Cockroaches are one of the most hated pests in our homes, and, unfortunately, they are also among the hardest pest control jobs. It’s very hard to completely get rid of roaches, and even harder to keep them gone, especially if you live in an apartment.
Most of the techniques listed below only work as a roach control method, helping to keep the numbers of roaches down low. They can’t typically eliminate all roaches. A combination of approaches, though, can often completely eliminate your cockroach population.
This is a common piece of advice, and it’s good, but limited in effectiveness. Eliminating large sources of food, and especially water can reduce the number of roaches your home can support, but it’s unlikely to completely rid your kitchen of roaches. Why? Because roaches don’t need a lot of food to survive and thrive.
A single crumb of food on the floor is a good meal for a roach. Not only that, but they will eat things that you don’t even think of as food. Grease spots on pages of your cookbook, for example, can be a good meal. They are related to termites and can nibble on wooden spoons, cutting boards, and other tools that have absorbed food or skin oils.
And speaking of skin, if all other sources of food are gone, roaches will eat your dead skin—sometimes off your face—and nibble your eyelashes. They will drink sweat and tears from your body while you sleep. Cleaning up thoroughly and eliminating drips in pipes is a good start, but it won’t eliminate roaches.
Insecticide is also a reasonable approach to control roaches, but not eliminate. You can kill the roaches you see, but the ones you don’t see will still multiply. And then there’s the next generation of roaches that will be born. Even insecticides with residual action won’t kill long enough to completely eliminate roaches, which will also grow more resistant to the toxins you are using.
Poison baits work better than spray insecticides. Roaches eat the bait, which will kill them, but not right away, and go back to their homes. As these roaches defecate, other roaches eat their feces and get poisoned.
When these poison bates were developed, it marked a major turning point in our battle against roaches.
Traps can be used to help reduce a cockroach population, and, especially to gauge how bad your infestation is. You can either use store-bought glue traps or make your own water traps out of a soda bottle or other plastic container.
Boric acid powder is one of the best pest control methods for roach infestations. It’s very effective if used properly, and it works when placed out of sight. The only thing is, it’s hard to use properly.
Predators can also help control your cockroach population. This is hard because most animals don’t like to eat cockroaches. A couple of exceptions are hedgehogs and geckos, which will eat cockroaches voraciously. Some centipedes are also major predators of cockroaches, but do you really want to change one infestation for another?
Like eliminating food, preventing entry of cockroaches is a virtually impossible task. Cockroaches can enter your home through tiny cracks and holes that are hidden from view. Nonetheless, this is a good thing to do. Seal up all cracks, holes, and entrances that you can find. This might make it harder for roaches to enter, but it’s unlikely to keep them out entirely.
Of course, the best way to get rid of roaches is to contact professional pest control. If you are looking for pest control in Castle Rock, please contact Animal & Pest Control Specialist today.
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