cockroaches

[youngbuckwithapickuptruck]

my gf saw a big cockroach in our minivan

weve been staying in her mothers house in suburban georgia the past week with the van baking in the driveway and our canned/dry food cool in the garage. i had the bags of open snacks, granola, trailmix, pasta, rice, flour, etc. inside some plastic tubs to keep the bugs out. those are her mothers plastic tubs and they do not fit in our minivan. this evening we loaded all the food back into the van, tonight my gf saw a big cockroach in the van. im guessing it hitched a ride in the crate we keep all our semi-clean cooking utensils and random cooking stuff.

what do we do now?
i ran to walmart 15minutes before closing to grab roach traps.
i put the bags of dry food back into the rubber tubs in the garage. i will go through them in the morning.
we plan on staying a week at her grandma's as well, maybe we could bug bomb or something?

 

[Ravella and X]

Gentrol point source. It's pretty much birth control for cockroaches. Approved for use in food storage areas, even in restaurants. No mess. Safe around pets.

When I lived on Kauai, I made it my purpose in life to live as cockroach free as possible. This stuff is the magic ticket. The silver bullet. The cat's meow.

 

[BelgianPup]

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) kills them, and it's non-toxic to people and pets (but don't inhale the dust). Only buy the FOOD GRADE type, usually available at livestock feed stores, like Tractor Supply.

It kills any bug that has a carapace (shell), by dehydrating the creature. Put enough of the powder around (or in) your containers so it's deep enough that they have to kind of wade through it (1/16th to 1/8th inch deep), so it works under their shell.

Be aware that most plastic storage tubs (like Rubbermaid) are NOT insect-proof. I asked Rubbermaid specifically, and they said they aren't.

I've also used this in campsites, putting a ring of it around each tire, to prevent ants from climbing inside.

Tip:. One pound of DE costs about $10. 5 lbs costs $15. 25 lbs costs about $30.
Thus, 25 1-lb bags costs $250. 'Ell of a difference!

 

[GotSmart]

^^^^^^^^^

D E  is the answer to your problem. Put it in the edge and corners, cracks and around food storage.

 

[Ravella and X]

Agreed that Diatomaceous Earth is a great tool in battling cockroach infestations. However, it only impacts two groups of roaches -- those who come in direct contact with it, and those who clean it off of them back at the ol' cockroach homestead. So the eggs keep hatching. Babies grow fast and breed, and the cycle continues. Less cocokroaches, but still cockroaches.

The gentrol point source is an airborne thing. They breathe it in. The first gen after, you'll see some roaches with deformities. Then there won't be a second generation.

 

[crofter]

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) .....I've also used this in campsites, putting a ring of it around each tire, to prevent ants ....

Good to know that it works on ants too.

I saw an add for a targeted spray insecticide safe for kids & pets but cannot recomend personally.

What about sticky traps? Grainger has them for cheep $. I have not caught anything but dust and a feral cat in my sticky traps so cannot personally recomend those either.
-crofter

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I wouldn’t worry, it will leave, if it is a big cockroach, the large cockroaches like to live in wood piles, outside, damp mouldy places, they sometimes come in but they are not likely to do much damage or hang around, they are nocturnal so if you turn on the lights at night you may see him walking on the ceiling, kill him, squish. I know they are creepy but really harmless. I had one a few weeks ago that got away from me when I tried to catch it, a few days ago someone got in the passenger door and the cockroach jumped out. The little German cockroaches are another story, they reproduce by the millions and once they are in your place you need an exterminator in a hurry. This is the type restaurants often have problems with. They can go from one to a milllion in a very short period of time and will find homes in every warm dark place you got. Give your house guest a name keep an eye out for him, don’t waste your money on sprays, you wouldn’t go to all that trouble if you saw a fly in your van.

 

[MotorVation]

^ This.  We call them palmetto bugs in Florida.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

apparently they need a water source to hang around

 

[eDJ_]

When I was working in corporate, the facility I worked in had a young woman who showed up twice a month and sprayed for roaches. 

I spoke with her about roaches and she explained that a multiple approach would work best,  but she was sent there just to spray.  So I asked about what to do at home.  She told me this.  Visit a Dollar store and find a roach powder that comes in a squeeze bottle.  It is Boric Acid & Powdered Sugar mixed together.  When a roach eats it it won't be able to digest anything it eats and will starve to death.  Second to get those square cardboard glue traps and place along the walls in corners.  Once they enter they get stuck in the glue and will die.

DE is also great for unwanted insects.  Swimming pool supply places usually carry it.

 

[WanderingRose]

In my experience, an isolated, single cockroach does not mean an infestation.

It could have come in on or in something, then if you killed it that would be the end of it.

A child who visited us years ago used to bring one or two in inside his backpack.

We would kill it/them, and never had to treat our residence or the RV.

We began keeping clothing for him so he wouldn’t have to bring anything from home, and that was the end of that.

I would pull everything out and clean thoroughly, be sure there aren’t more and go from there.

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah the boric acid works on ants too. Highdesertranger

 

[Gypsy108]

I lived in Florida for 4 years...I heard about putting BAY LEAVES under & behind & inside stove, fridge, cupboards, etc.  It seemed to work for me.  I never kept food in cupboards... everything in fridge...
Most places sprayed where I lived ... but I still did the bay leaves....