Having snails in your garden, house, or fish tank can be a real nuisance. If left unchecked, these snails will eat plants, leave slime everywhere, or take over the entire tank. Fortunately, there are many natural and chemical ways to get rid of snails, protect your lawn, and protect your home from snail infestations.
Get Rid of Snails
Catch snails with beer. Pour the beer into a small container, such as an empty tuna can. Bury the container in the garden or near an area where snails hang out, at least 2.5cm above the soil. The smell of beer will attract snails to climb into the container and drown.
- You can add yeast to make the beer more attractive to snails.
- Beer only attracts nearby snails, so you may need to set a few more traps.
- You can also serve beer in plastic cups, yogurt cups, bowls, or pie plates.
- Do not bury the container flush with the soil to avoid accidentally killing other beneficial insects.
If you have time, you can catch the snail and then banish it. Snails are most active in the early morning or evening, and you can catch them at these times. Place the snails in a bucket or container and take them elsewhere to release them.
- You can also kill snails.
- To speed things up, you can place an upside-down pot in your garden or near an area where snails hang out. The snails will most likely hide in the pot, making it easy for you to find and catch them all.
Kill snails with cold coffee spray. The caffeine in coffee is fatally toxic to snails, so spraying them with coffee will kill them. Spraying a snail until it’s all wet will kill it, so you have to spray a lot of coffee.
- Make a pot of coffee and let it cool. Pour coffee into a spray bottle and spray away any snails in your garden or house.
Make your garlic spray to repel snails and maybe kill them. Spray your garden, patio, and house with garlic spray when necessary. If you find a snail, you can also spray it directly until it is soaked. Garlic spray can repel snails and even kill them.
- Crush 3 cloves of garlic and soak in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of vegetable oil overnight. Strain the garlic and mix the liquid with 1 liter of water. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle. Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) liquid soap and shake well before use.
Use iron phosphate to kill snails. Iron phosphate can kill snails, slugs, and other mollusks. Place the trap in the garden or near an area where snails are known to be and they will be attracted to the bait. Snails die when exposed to iron phosphate.
- You can buy iron phosphate at your local garden center or online.
- Iron phosphate will cause the snails to stop eating, but it may take up to a week before they die.
- Iron phosphate is the safest bait because it is non-toxic to humans and pets.
Kill snails quickly with a molluscicide containing sodium iron EDTA. Sprinkle a thin layer on areas where snails are found around evening time. This way the bait remains fresh when the snails come out at night. The snails are attracted by the bait in the mollusk killer and will die within 3 days after ingestion.
- This product is generally safe for yard use, but keep out of reach of children and pets.
- Just spread it in a thin layer. Don’t put too much as other animals may accidentally ingest it and become sick or die.
Raise a chicken to help eat the snails. Chickens love to eat snails, and keeping one in your yard or garden can provide natural snail control. Chickens will help you find snails hiding in your yard and get rid of them without you having to do anything.
- Ducks also eat snails, but they prefer slugs.
- Check your local laws and ordinances to make sure you can raise chickens in your yard.
Encourage snail predators to live in your garden or yard. Natural predators of snails include frogs, toads, turtles, birds, opossums, and snakes. Choose which natural enemies to introduce based on your environment, and you may want to check with your local agricultural extension department or gardening club to learn about biological control options available where you are. They can recommend suitable plants or shrubs and teach you how to create natural habitats like rock patios.
- You can also search online for ways to encourage snail predators to live where you live.
Stop Snail Activity
Water in the morning to prevent snails from laying eggs. Snails need moist soil to lay their eggs. They generally lay their eggs at night when they are active, so you need to allow the soil to dry out before dusk. Choose to water in the morning. After being exposed to the sun during the day, the soil should dry out by evening.
- It is best to use a drip irrigation system or drip irrigation pipes to control soil moisture and prevent snails from laying eggs.
Remove damp, decaying organic matter from yards and gardens. Snails are attracted to these decaying, moist organic materials and if they are not removed regularly, you will definitely attract snails. Check your yard and garden at least once a week and throw this organic matter in the trash or add it to your compost pile.
- Compost is a carnival feast for snails. Discourage snails by placing compost away from yards and gardens and surrounding it with barriers that snails cannot cross.
Set up barriers around your garden or house that snails can’t get past to stop them from getting too close. Suitable options include crushed eggshells, diatomaceous earth, gravel, wood ash, and pine chips. Snails have a hard time crawling over these, so they’re great for keeping snails at bay. Just spread a thin layer over the area where you want to block the snails.
- The easiest way is to crack the eggshells and scatter them in the garden.
- You can also buy diatomaceous earth, gravel, wood ash, and pine chips at your local garden center or online.
Scatter some leftover coffee grounds around your garden to repel snails with caffeine. Snails are sensitive to caffeine and will naturally avoid them. Sprinkle coffee grounds into the soil or on the ground around the house as needed.
- If you don’t drink coffee, ask at your local coffee shop and they may be able to give you the leftover coffee grounds.
Use copper wire or tape to deter snails from moving around. Copper gives snails a slightly electric shock, so they instinctively avoid it. You can apply copper tape around potted plants, along the edges of your garden, or in areas where snails hang out. If you choose to use copper wire, you can use it to tie flower pots or surround your garden.
- You can also scatter some copper coins.
Copper tape can be purchased at your local garden center or online.
Plant plants that naturally repel snails. This includes foxgloves, spurges, fall peonies, daylilies, succulents, giant celery, sage, and fennel. These plants give off odors that snails don’t like or are difficult for snails to crawl over. Plant these plants in your garden or house and snails will be less likely to visit.
- For example, you can place potted plants in areas where snails hang out.
- Keep in mind that foxgloves are poisonous and may not be suitable for growing at home with children and pets.
Prevent Water Snails (Snails) from Invading Fish Tanks
Isolate the plants for two weeks before placing them in the fish tank. Plants in fish tanks tend to harbor water snails, also known as snails. These plants often harbor small snails or snail eggs, which will begin to reproduce once in the fish tank. As long as you isolate the plant for 2 weeks before placing it in the fish tank, you can avoid bringing the plant and the snails into the fish tank.
- During the quarantine period, the snails were captured as soon as they were found.
Treat the plants with a bleach solution before placing them in the fish tank. Mix bleach and water in a 1:19 ratio, then immerse each plant in the solution and quickly remove it. This will kill any remaining snails or eggs. Rinse the plants with clean water before placing them in the fish tank.
- Just dip your plants in the bleach solution for a second to do the work, and do it all in one go.
Clean the entire aquarium, including gravel and bottom sand. If you have time, catch all the snails. Transfer the fish to a temporary tank and empty the tank. Remove everything from the fish tank, including gravel and bottom sand, and vigorously wipe away any snails stuck to the tank walls.
- It is best to replace the gravel and bottom sand.
- Be sure to clean plants and other fixtures before returning them to the tank. One method is to soak in a 1:19 bleach solution. This will kill any snails or snail eggs that are clinging to them.
- If you don’t want to remove everything from the tank, you can just use a siphon to suck out the gravel and bottom sand. Then start grabbing the snails on the cylinder wall one by one.
Raise fish that will eat snails. Some fish will eat snails, which can help protect your tank from snails. Before choosing a fish to keep, check the data to make sure it won’t eat other fish and is the right size for your tank.
- If it is a small fish tank, you can raise a striped loach or a small sand loach.
- If it is a large fish tank, you can keep clown loaches, flat-mouthed catfish, koi, or large goldfish.
- You can also add killer snails to your fish tank. It likes to eat other snails in the tank and doesn’t breed often.
Place a snail trap in the fish tank. The snails will be attracted to crawl into the cage and never come out again. You can easily catch the snails from the fish tank without harming the fish.
- You can buy a snail trap at your local pet store or online.
- You can also make your own snail trap. Place a large piece of lettuce on one side of the fish tank and leave it overnight. Take it out the next morning and take away any snails attached to it.
Add fish-safe copper sulfate to the tank to kill the snails. Snails are allergic to copper and will die in water containing copper sulfate. Most fish are not affected by copper sulfate, so it is safe to use in most fish tanks.
- If you’re worried about your fish dying, check to see if they are sensitive to copper.
- This method cannot be used if there are small shrimps or decorative snails in the tank because they are allergic to copper.
- You can buy copper sulfate at your local pet store or online.
Tips
- If you don’t have time to deal with a snail infestation, contact a pest control company. They should be able to help you remove the snails.
- Do not use salt to kill snails, as this can damage plants and soil in your yard or garden.
- Use coffee grounds with caution as they can affect soil pH.