I haven't had a problem with slugs or snails on my bamboo. I do have them on other plants. I use Sluggo. It is safe for animals and it works pretty good. Is your soil damp? They seem to like that.

Slugs can be a problem. When the shoots first come up, they are very soft. If a slug starts eating, it can damage the culm. I once saw a 15' high culm that had a hole in each internode in exactly the same position all the way up the culm. A slug had gotten to a couple inch high shoot and had eaten a hole through multiple layers in one spot. As the shoot elongated into a culm, this resulted in the multiple holes in the mature culm. I live in your area and suggest Sluggo around new shoots if you have a lot of slugs. Then, after you've dealt with the slugs, you need to worry about the squirrels...