Slugs?

[nitrogen15]

The other thing to consider is whether the slugs have been exposed to pesticides or fertilizers, like in your garden. Turns out slugs soak up undesirable chemicals like sponges and don't necessarily die after exposure. If your yard is mostly "organic", the slugs should be safe.

[RedSidedSPR]

Yeah, why not. I got tons of slugs too, nearly year 'round. Northwesterns and a couple of my radixes love slugs from my yard. If you get them early in the morning their guts are still full of fresh greens. You could gather them up and deliberately feed them cabbage, broccoli, kale, spinach, whatever, right before you give them to your snakes too.

Alright, I think I'll go dig some up tomorrow morning.

I caught a slug earlier and gave it to Ember. It created a very thick yellow/orange slime and nearly suffocated him. I got it out of his mouth, thankfully. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't the normal slug we have around here. It was brown with lighter brown stripes down its back. I've seen something similar, though it was usually a yellowbrown colour with lighter stripes. If it puts out yellow slime when you squeeze it, I think it would be safer to keep it well away from your snakes.

Gotcha. Stay away from yellow crap coming out of slimy slugs. Easy enough.

The other thing to consider is whether the slugs have been exposed to pesticides or fertilizers, like in your garden. Turns out slugs soak up undesirable chemicals like sponges and don't necessarily die after exposure. If your yard is mostly "organic", the slugs should be safe.

My yard is as organic as it gets. No garden. Just a big front yard with lots of woods in the back. Woods is where I see the worms/slugs.

[ConcinusMan]

I caught a slug earlier and gave it to Ember. It created a very thick yellow/orange slime and nearly suffocated him. I got it out of his mouth, thankfully. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't the normal slug we have around here. It was brown with lighter brown stripes down its back. I've seen something similar, though it was usually a yellowbrown colour with lighter stripes. If it puts out yellow slime when you squeeze it, I think it would be safer to keep it well away from your snakes.

There are a few native woodland slugs around the northwest to stay away from. And yes, they produce a very thick, sticky yellow or orange slime. These are not slugs you would find in a typical garden or backyard situation unless you just happen to live in the middle of a woodland. I want to stop short of trying to produce a lesson in slug I.D. I just know them by how they look.

For the most part, I find these in my yard and they are fine garter food:

(Tiger slug)



Also these lighter colored ones are OK:



But some are bad news and are only typically found in woodland type settings and give off a choking slime. They tend to have a rough look to their surface, a tough skin, are black or very dark above, with yellow or orange below:




[img]

[kibakiba]

I live in the middle of a forest and field. None of the slugs we have in my area look like that. The one I gave ember looked just very slightly like the big brown one, however, it was striped. The middle of its back was a dark tan and its sides were that brown colour.
We do have a lot of those brown ones around, but we always throw them to the side when we slug hunt. The only light coloured ones are very young slugs. I guess I'll have to really pay attention to what they look like when I want to feed them.

Needless to say, the slug that did that to Ember is not alive and was tortured. I'm not that kind of person, but if it harms something that means everything to me... There is hell to pay.

[RedSidedSPR]

None of mine look like that either, but I'll stay away from them. We have tiger slugs too, I think.

[Spankenstyne]

Another suggestion for worms is to check out a local hardware or fishing/bait store. They're less expensive than from a pet store. Anything repackaged or being sold specifically for the pet industry usually gets a large markup.

[RedSidedSPR]

No local fishing/bait store. Sucks don't it?

[ConcinusMan]

Another suggestion for worms is to check out a local hardware or fishing/bait store. They're less expensive than from a pet store. Anything repackaged or being sold specifically for the pet industry usually gets a large markup.

True, very true. I can get a lot of big night crawlers and slugs any time I feel like collecting them. For all other times, I can get 26 night crawlers from the walmart down the street, for $2.99.

[RedSidedSPR]

My location SUCKS! No local pet stores other than PetsMart and PetCo, not bait stores, my walmart doesn't cary any of that stuff.

[Sonya610]

Question about feeding earthworms. To avoid cutting up frantically squirming earthworms would it be okay to freeze them briefly before feeding (and then cut/dethaw) ?

Assuming the snakes will accept them, would it make them watery or somehow undesirable?