Most slugs and snails are omnivores — they can eat nearly everything.
However, if they have the choice, they turn into real gourmets.
For example, cucumbers, tomatoes, and wilting lettuce leaves are at the top of their list of favorite foods.
Video: What to feed snails?
Contents
General Considerations
Another real favorite for many snails is yeast.
Yeast can attract snails from a radius of 100–200 yards.
This is why many people lure them into their garden with beer traps (not a good idea).
Usually, they eat dead plants, fungi, dead animals, and excrement. Most slugs are scavengers.
Healthy plants are eaten by only a few species. These can become pests in horticulture and agriculture.
Commonly known slugs are Spanish slugs (Arion vulgaris) and field slugs (Deroceras reticulatum).
Slugs and snails like to eat:
- cucumber slices
- rotten tomatoes
- soaked wheat bran/oatmeal
- dead animals/carrion
- wilting plant remains
- most lettuce leaves
- cabbage leaves
- grapefruits
- eggshells
- carrots
- kohlrabi leaves
- young dandelions
- young parsley
- ripe strawberries
The tastes of slugs and snails vary depending on the type of slug/snail.
They also tend to love a varied diet and lose their appetite for things that are available regularly.
Learn more about slugs & snails
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| Slugs and Snails (Collins New Naturalist Library) | The Secret World of Slugs and Snails: Life in the Very Slow Lane |
| Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon |
Carnivorous Slugs & Snails
Some species are carnivorous and predatory; they can even become cannibals.
Some hunt other snail species and eat them alive. An example of this is the leopard slug (Limax maximus).
This massive and ‘fast’ slug even attacks other adult slugs and snails.
Video: Leopard Slug Eats Young Spanish Slug
The eggs of other snails can also be on the menu of predatory snails.
The garden snail (Cornu aspersum), for example, likes to eat the eggs of other slugs and snails.
Usually, the garden snail does not have an appetite for healthy plants.
Snails
Usually, snails are not particularly interested in healthy living plants.
They prefer to eat the readily available dead plant parts and mushrooms.
Therefore, they are not usually considered as pests and are even welcomed by gardeners.
By processing dead plants and animals, they contribute to garden health.
At the same time, they produce humus and thus fertilize the soil.
Cucumber is also loved by snails.
Snail control for single plants
To protect young plants use for example:
- plant covers
- garden cloches
- slug collars.
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| Protective Plant Covers | Garden Cloches | Slug Collars |
| Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon (Europe) |
Video: Snails & cucumber
What Do Snails Eat in an Aquarium?
In aquariums, snails also serve as waste recyclers.
They eat dead plant remains and uneaten fish food.
If they find a lot of food, they can multiply explosively.
This can happen as they lack natural enemies.
To prevent snail booms in aquariums, you should not feed fish too much and you should observe closely how much food your fish need.
Everything left over by the fish can be eaten by the snails.
Snail food: for aquatic slugs and snails
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| Sinking Food for Shrimp, Snails, Bottom Feeders | Sinking Diet for Snails, Shrimp & Bottom Feeding Fish |
| Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon |
Land Slugs
Basically, the general list applies to most land slugs.
However, depending on the species, they have different preferences.
Almost all slugs are composters and scavengers that prefer dead food.
However, there are also the abovementioned leopard slugs, which hunt and eat living slugs and snails.
Slugs often can be found near and on roads and paths as it is more likely that they can find carrion and droppings there.
Sometimes, there are so many that they start eating dead conspecifics which have been killed by the traffic.
In agriculture, it is mainly the field slug that causes problems.
Field slugs can infest entire fields; for example, they can infest young rape plants.
In European gardens, it is the Spanish slug that causes the most damage. It has similar preferences to vegetable lovers.
They also like tomatoes and cabbage leaves.
With these baits, you can even construct slug and snail traps.
Many flowers, such as dahlias, hostas, zinnias, and sunflowers, are loved by garden slugs.
These flowers can be used to create ‘sacrificial beds’, which will lure the snails away from other vegetable and flower beds.
Here, you can find a list of vegetables, herbs and flowers loved by slugs and snails.
Slug Control with copper for raised beds, planters & pots
Control slugs with copper and use for example:
- copper-tape
- copper-mesh
- copper-wire.
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| Slug Repellent Copper Tape | Copper Mesh Fence | Copper Wire |
| Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon |
Which Plants Do Slugs & Snails Not Like?
For gardeners, it is good to know which plants are not eaten by slugs.
If you know them, you can save yourself a lot of trouble.
There is an abundance of snail- and slug-resistant flowers: annuals and perennials.
Most flowers have natural defense systems against slugs which have been bred out of many common vegetables.
Like humans, most slugs and snails do not like to eat bitter fruits.
Bitter substances and hard leaves and thorns are mechanisms used by plants to protect themselves against their predators.
The fact that many plants have lost these substances through breeding is one of the many reasons behind slug and snail population booms.
However, there are natural remedies to control against slugs and snails without using poison or violence.
For example, you can try to use old varieties that still have defense systems against slugs — maybe by being a little more bitter than other varieties.
You can also attempt to increase biodiversity and thus attract as many natural enemies of slugs as possible to your garden.
Here, you can find a list of slug-resistant vegetables and herbs.
Books about Slugs & Snails
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| Slugs and Snails (Collins New Naturalist Library) | The Secret World of Slugs and Snails: Life in the Very Slow Lane |
| Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon |
Further Information
Methods to control against slugs and snails:
Slug and snail deterrent paint
Slug-resistant flowers and flowering plants: perennials and annuals
Homemade slug and snail control
Runner ducks against slugs and snails
Slug Control for larger areas and garden beds
To protect larger areas you can use for example:
- slug fences
- sheep wool pellets.
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| Slug Fence Set: Small | Slug Fence Set: For 6m² | Sheep Wool Pellets |
| Check prices on Amazon | Check prices on Amazon (Europe) | Check prices on Amazon |
Last update: April 14, 2020
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I have an old seat cushion that has been in the garden for over a year. Suddenly almost over night it looks as though it has been stabbed and slashed with a knife. I have been told that it is probably snails. Is someone joking with me or could they be right?
if i had three garden snails how much food should i give them?