Iron Phosphate

This is the active ingredient in Slug-go. I need to know if it is dangerous to amphibians. Spotted salamanders, Frogs, etc.

I did the search here for Iron Phosphate and got oodles of choices.
Here are results http://davesgarden.com/forums/search.php?q=+Iron+Phosphate&submit=%28%3A+Search+forums+%3A%29 looked like it might not harm mammals or birds, but I dont know about frogs and such.
Ground baked egg shells sounds like the best way to go.
;)

Mollusks are nocturnal. That pretty much means that if you see one out during the day, there are probably another 20 or so in the soil munching away. Not that you want to be out hunting them down with your flashlight in your bathrobe after nightfall but that's when you'd catch the most. Both snails and slugs like beer. Why, I don't know and it could have something to do with the yeast content. You can just pour a can out in an old pie tin and that should get quite a few. Probably more than Slug-go would get if you rinsed the pie tin and added fresh beer every night. I suspect the worse case scenario if a frog or a salamander gets in there is that they'd crawl out. I, like sugarweed, have my reservations about Iron Phosphate and herps but they may be unwarranted. Herps are extremely sensitive to any form of environmental contamination. Although Iron Phosphate is said to be wildlife friendly, it is nonetheless a contaminant. The other issue is that a major portion of a frog's diet is actually slugs. Nailing slugs with salt isn't the greatest thing for any plants in the area but it may make you feel better. Other than that, there’s Diatomaceous Earth out there. It may help a little in areas of high slug concentration. It basically lacerates them and they dehydrate and die. The Diatomaceous Earth does a number on many insects and it's 100% au naturelle if that's of any consolation to you. I wouldn't go around sprinkling your yard with this product or you won't be seeing any more frogs and salamanders as you will have quite effectively eliminated a major portion of their diet. All factors considered, beer in pie tins of areas where you may have more plant damage than you are willing to put up with might be the best route to go.

Here’s a site that might interest you-
http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/DE.html
As you can see, this wipes out a considerable number of insects in addition to just the slugs and many of which are beneficial. Here’s where I buy my Diatomaceous Earth which I occasionally use for potted patio plants –
http://www.ghorganics.com/DiatomaceousEarth.html

Here’s a link I found that was very interesting-
http://www.paghat.com/slugcontrol.html

here’s another link that I found interesting-
http://www.palms.org/cgi-bin/ikon/static/clustering-chamaedoreas_topic1-4969.html
Here’s a cut and paste of the comments of consequence. “There's a fairly new snail bait which really does the job. The brand name here is Sluggo. Unlike the traditional baits, all of which contain metaldehyde, it doesn't seem to be at all attractive to pets. It's odorless. You use only a teaspoonful of the granules per square yard. The active ingredient is iron phosphate, which means that when it breaks down, it serves as a fertilizer for your plants. With the old metaldehyde, the morning after baiting you'd commonly see dead or dying snails, usually in rather open areas, such as paths. I discovered that unless you stomped them right away, many of those "dying" would eventually sleep off their little hangovers, and crawl back into the shade to resume their depredations. The iron phosphate works quite differently: it causes the snails to just stop eating, whereupon they usually climb up a stem or wall a short distance, and just sit there and do nothing until the Grim Reaper comes by. And, again unlike metaldehyde, it works well even in damp shade. You still have to keep a lookout for new tiny snail hatchlings, plus any snails whose wanderlust has caused them to drop in from neighbors' properties, for just a bite or two.” Followed up by a poster who typed this, “I will be keeping my eye out for that stuff. I wont use metaldehyde pellets here because I have thrushes that eat slugs and snails and they cant tell the difference between a healthy one and a poisoned one.
It would be nice to have something useable..... as long as the poor thrush doesnt suffer after effects that is.”

Thanks for the information. Guess I'll try beer first. Does any one make a cheap dish that would be easier for slugs to get into? Something where the lip goes to the ground. Maybe just sink the pie pans. I read somewhere they like PBR.

You won't need to find a cheap dish. I do sink them a little just so that if the beer evaporates that the wind doesn't send them sailing. Somehow they manage to get in. I use very old pie tins from Baker's Square.

Get the cheapest beer you can get. It doesn't seem to matter what brand you use. Anything that's on special or that you have a coupon for is fine.