Cockroaches are one of the most detested pests. They are also one of the most difficult pests to deal with because they are very hard to eliminate completely. Most of the methods we’ll discuss will control roaches rather than totally eliminate them. However, there is a combination of approaches that can often completely eliminate your cockroach problem. A-Tex Pest Management offers helpful cockroach prevention and control tips below.
1. Eliminate Cockroach Food & Water Attractants
Cockroaches will come into your home searching for food and water so you want to eliminate it as much as you can. This advice is good, but not completely effective. Getting rid of large sources of food and water can do a lot to reduce the number of roaches in your home, but probably won’t completely get rid of them in your kitchen. The reason for that is cockroaches don’t really need a lot food to survive. A tiny crumb of food is all a cockroach needs for a meal. They will also eat things you don’t consider food, like spots of grease or tools in your kitchen that have absorbed food or oils like cutting boards and wooden spoons. Even if you manage to eliminate all the food, they will nibble on your dead skin cells!
2. Use Chemical Insecticides to Get Rid of Cockroaches
You can also use insecticides to combat cockroaches. Insecticides can reduce numbers but won’t eliminate them completely. That’s because insecticides will only kill the ones you see while the others, that are hiding, continue to reproduce. Even those pesticides with residual action won’t do the job long enough to completely eliminate them. Plus, cockroaches will become more and more resistant to it.
3. Use Cockroach Poison Bait & Traps
Poison baits are more effective than spray insecticides. Roaches will consume the bait and then die. They won't die right away though and that’s good as they will go back to their home, defecate, and other roaches will eat it and become poisoned. Traps can also be used to reduce the number of roaches in your home. Traps will also let you know how big your roach problem really is.
4. Get Rid of Cockroaches with Boric Acid Powder
The boric acid powder is a great control method for cockroaches and can be very effective if you use it correctly. But it needs to be placed out of sight which can make it difficult to use properly.
5. Introduce Cockroach Predators
You can use predators to reduce the number of cockroaches in your home. The only problem with that is that most animals don’t really like to eat cockroaches. Two that do are geckos and hedgehogs. There are also some centipedes that love to eat them, but do you really want to trade one infestation for another?
6. Home Sealing to Prevent Cockroaches Entering Your House
Just like eliminating food and water is almost impossible, so is preventing entry. Cockroaches can get into your home through the tiniest holes and cracks that you don’t even know about but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Seal up cracks, holes and entrances that you can see. At least it will make it a little bit harder for them.
Cockroach Pest Inspections, Control & More in Round Rock, Leander, Pflugerville, Cedar Park & Austin Texas
The absolute best way to get rid of cockroaches in your home is to call the professionals at A-Tex Pest Management. Give us a call today!