Snail Control: How To Get Rid of Snails

This page is a general Snail control guide. Using the products and methods suggested you will get control of Snails. Follow this guide and use the recommended products and we guarantee 100% control of Snails.

Snails can become an annoying pest to deal with around the home and garden. You probably first notice them from the slimy trail they leave behind as they are slithering around. While they are relatively harmless to humans, they can do a considerable amount of damage to garden plants and leave behind an unsightly mess from the slime residue that tracks everywhere they go.

Snails will mainly be found outdoors close to crops and gardens. This slow-moving pest feeds on leaves, flowers, fruits, ornamentals, and decaying vegetation. While snails rarely come indoors and are usually found outside in the yard, if there’s an infestation, they might venture into garages, and sneak under doors close to ground level.

Fortunately, Snails are quite easy to control with the right DIY approach and the proper control products. The following guide below shares with you a little information about the common snail to help you understand how they function and how you can best tackle them on your property.

Identification

Before you can proceed with using treatment products, you need to confirm whether you are truly encountering Snails via identification. Misidentification can lead to using the wrong treatment methods, costing you time and money.

• Snails and Slugs aren’t actually insects. In fact, they are mollusks, much like clams and oysters. There are thousands of species of snails that exist and different species are able to thrive in different conditions, like the sea snail and freshwater snail. The one we are going to focus on is the common garden snail.
• Snails are easy to identify. They are usually just under an inch to 1.5 inches long, have a soft body, tentacles with eyes and are usually colored brown or green. Other distinguishing traits of a snail are that they have are a hard spiral shell which they use as a shelter to crawl into. Those that don’t have a shell are called Slugs.
• Snails are most known by their calling card: sticky and slimy mucus trails they leave behind whenever they move. This mucus is significant to them as it enables snails to crawl over rough surfaces, and can keep their soft bodies from drying out

Use the image and description above to properly identify snails on your property. If you are not totally sure, contact us and we will assist you with proper identification.

Inspection

Once you have confirmed that you are dealing with Snails, you should proceed with an inspection to pinpoint where Snails are active.

Where To Inspect

Snails do most of their damage at night because they are nocturnal. They are drawn to moisture so they can usually be found in damp, cool areas at night. In the daytime, snails go into hiding, usually under rocks, stones, or any shady area. They are big plant-eaters and chew large, ragged holes in leaves. Snails also eat seedlings, and garden vegetation such as strawberries, lettuce, and cabbage.

Search in the yard, look in leaf litter, woodpiles, dead vegetation, bricks, stones, and yard equipment. You should also check outdoor faucets and plumbing.

What To Look For

You're looking for Snails themselves or signs of their activity such as mucus trails and bite marks on plants. In the yard, look for areas where there are possible leaks or standing water. Make sure to address these areas before moving forward with treatment. Look under leaves of plants in flowerbeds and gardens and also look for feeding damages in these plants.

A good test you can do to confirm that you, in fact, have snails is to use a wooden plank. At night, place the plank near the damaged plants, making sure to put four rocks at each end of the plank, to sustain the wood plank a couple of inches off the ground.

In the morning you should see snails underneath this plank and can get rid of them by throwing them in a bucket of water and rubbing alcohol. Once you have confirmed Snail activity in these areas, this is where you will apply treatment.

Treatment

Once you have confirmed Snail activity it is time to begin treatment. Remember to first read all product labels and follow the application instructions on these labels, and stay safe by wearing personal protective equipment.

We recommend treating Snails or Slugs with an application of Ficam Insect Bait in the areas where you have seen them active.

Step 1 - Apply Ficam Insect Bait

Ficam is an orthoboric acid insecticidal bait that mimics food and will allow Snails to ingest it and ultimately kill them. You will apply Ficam all over the yard especially in areas where snails have been seen (gardens, near fruit-bearing trees, vegetables, and areas of high moisture). 

To use Ficam you will need a granular spreader or you can shake the bait out directly from the container. Determine first how much Ficam Bait you will need by calculating the square footage of the area you wish to treat. To do this, measure (in feet) and multiply the area length and width (length x width = square footage). Ficam should be applied at a rate of 2 lbs. per 1,000 sq. ft. or 6 oz. per 100 sq. ft in garden beds or small areas.

Apply Ficam as a thin layer evenly all over the yard as a broadcast treatment especially in areas with high moisture and near trees or vegetation where snails have been spotted. Monitor the area after a few days to check for snail activity. Reapply with a follow-up application every 4 to 6 weeks until there is no more presence of snails.

Prevention

After Snails have been eliminated from your property, ensure they don't make a return with preventative measures. Here are some tasks we suggest:

• Start by reducing moisture around your yard since snails thrive in areas with high moisture. Do your best to reduce moisture around your home and yard and you will see a significant change in the snail population.
• Rake and dethatch your lawn to improve air circulation. You can also trim back overhanging tree branches to reduce shade and try not to over mulch.
• Water your lawn with 1 to 1.5 inches of water once or twice a week in the morning. This will ensure your lawn gets the water it needs and gives it time to seep into the soil rather than sit on the surface.
• Also, reduce clutter around your yard, this means picking up dead vegetation, leaf litter, wood debris, stones, bricks, and any areas that might create a hiding spot for snails.
• Remove snails or their eggs as soon as you see them will also reduce your population. One snail can produce 430 eggs in a single year.
• Take a flashlight and at night, visit your garden. You might be able to reduce the egg population by simply picking them off and killing them in a bucket of water and a little bit of rubbing alcohol. They will appear in clusters of 40 to 100 eggs in the form of small creamy white balls 4.25mm to 4.0mm in size.
• Tilling the soil regularly can also target eggs hiding beneath the surface of your lawn and destroy them.

Key Takeaways

What are Snails?

• Snails are a slimy pest known to invade gardens and yards, damaging plant life via their feeding habits.

How To Get Rid of Snails

• Get rid of Snails by applying Ficam Insect Bait in the areas where they are most active.

Preventing Snail Reinfestation

• Prevent snail reinfestation by doing your best to reduce moisture in your yard or garden. Reducing moisture will make your yard or garden uninhabitable to snails as the chances of them drying out go up.
• You can also locate and destroy snail eggs that may be present on your lawn by tilling the soil regularly.