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AIBU?

To think it's not normal to have slugs in the kitchen and I'm not making a fuss about nothing?

76 replies

lecce · 20/04/2013 21:28

Came down this morning to see a fairly big one on the kitchen floor Sad. Surely no one wants to see this, right? I have a phobia of them anyway. I avoid saying the word (it made me cringe to type it just now and I can't look at it now I have.) I avoid walking past them if I can and cannot imagine ever touching one.

Our last house (we moved 2 months ago) had them coming into the kitchen Angry. I thought it was because it was Victorian, rather than modern. It was the one and only thing I hated about the house and used to make me scream each time it happened (every now and then).

Dh has always been unsympathetic Sad. He knows about my phobia and the first time one came into our last house I absolutely screamed the house down. It was my worst nightmare - one of those things in my home. I had never had it happen before and was totally unprepared. Dh came running downstairs but, when he saw the problem, was dismissive. That is how he has always been. He will get rid of it but always makes a comment (snappy or sarcastic, depending on his mood). If one came in while he was out, I would have to pour a heap of salt on it and then leave it. That would also provoke a comment 9 times out of 10.

This morning, when I saw that this is happening in this house too, I got very upset and tearful. Dh said sarcastically in a fake teary voice, "Oh, I wish we hadn't moved here, it's ruined. Oh no!" Then told me I needed to forget about it.

AIBU to be upset that they get in and to be even more upset with dh's reaction?

OP posts:
PregnantPain · 20/04/2013 21:29

YANBU he sounds a complete knob

HollyBerryBush · 20/04/2013 21:32

I don't understand how they are getting in? I might get a random one if I've had the door open all day, but they don't just appear over night for no reason.

Hassled · 20/04/2013 21:32

Weeell - you need to acknowledge it's an irrational fear, and your DH needs to acknowledge that just because a fear is irrational, it doesn't make it any less scary. I do sympathise - I am irrationally afraid of mice and rats. The sane part of me does understand they won't actually eat me alive, but my gut reaction is to run around screaming.

Have a google of phobias - see if you can find something about how people react to their phobias. It may help your DH understand a bit.

Raum · 20/04/2013 21:35

We use to get them, the get in via very small external spaces near our patio doors. Have sorted it by sealing around all of the external doors in the kitchen. Its not a pleasant sight in the morning so I completely sympathise. His is being lazy and unreasonable

AlexReidsLonelyBraincell · 20/04/2013 21:36

I hate them too, but the salt thing is so cruel.

Just get a huge wad of kitchen roll so you can't possibly feel it, pick it up and throw it out of the door.

maras2 · 20/04/2013 21:37

How very unkind.Is he so dismissive of other things that bother you?I dont like slugs either and my DH does his best to make sure that they don't come in the house,because that is what husbands do when they love you,not take the piss.Actually since we no longer have cats nor a cat flap the slug problem is diminishing.

Floggingmolly · 20/04/2013 21:39

Put some of that mouse mesh over your air bricks. Should stop them getting in.

Misssss · 20/04/2013 21:39

I hate them too - probably the only thing on earth that I'm actually afraid of. the thought of them makes me shudder.

The house I lived in when I was a student had them occasionally. Check for gaps and seal them with silicone. I sprinkled salt liberally behind the kickboards and sealed those too. It can be a sign of damp. Maybe if you mention that to your idiot DH then he might take it more seriously.

Lovelygoldboots · 20/04/2013 21:40

I was plagued with them and used to get them in the kitchen, on worktops, truly gross. It was a gap near patio doors which we sealed and I put soda crystals in all the little crevices. Havent seen one of the slimey bastards since. I do sympathize.

apostropheuse · 20/04/2013 21:41

We've had a couple get in very tiny spaces at the back door. I will need to look at having it sealed. In the meantime you could put salt on your doorstep to prevent them entering.

Your "D"H is a bit of an arse. You can't help if you have an irrational fear. Unless you experience that type of fear it's difficult to understand how seriously frightened you can get.

He needs to be a bit more understanding and one of you needs to find out where they're getting in and seal the hole.

DoTheBestThingsInLifeHaveFleas · 20/04/2013 21:42

We had slugs on our last cottage. They came in the back door if I left it open during the summer nights (small village, no fear of drug addicts stealing TV etc) and once through the cat flap that was stuck open (they didn't push it). They used to eat the cats IAMS. They were really amazing and they can open their gooey mouths really wide and fit a whole cat biscuit in, and they even have teeny tiny sharp teeth!!!

Theala · 20/04/2013 21:45

Pouring salt on them is really really cruel.

If you have a phobia, then sort it out. YABU if you expect everyone to work around your phobia.

DeadWomanWalking · 20/04/2013 21:45

We used to get them in our old house, which was a very old rickedy house with lots of little holes for them to get in. We used to find the slug trails right along the hall carpet and into the living room. Urgh! We started completely covering the outside border of the kitchen with salt which seemed to work.

We get them in the garden of our current house in the summer, thankfully they haven't made their way inside yet. I do put salt down by the front and back doors during the summer though just to be on the safe side.

ceebie · 20/04/2013 21:50

We had them when we first moved into our house. I was like a mad woman every evening with a torch in one hand and pollyfilla in the other. It's actually really hard to see their trails on many surfaces but a torch picks them up quite well. The trails were mostly along one side of our kitchen and the adjacent downstairs toilet and I religiously pollyfilla'd up every little nook and cranny I could find. We also killed all the ones we found. It took a several months but eventually they were gone - not seen one for 4 years now. I don't know whether it was because we had eventually killed all the ones in/near the house, or whether it was because I had blocked all possible routes in, but anyway, they're gone!

Fakebook · 20/04/2013 21:54

This is where watching Mr Bloom pays off. Egg shells or gravel just outside your kitchen door will stop them crawling in.

lecce · 20/04/2013 21:55

Thank you for the replies. Nice to know IANBcompletelyU. I know this is an awful thing to say, but, at the moment, I just do not care how cruel the salt thing is. There is simply nothing else I can do. There is no way I could pick one up in a whole roll of kitchen roll, no way. I shudder to even think about it. The poster who described them eating cat biscuits, with teeth, has also made me shudder Smile.

I probably should address the phobia but I don't have any spare time whatsoever at the moment, and I think dh should be more supportive. Theala, he doesn't have to do much to 'work around' it. He needs to get rid of them for me and we are talking every few months, not him having to drop everything several times a day to bail me out.

I am so angry with him today.

OP posts:
MadamePenguin · 20/04/2013 21:56

I hate slugs, though luckily I'm not very afraid of them.

We never had a problem with slugs until a few years ago I was walking through the kitchen in the dark in my bare feet when I felt something squelch under my foot. I turned on the light expecting to see some dropped food, but then screamed the house down when I saw the squashed slug.

Now we seem to have weeks of slugs then weeks without slugs. When I see them I get them to slither on to an empty raisin boxes then put them outside. Was not happy this morning though when DS1 woke me up at 5:00 shouting "Mum Mum Mum" and I opened my eyes to see a rasin box with a slug on it that he was waving milimetres from my face.

Anyway, YANBU, it's not nice having them in the house, and your DH should be more sympathetic, knowing you have a phobia.

MissSusan · 20/04/2013 21:56

We get them in our house, we put copper tape around the window sill and window, it gives them a small shock but doesn't kill them, you can get it from most hardware shops.

MissSusan · 20/04/2013 21:58

Ooh does gravel work too ? Will try that as an extra deterrent.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 20/04/2013 22:00

We had them in our student house, I did the barefoot squelch thing once too. Not good.

Could you set traps? We bought some slug traps for the garden and put beer in, if you had one in the kitchen they might end up in there instead of on the floor?

FacebookWanker · 20/04/2013 22:00

We had them in one of our recent flats. DP did not believe that I have a phobia. I was absolutely terrified and it still haunts me now. I was sure I could hear them sliming around our bedroom (yes, bedroom) at night. The night I found trails on the side of the bed, I lay there with my heart beating so fast, I thought it would pop out.

They were everywhere. In every fucking room. I used to scream very time I saw one. DP would come running and say "is that it???" I used to have to put a cup or something over it and wait for DP to get rid of it. Anything with slug slime on it had to be disposed of.

When we moved out a painstakingly checked every item for slime before packing. I was also paranoid that we would take a slug with us that would go on to reproduce. (I don't think they need a mate????)

Even the word makes me shudder. I used to have nightmares about them too. Think I need help?


I've had mice in the past and they never made me feel this way.

YANBU

NumTumDeDum · 20/04/2013 22:02

I had them in a rented house. I couldn't work out how they were getting in, it turned out they were coming in through the overflow in the sink.

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ceebie · 20/04/2013 22:03

Endo, the worry with that is attracting more into the house!

GreenPeppercorn · 20/04/2013 22:06

Your husbands reaction doesn't seem very pleasant. Phobias aren't rational by their very nature and yours is

CaffeDoppio · 20/04/2013 22:06

I loathe them too - and although they've never made it into the house I do get plagued by them outside. I solved it by doing this one simple thing - they love cucumber and bread (and many other things too!) so I just put these things at the bottom of the garden and it keeps them busy all night long! Seriously - they'll eat almost anything so pre-empt them by giving them something to eat. It'll solve your problem overnight.

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