UpDate post #21, page 2!!!, Disgusting Topic but I need Help!!

[tink2dw]

I need help with Pet friendy home remidies to repelled and or kill roachs???

I just moved away from ants being the pests[for which I just read the best way to kill them is to spread dry grits over their hill, the ants will take the grits to the queen and then when she drinks water, the grits will swell and kill her then the rest of the hill will die!!],

Now it is roachs ! 3 different types. 1" inch ones with wings, these make me scream,[almost as bad as snakes do!!] 1/4 inch ones that squish with a fly swatter and then ones that are tiny but fast critters. We have had the insect sprayer pros in 3 times, but it seems like they get worse after ever time they spray.

So, we went and got a pack of 12 bait traps and 2 egg traps and set them out according to the instructions. We still are seeing all these roaches.

So, today I washed down all the counters and tables with water and vinger.

Then I read up online to spread out bay leaves around the house which I did. It said to spread ground rosemary around Pet bedding and food dishes and I did this, too.

I poured bleach and baking soda down all the drains

Tomorow we will vaccum and steam clean the floors with lemon juice.

What else works? to repell these beasts?? Please help!

The only thing I won't try is to get Gecko lizard !!!! Besides it might become cat food?? And thats just not right!!

 

[finz2left]

BENGAL roach spray. It is a gas and though expensive, it gets those buggers and kills them from their central nervous systems. Use it EVERYWHERE under cabs, oven, in cabs.

Also, do the OUTSIDE with Ortho Defense (with bifethrin).

You will need to keep pets out for 2 hours...if you want the roaches gone, you can't be organic!

 

[SandrA9810]

I'm assuming you're in Florida, or the south area. Down in Miami it was bad to see a palmetto bug, the really huge roaches that fly, but they weren't invasive. When I moved to Orlando, it became an infestation of the german roaches (which come in different sizes).

The worst part, was living in an apartment. They lived between the walls because they like dark moist places. So I'm guessing the hot water flowing through the pipes helped with that. On top of that, they would only treat one apartment at a time, but there's usually like 8 units or more in one building. So they'd live in the walls until the pesticide/fumagator stuff wore off. Then they'd be back in full force. And say a neighbor had their place done, they'd scavage off to the other units in droves.

I did finally find one product that worked fairly to keep them away from the kitchen.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

They sell it at Home Depot in the Garden department. I could go to town with roach spray, and besides killing on contact, it did nothing to keep them away. I placed these every where. Behind the toaster oven, top shelf of the cabinet, And one in the corner by the sink. They love finding the sink at night for a bit to drink. We always used our dishwasher, because we could load up the dirty dishes in it till it was full without worrying about bugs getting in it.

The best advice, is keep the place dry as can be. Wipe down all the counters/sink with a towel. They love crevices. Even tiny ones. I recently vacuumed out a whole bunch of tiny bugs from the peg holes in the cabinet (the ones for adjusting the shelf). If you have a laundry room or pantry off the kitchen with a door, leave the door open. They love the crack between the frame and door. Ohh and they love heat, so I've found them in the outlets behind appliances. So cover up the outlets when not in use, and try not to leave anything plugged in that would stay warm. Or try to move the appliance to the side of the outlet, so it's not hidden.

 

[dclfun]

The only thing that ever worked and kept on working was a product I ordered from online from a pest control company- I'll need to look up the name but it's a gel in an extruder tube. That stuff is great! We live in Orlando and lived in New Orleans before that...aka birthplace of the roach, lol Once you use it, the roaches are absolutely gone and for a long time too.---Kathy

 

[lovehoney]

I've had a lot of luck with the Hotshot roachbaits. They say they last 12months but here in Texas they last about 3 months. I pretty much change them out when the seasons change. My sister just moved from Washington state back to Texas. She wasn't taking any chances so she has a service come out every 2 months. Culture shock or is it Nature shock?

 

[LuLuO]

Oh goodness roaches are the worst. Ack! We lived in an apartment that was infested with roaches. It was horrible. Finally after months of regular sprays, the management wound up having to approve knocking holes in the walls throught the building for the pest compnay to treat. We had to leave the premesis for 10 hours, along with our pets. I don't know what they did but the roaches did get worse for a couple of weeks and then they were just gone.

Now, in our house we do get water bugs, which are a kind of roach, but I spray around the peremiter of our house every four to six weeks with some kind of OrthoMax roach killer. I load our foundation with it and fill up any cracks in the foundation or our patio.I hate using that stuff but I hate roaches more. I hire an "earth friendly" company to spray inside every 4 months because we have pets and small kids and I don't want to use Ortho inside.

Also, seal up all of your cereals, chips, sugar and whatever else in tupperware type containers. Clean up around the pet food daily. Don't leave dirty dishes in the sink. If you have a wet basement try to remedy that if at all possible.

 

[fugarwe]

I own rental properties and the hands down approved way landlords DIY is with "Combat" roach gel. You can buy it at Walmart and the like. It will take a few days to a week to kill them all, but it will target the colony and will work well. Do NOT use it in conjunction with sprays. Sprays just drive them into the walls. It kills some, but not others. If you use the Combat as per instructions on the box, in short order you will have no more roaches.

Since you live in Florida, I'd recommend a regular treatment. It's not that expensive. I put out the bait and watched the roaches come out and eat it!

PS, don't mind the palmetto bugs. They are annoying, but not like those little german fellas that want to live with you. Palmettos in your house are just lost.

 

[cbg1027]

I think the best control is prevention. Keep your house spotless and they won't have as much reason to come in. Easier said then done, I know.

It's a lot harder if you live in a place with shared walls (apt or townhouse).

I lived in a unit of a duplex for a few years and never used any kind of pest control because I don't want to use the chemicals. I have pets and allergies, and was just not comfortable with using lots of chemicals in my home.

I kept my house clean, and would see the occasional roach, but only a few sightings in 2 years.

I went to live in France for a year, so I subleased the unit to other people while I was gone. When I came back after they moved out, there were roaches and other bugs everywhere. It was super disgusting. The people obviously didn't keep things very clean.

I did a major cleaning before I moved back in, and saw a lot of bugs at first, but over time, the sightings decreased.

And this is a house in FL...where bugs are practically pets!

On the other hand....my mother and grandmother swear by the Combat bait stations. They seem to work well, but my house doesn't have any and there aren't any more roaches here than at their houses.

One time one of the dogs got a bait station and chewed it up. We were freaking out, and called Combat, where they told us that the bait is NOT poisonous to mammals, so cats and dogs won't be harmed by it.

Good luck.

 

[SandrA9810]

One time one of the dogs got a bait station and chewed it up. We were freaking out, and called Combat, where they told us that the bait is NOT poisonous to mammals, so cats and dogs won't be harmed by it.

Good luck.

I had this happen to us. One of the apartments we lived in, this was their "pest control". They came in and dropped a few baits on the ground and left. Yeah, my dog was the first one to find them. Twice we came home to a half eaten roach bait. We kept searching for them, but she was the first to find them.

Once we started getting the ones I mentioned before. I kept those on the counters and cupboards. I wasn't gonna try to sneak by with under the fridge or someplace like that.

 

[rock_doctor]

Easy. Borax. Swing by your local hardware store and look for Harris roach tablets (yellow and black box). You may also find it in your local supermarket. The tablets are borax which is not going to harm you 4-legged family members, although if they eat one they will puke a little.... We are from SW Florida and we had the tablets thrown under and behind all of the furniture and they actually work quite well. Plus they are cheap and last for years...

 

[tink2dw]

What made you guess Florida? I wish!! But no. I live in a Southwest state, east of California.

And we do live in a block of apts. I just told Dh I thought the roaches were traveling from apt to apt according to which one was one had just been sprayed!!

I think I'll get a couple of the Combat baits ang put them in the AC vents!!

 

[NotUrsula]

Easy. Borax. Swing by your local hardware store and look for Harris roach tablets (yellow and black box). You may also find it in your local supermarket. The tablets are borax which is not going to harm you 4-legged family members, although if they eat one they will puke a little.... We are from SW Florida and we had the tablets thrown under and behind all of the furniture and they actually work quite well. Plus they are cheap and last for years...

Not borax, but boric acid (they are not quite the same thing.) The best method with boric acid is to make "bait balls"; peanut butter is a popular mixing agent for this. (obviously not a good idea if you have dogs, but cats normally won't touch it.)

As previously mentioned, Bengal is quite effective, though rather toxic. It was developed in Louisiana, where roaches are even harder to get rid of than they are in Florida.

 

[intheworks]

try food grade diametous earth. not sure if that is spelled correctly. it is safe with pets but can be a little messy if they walk thru it cause it is a fine powder. you would need to wear a mask to sprinkle it so you don't breath the dust in. you can google more info on it. i know amazon sells it.

 

[tink2dw]

We actually live in Mesa, Arizona. We moved from Oregon. In Oregon we would always keep the sugar in the freezer to keep the ants away from it. I've been keeping the sugar in the freezer for 20 years. and personally I think it keeps the sugar fresher.

 

[SandrA9810]

LOL. Most roach problems come from the southern states, where it's warm and humid. So i don't know why they like the dry heat of AZ.

The one thing to remember is they can get through the tiniest holes. No matter how big they are.

It's hard when you're in an apartment because every one has to be on the same page with effort. You've got one or two who don't care, and all your efforts are worthless.

I have shot off bug bombs in the apartments before. We'd leave for the weekend, so when we got back there was very little airing out to do. I also used a flea bomb since we had pets.

Clean and dry is the best defence.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I need help with Pet friendy home remidies to repelled and or kill roachs???

I just moved away from ants being the pests[for which I just read the best way to kill them is to spread dry grits over their hill, the ants will take the grits to the queen and then when she drinks water, the grits will swell and kill her then the rest of the hill will die!!],

Now it is roachs ! 3 different types. 1" inch ones with wings, these make me scream,[almost as bad as snakes do!!] 1/4 inch ones that squish with a fly swatter and then ones that are tiny but fast critters. We have had the insect sprayer pros in 3 times, but it seems like they get worse after ever time they spray.

So, we went and got a pack of 12 bait traps and 2 egg traps and set them out according to the instructions. We still are seeing all these roaches.

So, today I washed down all the counters and tables with water and vinger.

Then I read up online to spread out bay leaves around the house which I did. It said to spread ground rosemary around Pet bedding and food dishes and I did this, too.

I poured bleach and baking soda down all the drains

Tomorow we will vaccum and steam clean the floors with lemon juice.

What else works? to repell these beasts?? Please help!

The only thing I won't try is to get Gecko lizard !!!! Besides it might become cat food?? And thats just not right!!

years ago in my first house there was a swarm of these flying things and dead carcasses all over my floor by the back door (termites!!) they came from a rear wood deck that the original owner throw all the garbage wood under, which of course we did not know.......I totally freaked out, took out a vacuum and then literally started vacuuming over and over and over THEN I threw out the vacuum
and called an exterminator.
I swear by the electric plug in devices for all pests. I have used them with success (got them years ago on qvc.) I sent them to my sis who used to be in NYC in an apt....OMG, talk horror story, like the lovely mouse that made her kitchen stove its entrance to her kitchen....she used to sit up commando style and try and flame that little sucker...and then call me at midnight freaking out....it was awful...then she started with the plugs ins and used steel wool everywhere she could possibly shove it...It worked. bugs, pests of any kind FREAK me out! UGH....
Best of Luck to you! Gives me the heebie Jeebies for sure....

 

[Calliaz]

The best way to treat roaches here is actually to treat the sewer system. My city will come out and treat the sewer if you call. You might want to call the wastewater division in Mesa and see if they will dust the sewer. Some bug companies can also dust your main line.

At a former house, we had a big problem with roaches. You can put bleach down the drains and close them at night. One of my friends swears by boric acid: http://www.mouthstick.net/tipsbits/boric.htm

Good luck!

 

[Ava]

I did finally find one product that worked fairly to keep them away from the kitchen.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Thank you for this link, I'm going to try these. I have some other types of baits but they aren't working any more. I think now that it's cold out the roaches are coming into the apartments more. We weren't seeing them much over the summer but now I'm starting to see them more. I can't do the sprays because we have 2 cats.

 

[Belle5]

I know how to take care of one of your roach types, at least...get outside and spray your trees top to bottom (all the branches) with some good professional spray from Home Depot. (I am trying to remember the brand--I know a former Orkin employee told us what to do). The trees are where a lot of the big ones live. Many years ago we bought an infested forclosure home. We had all the kinds of roaches by the millions--found a nest behind the tiles in our huge shower. Put off some bombs and went to a hotel. The tree trick did more for us than anything else. We got rid of every kind of roach and they never came back and we never, ever had to treat again. The former Orkin guy told us that was a secret in the industry--don't spray the trees--just treat the house and perimeter outside and you will get called to come back and retreat every month or every couple of months.

Since we built our current home twelve years ago, we have never planted big trees near our house. We have never had a roach. We have seen our next door neighbors get sprayed monthly.

 

[Friendly Frog]

If you have pets I strongly encourage you to "double check" the safety of any product you decide to use. Product formulas change and a product that was pet safe at the time one person used it might not be so later on. Also, possibly something makes a large dog puke might kill a small dog, or a dog that fails to puke up the substance. OK, ok I worry too much. Just want to keep the fur babies safe.