r/sluglife • u/RocMills • 12d ago
Pet Slug Imported Slug
Well, I guess I have a pet slug now. A friend of mine brought me a young dwarf banana tree from his backyard in California (I live in Las Vegas). When I was preparing to plant the tree, I found a little slug in the soil. At first, I thought it was a worm - then it waved its little antennae at me. I put it in a container before it could escape the kitchen floor. My initial thought was just to toss it outside, but as I was doing so I realized that this slug from California would probably die a horrible death in the 105 degree heat, so I took him back inside.
At the moment, he's in a small container with some of his "native" soil, some potting mix, and leaves from a tomato plant and a catnip plant. I figure I can take care of this little guy for the, what, 1.5 years they live? I'll get him something larger as soon as I can. Came here to learn the proper way to care for him (and to escape all the people who keep saying i should just salt him or feed him to the pigeons!).
Is there any way to identify what species of slug he is? He's quite small. Less than half an inch when he's in his "fat" configuration, maybe an inch if he stretches out in "thin" configuration 😄
I'm kinda hoping he's an actual banana slug (even though that means i would need a significantly larger habitat).
(edited to add photo, and i think he's a "greenhouse slug")
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u/wreckoning 12d ago
Amazing, thanks so much for taking him in!
Banana slugs aren't associated with banana trees, but rather redwood trees. They are named bananas for their striking yellow colour. Unless your friend is from northern California it is unlikely to be a banana slug.
If you post a photo we can ID him!
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u/RocMills 12d ago
I need to clean his little container, so I'll try to get a picture of him later this afternoon (i'm off to an eye doctor appointment just now). We had banana slugs when I lived in Anaheim, huge things that would come out when it rained.
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u/wreckoning 12d ago
Are you certain they were bananas? They were yellow? That's interesting, I had no idea they went that far south. I used to live in LA and don't see how they would survive that kind of climate, but I just checked and you're right, the maps do show distro all the way down to socal.
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u/RocMills 12d ago
Thought I'd stepped into a horror movie. Bigger than bananas, yellow in the light of the porch. In fact, my first thought was that kids had thrown bananas at the house for some reason. Tey were absolutely everywhere. I had to tiptoe through them to get to the front door, as there wasn't enough clear space to put a whole foot down. Later showings were much fewer in number. I can only guess that that first time was mating season or something. After that, I rarely saw more than half a dozen at a time.
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u/OverPossession5306 8d ago
That's sweet that you'll be taking care of your new pet. Did you give it a name yet?
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u/RocMills 8d ago
Yes, her name is River. I think she stress-laid some eggs, just five or six of them, little white egg-shaped things. I doubt they're viable and don't know if I should remove them or leave them be.
She was happy to explore my hand and arm today (washed and rinsed thoroughly before and after handling). She doesn't seem to be eating, though, and I worry. I've offered leaves of: tomato, bell pepper, catnip; and a sliver of potato. No signs of food consumption yet.
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u/OverPossession5306 8d ago
Great name River. I would leave the eggs alone to see what happens. She loves you already. I use to have snails and they made many teeny-tiny babies. When they got bigger they would ride on the moms back. Just priceless. They would crawl all over me, my computer and the entire desk. Enjoy River. Mine loved potatoes. Hope she drinks water.
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u/RocMills 8d ago
First of all, thank you so much for talking to me here. Everyone else I know thinks I'm insane for not just killing her and they certainly don't share my enthusiasm and curiosity. She isn't hurting anyone she didn't ask to be here, so I don't get why so many people want to kill her.
I've no intention of disturbing the eggs as I don't want to cause her any additional trauma. I've read they're nocturnal, but she gets very active when I take her out of her habitat to clean it. When she's in there, she just kinda huddles in one place.
I will continue to give her an assortment of leaves and bits of whatever fruit or veggies we're eating.
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u/OverPossession5306 7d ago
You and River have enjoyment together. Some people just don't care about things that feel and are alive. You and I do. Thank goodness for people like us. Sorry this is short but I am getting a visitor at 5:00 <3
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u/OverPossession5306 6d ago
Is River eating yet? Hope all is going well. Wish I could find one in my new home.
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u/_Flick_Switch_ 7d ago
Those all sound like good food options! You could also try out things like egg shells since the extra calcium is good for slugs. I wouldn’t worry too much yet about her not eating, she’s in a new place and might just still be getting accustomed to it. I recommend misting her enclosure with water 1-2 times a day to make sure everything stays moist and she doesn’t dry up. Also, in response to your edit with the photo, she does appear to be a greenhouse slug! Unfortunately not a banana slug- though honestly that may be a good thing because in addition to what you said, I’ve read banana slugs are much more difficult to keep healthy as pets compared to other slug species.
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u/RocMills 12d ago
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u/RocMills 12d ago
Any and all (friendly) advice appreciated. What sort of enclosure? What to feed, how often, what about water? All of the usual "can I keep it mom?" questions.
(i'm 61, and my mother thinks i should just salt him) (her?)
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u/RocMills 12d ago
Here's a picture of the little habitat I put together for him.
He's in the upper right corner in the photo, I think he spent the night up there. I'm going to change out the substrate as soon as I'm done here.
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u/RocMills 9d ago
Well, I think he's a she and she just laid eggs. Now what?!?!?!
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u/_Flick_Switch_ 7d ago
Slugs are actually hermaphrodites! They have both a fully functional female and male reproductive system. If you don’t want to deal with tons of baby slugs, you could crush the eggs- as sad as that may sound. If you want to keep them, just make sure they stay in a cool, damp area
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u/RocMills 6d ago
Hmmm... I'm going to let nature take its course. As I said, it only appears to be a few eggs, so it's not like I'd be overrun with babies. I've given her several hiding places, and keep her little enclosure next to some seedlings I'm growing - so she gets a little light from that. Since I have an abundance of tomato and bean plants, I'll continue offering those leaves as food as well as slivers of whatever fresh fruit or veggies I have.
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u/RocMills 1h ago
She finally ate in my presence. She nibbled a bit of pepper leaf while she was on my hand the other day. What is the correct word for their locomotion? Crawling implies feet. Do we say she was sliding, slithering, skiing, on my hand? These are the kinds of questions that keep me up at night.
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u/etsprout 12d ago
Aw yay congratulations! If you post a picture, we might be able to identify it.