[AlistairMcLennan]

Hi,

Does anyone know of a Slug Killer that is safe with children around? It is just that my 4 year old is autistic and loves playing in the garden so I know the normal cheap slug pellets are just too risky.

I know about nemaslug but I have not been able to find anything online yet that is safe to children.

Thanks

Alistair

[compostqueen]

I doubt there is anything truly safe if eaten! 

You don't have to use slug pellets at all, many folks don't but then you have to go to other lengths to protect your veg, some of them long and arduous    There are the copper tapes and/or making moats round your veg beds etc. Loads of ideas out there. Broken eggshells, bran, human hair.  Oh all sorts. I'm sure there's more on this subject on here so feel free to browse 

[Aunt Sally]

I use these:

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/pages/product/product.asp?prod=GPC-197&cookie%5Ftest=1

[mobilekat]

The 'safe slug pellets' are not actually very safe if eaten- ask a vet, they still get poisoned cats and dogs it!

To be absolutely safe I would probably use nothing involving chemicals and instead a nightly stomp and squish- then compost the bodies!
Have sharp gravel, and coffee grinds around plants can help, and back that up with Nemaslug.

If you have older kids as well a snail catching competition can be fun- just provide plastic buckets and rubber gloves! and prizes for the most caught!

[lancashiregardeninggal]

Why not feed the birds - when I moved in here 8 years ago the garden was full of slugs and snails - I started feeding the birds straight away (because I grow organically) and the slug/snail  population fell rapidly.

[JayG]

Here is the link to the manufacturer's "Material safety data sheet" for "Growing Success" slug pellets.

You have to conclude that the risk to animals other than molluscs is minimal, and it's also true that the active ingredient, ferric phosphate is actually used as an additive in products like bread (although that would be the food grade quality.)

I still wouldn't be comfortable about putting any person or animal in a situation where they could eat a lot of it even though it's much safer than the older metaldehyde or methiocarb versions.

[shokkyy]

I've been using Growing Success for years, and I'm comfortable it's pretty safe. I have a food obsessed lurcher that I know eats the stuff from the beds sometimes, and she's never shown any ill effects from it. And the garden is stuffed with birds, hedgehogs and toads, so it can't be having any discernible impact on them either.