

Aimee

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When it's not raining you can put down a trail of salt, it dehydrates them pretty quickly.
Teach the children to stomp on snails - make it into a game! If the children are older pay them a coin for every snail they bring you! I t may even peak their interest into learning about garrdening.

If you have chickens feed them the snails, they go crazy over them once they learn what they are. If you feel brave you could let the chickens into the garden.
 

Aimee

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When it's not raining you can put down a trail of salt, it dehydrates them pretty quickly.
Teach the children to stomp on snails - make it into a game! If the children are older pay them a coin for every snail they bring you! I t may even peak their interest into learning about garrdening.

If you have chickens feed them the snails, they go crazy over them once they learn what they are. If you feel brave you could let the chickens into the garden.
Ive got one kid who’s just of that age where everything goes in the mouth and the other kid is very precious and hates anything dirty. And I must have dainty chickens! Every time I get the snails they turn their noses up at them!!!! They’re rescue chickens and I must have been treating them too good ;) I’ll just keep going out there but I’ll use your salt idea. Thank you!
 

Marika

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Ive got one kid who’s just of that age where everything goes in the mouth and the other kid is very precious and hates anything dirty. And I must have dainty chickens! Every time I get the snails they turn their noses up at them!!!! They’re rescue chickens and I must have been treating them too good ;) I’ll just keep going out there but I’ll use your salt idea. Thank you!
Just be careful with salt in the garden, it can be really bad for your soil.
Also, my girls have NEVER eaten a snail either, they’re the same as yours - turn their noses up. They won’t touch slugs either and surely that’s fast food as they have no shells lol
 

Aimee

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Thanks for the tip about the salt!
Hahaha and these girls were battery hens rescued. No ours won’t eat slugs but love meal worm and crickets . Snails and slugs are beneath them
 

Marika

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No ours won’t eat slugs but love meal worm and crickets . Snails and slugs are beneath them
Same :D They go mad for the mealworms - think acrobatic chasing!
I’m considering raising our own mealworms because they love them so much.

Well done rescuing your girls, it’s a wonderful thing to do :)
 

Aimee

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Same :D They go mad for the mealworms - think acrobatic chasing!
I’m considering raising our own mealworms because they love them so much.

Well done rescuing your girls, it’s a wonderful thing to do :)
I’ve thought about doing meal worm too! Have you done much research into it?
 

Marika

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I’ve thought about doing meal worm too! Have you done much research into it?
None, but it was on my list of things to do tonight once the children were in bed!
I can’t imagine it would be harder than raising chickens .... :think:
 

Marika

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So I couldn’t wait till tonight - just found a wikihow and yeah, it’s a little fussy...

If I do it I might try to get my children in on it, otherwise I might forget to check up on them o_O
But that’s a lot of mealworms to purchase though!
 

Aimee

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None, but it was on my list of things to do tonight once the children were in bed!
I can’t imagine it would be harder than raising chickens .... :think:
I couldn’t imagine it to be. I’m going to look into it too
 

AndrewB

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I hear ducks are better pest controllers around the garden than chickens, they can be noisy though. Or let your kid free range, the french eat snails right?

Anything to attract natural predators may help- ponds for frogs, rock piles for lizards, small bushes/shrubs spread around the garden that little birds can hide in.
 

ClissAT

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What would I use on snails?
Well, I'd gather them all up and drop into a 20lt drum with good lid that has 2-4lt of bran in the bottom.
After 3days in there maybe having to change it daily depending on the numbers of snails, and the snails having been fully purged, I'd take them out and wash them.
Then drop into take away containers and into the freezer for a few hours then straight into boiling water for 5mins.
Remove from the boiling water and straight into a hot frying pan with copious butter, salt and pepper and garlic.

Then feed to anyone who likes eating snails!:eat: I hate the things but I sure know how to cook them!:sneaky:
 

bizhat

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surrounding our patch with copper (metal) did the trick for us.
- we had some leftover copper from gutter pipes which we placed around the patch - I guess any copper would work.. apparently snails/slugs arent fans :V
 

Aimee

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I hear ducks are better pest controllers around the garden than chickens, they can be noisy though. Or let your kid free range, the french eat snails right?

Anything to attract natural predators may help- ponds for frogs, rock piles for lizards, small bushes/shrubs spread around the garden that little birds can hide in.
I’d love to have ducks but unfortunately they’d be too noisey for where I am :( hahahhah Escargot you reckon
We’ve got birds and lizards but they’re obviously not doing their job either. I’ve got lazy animals
 

spector

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Off-topic a bit, but I have raised mealworms. A few years back, there was a shortage and I raised some to help out at a wildlife rescue (baby bird nursery). The biggest problem is that you have to raise quite a few of them to get a decent amount on a regular basis, and I found I had to have different bins to accommodate the various life cycles. If you have some time and shelf space on your hands, it doesn't require a lot of attention, but you do have to feed them and change their bedding pretty regularly.
 
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