It’s a Slug’s Life Photo Gallery by Ron Lutz II at pbase.com

It’s a Slug’s Life

This site is a photo chronicle of the growth and development, from the egg to adulthood, of several individuals of the slug species, Limax maximus, commonly referred to as the leopard slug or the giant garden slug. The slugs you see were bred in the laboratory and are being reared by Paul Robb, Collections Assistant in the Section of Mollusks, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Please direct your questions, comments, or suggestions to Paul Robb (just click his name) with any slug specific questions.

Eggs – 2 Days Old	Eggs – 7 Days Old	Eggs – 7 Days Old	Eggs – 7 Days Old
Eggs – 15 Days Old	Eggs – 15 Days Old	Eggs – 15 Days Old	Eggs – 18 Days Old
Eggs – 18 Days Old	Eggs – 18 Days Old	Eggs – 18 Days Old	Eggs – 18 Days Old
Eggs - 22 Days Old - Hatch!	Eggs - 22 Days Old - Hatch!	Eggs - 22 Days Old - Hatch!	Eggs - 22 Days Old - Hatch!
Eggs - 22 Days Old - Hatch!	Eggs - 22 Days Old - Hatch!	6 Days Old	6 Days Old
6 Days Old	13 Days Old	13 Days Old	13 Days Old
13 Days Old	21 Days Old	21 Days Old	28 Days Old
28 Days Old	28 Days Old	37 Days Old	37 Days Old
51 Days Old	51 Days Old	51 Days Old	51 Days Old
51 Days Old	79 Days Old	79 Days Old	79 Days Old
79 Days Old	90 Days Old	90 Days Old	90 Days Old
119 Days Old	119 Days Old	119 Days Old	119 Days Old
227 Days ~ Adult	227 Days ~ Adult	227 Days ~ Adult

post a comment

Ron Lutz II		02-Jul-2009 23:14
I think the scientist who raised them fed them leafy greens and such. You can email him directly via the link in the header of this page.

ruth		02-Jul-2009 21:08
...what do these leopard slugs eat prey tell? we have a rescued northern brown snake which we have come to understand eats slugs...maybe just slugs in general but not really sure at this point...so what do slugs eat and how can they be kept in doors through a new wengland winter as food for our little snake?? As our neighborhood in inundated with them and snails it would be easy for us to collect them but then what? Your time and attention will be much appreciated. Boston, MA

Jodi!		20-Mar-2009 14:55
Slugs as pets? Cool. I prefer to salt them after it rains though. This site is great. Awesome pictures. I almost sat on a 5 inch (or so) slug at Odiorne Point in New Hampshire over the summer. Are leopard slugs native to New Hampshire? How long will they live (if not squished) and roughly how larger can they get?

michael		01-Oct-2008 18:05
wondering if leopard slugs can live through the winter in new england. we have one as a pet with a snail. if returning him to the wild means a certain death then we could certainly keep him. my son is very interested in them, he's 8. we found the snail as it almost got stepped on, named it gloucester after its city of origin. my son wondered how he got that shell so far from the beach! good question. they are so similar the slug and snail. any issues with them sharing a small space?

Guest		31-Aug-2008 07:10
beautiful pictures on the growth and development

Dee		30-Jul-2008 19:06
I found a very large slug in a garden plant at Wal-mart, and took it home. I live in Alberta, Canada, and have never seen anything like it!!! It is about 4-inches long, when stretched out, and is kind of pinky-brown in color, with a 'bed-skirt' of orange and brown stripes. I would like to know where it came from, and what it needs to thrive. Maybe I can keep it alive long enough to see if a science teacher at a school wants it for their class, in the fall. I found it in a begonia plant, so that is what I have been giving it. The only labelled picture I have found, that looks like the same one, is from england. Please e-mail me at dhorsed@hotmail.com if you can help me out!!

jeff.c.*		25-Jul-2008 17:54
the only good thing about a slug is you can feed them to fish lol!!??!!

jeff.c.*		25-Jul-2008 17:52
these slugs r on there own there crap i apsulutly hate them!!!

hannah morgan		03-Jun-2008 01:58
omg i cant believe you would kill slugs! i love them they are soo cute!

Tereasa!1		19-Mar-2008 02:50
I love the pictures!!!!!!!!!! At my school we have slugs that have laid eggs and my teacher was wondering what the egg cycle was!!11 It is sweet!!!!

jeff		15-Nov-2007 15:50
its fat wan its 119 days

jeff		15-Nov-2007 15:49
its fat wan its 119 days

riki		30-Oct-2007 19:51
That's very cool to see the process as a whole, I have a garden so I try to kill as many slugs as I can in a quick and painless way. It's funny though 'cause our town has slug races and heaviest slug contests every year during a festival in August and my daughter has kept several as pets, her's won once too!

matthew		12-Oct-2007 22:40
you no what the slug killing then is bad

Guest		20-Sep-2007 18:10
slugs are gross

Guest		22-Aug-2007 18:54
Disgusting! I just salted the ones I found on my porch. I love to see them shrivel up and die. SO GROSSSSSS!

Guest		13-Aug-2007 00:13
Excellent site. I never considered a slug as a pet. I just found a large pile of eggs in my garden and wanted to find out more about them. My goodness. I don't want them in my garden, but I don't want to destroy them either. Maybe I should consider relocating them or keeping them as pets rather than pests. Do they need their mother around? Very nice pictures. -Stacy Dwyer BC Canada

Ian		07-Aug-2007 05:18
To the poster directly below me, I hope that leopard slugs are native to your area. Introducing a species of slug such as this could be devastating to the local ecology. Many people take great care to not let even their detritus be thrown out without positively removing all slugs or eggs from the waste matter. Given the fact that the leopard slug is an introduced species to North America (it came from Europe) releasing any into the wild in the states is probably a bad idea. All that aside, leopard slugs are awesome pets!

paul robb		20-Jul-2007 19:49
Pencilfairy, No one I know is really an authority on the subject of raising leopard slugs, so I can only speak from my experience. I've been keeping them for about 3 years and it sounds like you are doing things pretty much right. I've fed mine carrots, cucumbers, zucchini and goldfish flakes(they really go for the flakes). They will stay active at room temperature(or there abouts). At colder temps they slow down and sort of 'hibernate'. I don't know about leopard slugs, but some snails and slugs produce an 'antifreeze', which keeps them from freezing to death in winter. Some slugs find cavities and even go underground during the winter months. Some Leopard slugs are very aggressive, especially during mating season, which runs from mid-summer through mid-fall. Look out for bite-marks and biting behavior. You might reduce the number of slugs if you see this, as they will sometimes kill each other. Speaking of mating behavior, go to Youtube and search for 'leopard slug mating' and you will see a truly amazing video of these creatures. I just set free I some woods nearby a couple dozen of my slugs. I think they tend to fare better and live longer in the wild. How long have you had your leopard slugs? How big are they now and how big were they when you found them? Reply to 'robbp@carnegiemnh.org' if you've received this message. Thanks for the query and good luck! Paul Robb, Section of Mollusks, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Chet King		15-Jul-2007 11:09
Wonderful documentary, well done.

pencilfairy		27-Jun-2007 04:20
So far, I know they like carrots, and make hilarious micro-carrot slug poo when they eat them. As of tonight, I have 17 slugs in a (maybe) 2-gallon container, with fish gravel, begonia blossoms, marigold, algae tablet, dog food pellet, defrosted frozen peas, a broken small Japanese vase (for hiding), a rubber plant leaf, a grapevine twig, and a begonia leaf. I'm trying to make a Slug Spa, and wonder if they will go dormant when it gets colder, or adapt to our usual indoor temp of approx. 62F, maybe becoming slower. I'm going to try to limit their beer ration to one night a week, not enough to drown in, just enough to get a buzz on, as I have been doing for several years during late-night parties. How funky should I let the vegetation become, how much air do they really need, (there is an aluminum lid with many tiny air holes in it, and I open it several times a day) and the water level of the sloped fish gravel is, maybe, a half inch from the bottom, they could get to it if they wanted to. I have access to dog and cat poo, but would really prefer to feed them carrots and other veg, maybe frozen green beans. It's good to know that leopard slugs are not really a "pest" per se: I live in the urban center of a tiny farming town in NW Ohio, and have not noticed slug ravages on lilies, kalanchoes, grapevines, or other things off our patio. However, my husband used to have a beer-brewing hobby, and they did come for that, and for various papers and beer labels that were stuck to the downstairs walls. Should I give them the occasional can label? I'm guessing they will not eat anything that is bad for them, and I can remove anything after a day or two, but, since so many folks think I am absolutely crackers, I'd like to have the happiest slugs possible, just to keep my grandkids interested. Thanks for any advice: I really don't expect much response. if you like quirky music, check out www,redelvises.com, and follw the links for MP3s.

popsy123		06-May-2007 00:31
Very, nice. Thank you for expressing these nice, friendly creatures in a good way. I have one slug named Gary. he's a very cute little guy! I found him while I was playing frisbee after it rained and found him stuck on my frisbee, and he crawled up on my arm!

emily		16-Jan-2007 17:55
i think these photos are great i keep leopard slugs as pets - mine have had many babies and i have some eggs at the moment they are just like these pictures - i am glad you are showing the beauty of these commonly hated creatures

Jo		30-Nov-2006 17:33
Wonderful photographs. In our online journal, I've directed my gardening groups here to get a different perspective of a hated creature, especially since leopard slugs live largely on decaying vegetation and fungi. Beautifully done. Jo

Carol ( mama )		07-Oct-2006 20:31
AMAZING PHOTOS! I live in Buffalo NY and although I don't know Paul Robb on a personal level , I sure know him through my slug experience . Needless to say my first hand look at a slug stuck to my slipper was a memory forever etched in my mind . The slug in my basement was named ELVIS and the smaller one named pickles and I sent them off to PA via the mail . Paul is now the new guardian to both of them . I have been writting back and forth for awhile now and just found out that ELVIS the HUGE slug has had babies , not once ..but twice since he arrived at the museum and I have to admit , I was very interested in how they hatch . Paul gave me your site and I was truly impressed . You are a fantastic photograper ! Keep up the fantastic work ! Thanks again Paul for turning me onto Slugs lol .... And Ron , if you get a chance I would love to see ELVIS highlighted in your photos : )

455 rocket		19-Sep-2006 14:33
Fascinating gallery. I've never been too fond of slugs, mollusca is far from my favorite phyla, but you've done such a great job here that I checked out very shot.

richard		30-Aug-2006 00:03
My 3 year old daughter told me she wanted to see a picture of a slug hatching out of its egg. Thank you for the educational experience

A. Harness		03-Mar-2006 14:27
interesting....very. But I gagged a little. I kept looking though- whatever that means.

virginiacoastline		12-Jan-2006 16:20
amazing and interesting gallery, Ron voted!

Kaja Lund		17-Dec-2005 15:24
This is so amazing to see! Thanks for sharing! Oh and great shots as well.

Mark Hemhauser		15-Dec-2005 17:03
Cool gallery! How long do they live, if they don't get stepped on.

Orr Zahavi		20-Nov-2005 22:40
BEAUTIFUL Gallery!!! I enjoy your talent, Thank you for sharing!! Orr.

Jim Gephart		10-Nov-2005 13:30
How large will they grow? Cool gallery.

EDITH RB		10-Nov-2005 08:02
Very impressive site. I've learned something how they develop. But don't they have shell? Are they different from the other slugs I see with shell? Btw, thanks for sharing and I'd say too that the shots of each images was also great! Voted!

Nick Vivian		09-Nov-2005 20:26
thanks Ron... I feel I've learnt something here .... Snails next!

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