We all know why you are reading this article. It is because of that creature, right? I know how pesky that winged creature can be. Cockroach infestation brings a lot of trouble in terms of health and safety to the people living in the house.
This article discusses what attracts roaches, roach infestation, how to get rid of roaches, effective ways to kill roaches, and how to maintain pest control.
1. Troubles Caused by Roaches
The biggest trouble caused by roaches is they contaminate our foods, as they consume what we eat. Roaches are known to spread diseases that lead to food poisoning.
Rodents and mosquitoes are known to spread diseases, but cockroaches are just as dangerous in this regard, not to mention they smell bad because they use epidermal hydrocarbons to communicate.
Cockroach droppings carry bacteria and viruses and spread diseases. Some of these diseases are:
1.1. Common Prevailing Problems
Asthma, E. coli infection, and roach infestation also trigger allergies.
1.2. Harmful Diseases Caused by Roaches
While cockroaches won’t directly make you sick, large numbers—especially those that come into contact with bacteria in drains, toilets, or drains—can quickly contaminate large areas of your home or business.
This is problematic because they don’t even need to be in sight for their disease to pass on to you.
1.3. Salmonellosis
Salmonellosis is a condition caused in humans that is similar to food poisoning, which roaches can bring upon as they are known to transmit the bacteria causing the disease.
1.4. Other Notable Diseases
Cholera, typhoid, Listeriosis, Gastroenteritis, and Giardia.
2. Types of Cockroaches
There are about 4600 roach species in the world. From this, around 30 species are noted to be close to humans (that is, the urban environments, present in households), and some transfer harmful diseases to humans if we are not careful in dealing with the roaches.
One of the creepy facts about roaches is that even the dead roaches (roach’s head separate from its body) can stay alive for a particular time point.
Cockroaches have been present on Earth for a long time. It can even survive a nuclear blast and withstand high temperatures. Below are some of the commonly identifiable roach species,
2.1. German Cockroaches
German cockroaches are one of the largest household roaches in the world, and these roaches can grow to be approximately one inch long.
German cockroaches are most commonly seen in the United States. They are usually brown or tan and measure about 2 inches long. These cockroaches typically live in kitchens, bathrooms, and other places with food.
2.2. American Cockroaches
American cockroaches are one of the largest types found in the United States. These types of roaches can be found anywhere there is standing water or moist areas like drains, sewers, and basements.
The American cockroach is a bit smaller than the German cockroach, and they measure around 1-2 inches long.
2.3. Brown-banded Roaches
Brown-banded cockroaches are a type of American roach that has brown bands on its body. These roaches typically live outdoors but can be found indoors as well if they come from outside sources like firewood or mulch piles.
2.4. Palmetto Bugs
This is another prevalent type of roach found in parts of the USA. Especially known as the Florida palmetto bug, the cockroach is found in tropical areas of the US.
It is easy to come across these bugs in the southeastern regions of the USA as these species are more associated with temperature.
3. Hot Spot Cockroach Shelter
Roaches are night creatures that prefer living in dark and moist places. Places like kitchen cabinets, seal cracks, in between walls, and garbage cans are a few of the prime hiding spots for roaches.
Old cardboard boxes and things dumped in attics and house basements without maintenance are the hot spots for roach infestations.
You see, these spaces are not in common use, and once the roaches breed here, it becomes harder to kill them. At this point, it is highly recommended to approach the pest control professional exterminator.
4. What Attracts Roaches?
Apart from darkness and moist conditions, the attracting factor for roaches is the stinking smell from the waste and dump. So, not disposing of waste and maintaining a clean house will easily attract roaches.
Left-out food waste, pet food stored improperly, grocery items (bread, grams, pulses) left open, dirty dishes, and unsanitary bathrooms attract roaches easily.
5. How do Roaches Enter the Homes?
Now you have an idea of what attracts roaches and why they prefer to stay in particular places. But how do roaches keep entering the home?
5.1. Entry Points
The primary entry points for roaches are leaky pipes, food, and water sources. When you let the leaky pipes function without fixing them, moisture develops in the immediate surroundings. The prevailing moist conditions and the stench from your home invite the roaches to your home.
Adult roaches love this invite and environment as it presents the right conditions, darkness, and free food for an adult to breed. Often, the entry points roach find a closed dark space to fit themselves and work on their nest.
It is quite hard to pinpoint an entry point for roaches as it may differ according to the surrounding environments. But if you notice two or three adult cockroaches, there are likely several baby roaches.
6. How to Get Rid of Roaches:
Now, coming to the deadly part: how to eliminate roaches! It is not simple to completely remove and kill cockroaches from the living space. But before consulting the pest control team, you can take care of dealing with roaches to a certain limit.
To eliminate roaches, knowing where those pesky insects are hiding is necessary!
6.1. Identifying the Nest
Sometimes, calling an exterminator might be your first instinct, but you may be able to save some cash by following the tips below for getting rid of roaches.
Tip: If you are going to begin hunting down hidden pockets of roaches around your house, make sure you take along a vacuum cleaner to eliminate the pests quickly.
If you are at an early stage in the roach problem, you can probably still eliminate cockroaches yourself. Remember that it may take weeks or months to eliminate all of the roaches in your house, so you might want to hire an exterminator if you cannot wait that long.
6.2. Killing the Rookie Numbers
If you find two or more roaches (adult and baby) in your home, you must kill adult roaches first. See, the idea here is killing roaches will reduce the probability of breeding.
Naphthalene balls and pesticide chalk are some of the effective means of tools. Naphthalene balls are usually positioned in old cardboard boxes, sinks, and cupboards to prevent a stinking odor. The chalks are simple to use and can prevent all the roaches from entering the covered area.
6.3. Chemical treatment
One way to get rid of this pesky thing is with the help of insecticides. Boric acid is the most effective chemical against roaches, which can be found in many household products.
You can pop the boric acid powder with the necessary precaution in between the seal cracks and cover it temporarily. This makes sure that the roaches inside the walls would die.
Diatomaceous earth is also the best option. The advantage here is that this powder form can be used in multiple places. You can also spread this outdoors, making it hard for roaches to enter indoors.
Another best option is baking soda, especially close to drainage places and garbage cans. Spreading baking soda in areas where it is particularly wet and moist would be highly effective.
People are actively using insect growth regulators. These chemicals are sprayed onto the spots along with food spills placed as traps, and when roaches eat the baits along with these food spills, they ingest the insect growth regulator and die. In some cases, they also spread it to the nest and kill off other roaches.
6.4. Chemical Combinations
The best DIY roach control method is to form a dough out of equal parts boric acid, flour, and confectioners sugar and strategically drop balls of this dough around the perimeter of the house.
6.5. Traps and Baits
The common way to get rid of roaches without getting dirty is to use store-bought roach traps and cockroach bait. This works because the chemical baits disguise pesticides as food sources and are left with food spills.
Cockroaches return to their nests to die after swallowing the insecticide. Other roaches from the nest will eat them up and eventually spread the poison.
Using glue traps and strips in critical places, like below the sink or kitchen cabinets, can help.
A professional type of roach bait gel is designed in such a way as to avoid attracting other insects while keeping stubborn cockroaches out. These gels are toxic only when eaten by the pest, which guarantees their safety towards pets or children.
Apply this toxic cockroach bait lightly on the places that spiders like or use Gel-style mosquito protection tents around pools where children might play with water to keep annoying cockroaches.
Remember that these methods would work when there are only a few cockroaches.
7. Bringing in the Professionals
If none of the above ways work, you can always bring in the professionals.
The professionals set up the cockroach treatment by setting up cockroach bait. The bait is highly effective in indoor environments like cabinets, wall cracks, house basements, and attics.
The major advantage of bringing in the professionals is that the work will be done smoothly, as their experience would do wonders in handling and finding potential nests and roach eggs.
8. The Simplest Ways to Get Rid of Roaches
What’s the easiest way to get rid of cockroaches?
- By letting enough sunlight into your room.
Yes, this works significantly. Roaches like to stay in dark areas; they do not like sunlight.
- Get rid of things that can attract them in the first place.
Yes, you heard it right. To get rid of roaches, buckle up, clean the house, and dispose of those garbage cans and cardboard boxes. Maintain empty and clean cabinets in the kitchen; this will reduce the nasty critters’ mess with your groceries.
- Using household items to your advantage.
Place lemon peels, coffee grounds, and eggshells in the disposal to trigger a reaction and temporarily make your home inhospitable for these pests.
9. Prevent Roach Infestations
Any extremes you take, roaches are insects that find a way to live in an environment. We must admit this: We can’t eliminate roaches with any extremes of pest control, but we can consistently prevent the roaches from entering our homes.
After all, it is a life form finding ways to live. But we can’t spare that with our own lives at risk!
Here are some effective ways to prevent cockroaches from hiding in your living environment. Because ‘Prevention is better than cure.’
9.1. Storage
The first simple thing that can be done to reduce roach infestation is to store food properly. By practicing regular hygiene around the house, taking out the garbage, cleaning up the greasy food-detritus every day after using your kitchen, and making sure not to leave any dirty dishes around your house, you can help keep the cockroaches at bay.
Store food in sealed containers to prevent roaches from entering and spoiling the food items.
9.2. Cleaning and Maintenance
Whether you have messy dishes sitting in your sink for too long, food scraps sitting on the countertops or floors, or dirty water sitting out; cockroaches are attracted to homes with these qualities.
Even pet food attracts roaches, so if your pets are not eating their dinner, set that out where the roaches cannot reach it. Even if you are determined to keep your food out of cockroaches, vacate your countertops for any spills, and place all your food and dishes away, that still might not be enough.
10. Disposing of the Roaches
If you contact a professional, they will dispose of the dead roaches and eliminate the remaining mess made by the cockroach infestation.
But if you handle the conditions yourself, you should know how to dispose of the dead roaches. If the dead roaches are not disposed of properly, they will invite more pests and insects, bringing in more mess!
So, here are a few things to keep in mind,
- In the heat of the moment, if you smash a roach with your shoes or slippers, don’t touch the dead roach with your bare hands. The chances of exposure to harmful bacteria are high.
- In case you have used glue traps or glue strips, make sure you dispose of the trap set carefully without getting your hands glued.
- If you have used chemical baits or powders, ensure you don’t inhale the powders. When clearing the area, wipe off the powder area with a waste piece of cloth or mop it off with water.
Conclusion
With this, we end this article on how to get rid of roaches. Do try out our suggestions and comment below on how effective it was. Also, share your experience in facing and handling the roach problem.
If you have a new method to prevent or eliminate roaches from your living space, feel free to share it with the world.
