Slightly Dumb Question of the Day: Slug Slime

[wildpeas]

Today while foraging in the backyard my campbell and one of the runners(6weeks) ate an extremely large green and black spotted slug and now have a lot of slime coming out of their mouths. I have been trying to clean it out with damp paper towels but the stuff is super sticky and doesn't want to come out. Its on the inside of their bills and around their tongues.

Will this sticky glue-like snot cause a problem? Will it glue their mouths shut? Will it go away on its own? If not, how do I get rid of it? It is very tenacious.

 

[TheOutcast]

Hold thier beak open and use a damp paper towl (warm water will work best) to clean out the goo

 

[newbyduckmom]

Sometimes my ducks are able to clean it off themselves with a bowl of warm water several inches deep - they are getting good at getting rid of Washington Slug Slime....and the slugs too of course! The native slugs seem to be worse than the non-native ones where slime is concerned for some reason. (the green ones are native to WA, the brown ones are not).

 

[Amiga]

I was intrigued by the title of this post!

We don't have the huge slugs here in southern New England, but we have some. I try to get the ducks to head for the water if they are working hard to get anything down. Can you toss a few peas in a bucket of water to entice the duck into gobbling underwater and possibly rinse some of the slime?

When removing slug slime from my hands, I use a dry towel. It seems to work better than a wet one.

 

[wildpeas]

Amiga I wish we had smaller slugs. The one they got was easily 6 inches long and bigger around than my thumb and its early in the season.

It looks like we got all the slime. I cant believe how sticky it was and how patient the duckling were with all the prying open of their bills and paper towels and wiping and pulling. I think I am going to go on slug patrol and dispose of the jumbos until the ducklings are a little bigger.

 

[Amiga]

I am generally nonchalant about creepy-crawlies, even like many of them, but I have seen northwestern slugs. shudder.

 

[rainplace]

As long as they have access to water and dirt they can clean their own bills. I live in the slug capital of the US and have seen some extremely slug slimed bills. It's not problem, don't worry.

btw, if you want to wash slug slime off your hands, learn from your ducks; use mud.

 

[rainplace]

wildpeas, just saw you're from the same general area as I am from. Rain and slugs are why the pacific northwest is so suitable for ducks

 

[Amiga]

So good to "see" you, rainplace.

 

[rainplace]

So good to "see" you, rainplace.

Always good to "see" you, Amiga!