How to Spot, Get Rid Of, and Prevent Cockroaches in Your Home
websitebuilder • September 5, 2018
Cockroaches are disgusting bugs that can reproduce and multiply quickly, invading your home and your food and leaving your home uninhabitable if you don't take care of the problem. Cockroaches may not harm you — in that they do not sting and are not poisonous — but they can carry disease and their odor and feces may aggravate those that suffer from allergies or asthma.
Many people may have cockroaches in their homes and not even know they have them until their home is completely infested. Know how to spot cockroaches, get rid of them, and prevent them from coming into your home with the tips below.
How to Spot Cockroaches
Cockroaches look similar to beetles and are brown or reddish brown. They can be anywhere from a 1/2 inch to 2 inches long, depending on the type of cockroach.
Cockroaches are nocturnal, so unless you're up at night and spot a live insect when you turn on the light, you most likely will not see them during the day (unless you have a large infestation). Cockroaches come inside looking for food, water, and shelter, and are most likely to be in your kitchen or bathroom.
Look around your kitchen and bathroom beneath the sink, behind the stove or refrigerator, and in cupboards or pantries for egg casings, feces (which look like coffee grounds), or even skin casings (from shedding their skin). Use a flashlight when looking.
Also, look behind couches and other dark areas in your home such as basements or crawl spaces.
How to Get Rid of Cockroaches
If you've spotted live insects, casings, or feces, get rid of any roaches you have in your home. You can set traps around your home using borax and a sugar substance such as granulated sugar or even jelly in a small container. Set these traps, which will attract the cockroaches to it. When they eat the substance, it will kill them.
Other things you can do includes spraying a pesticide around the walls of your home or using a bug bomb to kill these and other insects in your home.
However, especially with large infestations, leave most pest control problems to the experts. They have the equipment, experience, and resources to provide effective, long-lasting solutions for cockroach control.
How to Prevent Cockroaches
Prevent these pests from getting into your home in the first place, and from ever returning by following these tips:
- Clean: Wipe down counters, floors, and all appliances in your home to prevent attracting these and other pests from coming inside. These and other pests will come inside looking for food, so don't give them a free meal. Wipe down hard surfaces with a cleaning agent such as bleach wipes or use soap and water.
- Remove garbage: Cockroaches will look for their meal in your garbage, so if you have garbage laying around close to your home, get rid of it immediately. Take all garbage out of your home and don't allow it to build up. The garbage outside of your home should be in sealed bags and in a trash container with a lid that shuts tightly to prevent against cockroaches and other pests.
- Seal your home: Cockroaches and other pests can get into the tiniest of cracks and crevices. Make sure your home is sealed tightly. Check your window and door weather stripping to ensure it is in good shape. Replace anything damaged. Also, seal cracks in your home's foundation with concrete caulking, and add silicone around pipes and wiring that comes into your home.
Prevent an infestation by performing some preventative maintenance around your home. You can talk to your local pest control company
for successful prevention strategies.
If you think you may have a cockroach problem, call Anteater Pest Control for help getting these pests out of your home and prevent them from returning.
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