# centipedes killing roaches



## venybeny

Ok, so I'm new to these boards.  I recently moved to a New York City apartment that's like FULL of roaches and no matter what I try I can't kill them and my landlord doesn't want to hire an exterminator.  So I've been doing research and found out that centipedes will like totally kill all the roaches in my apartment.  So ever since I learned that I'm totally in love with centipedes. Now, the question is what kind do I need and where do you buy these babies? Can anyone please help.  I would be forever greatful.

P.S. How many roaches can one centipede eat?


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## bistrobob85

A centipede can eat TONS of roaches in a lifetime, but do you really want an impredictible, large, agressive and venomous invertebrate lose in your appartment?!?! 

The chances are also that if you let loose a centipede somewhere in there, it will die from dehydration before it hurts any roaches, or any people, actually...

Please just dont do that. 

 phil.


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## Galapoheros

Dude, no.  You need geckos!  Mediterranean geckos, that's what I would try.  I have them in my house.  They take care of that kind of thing.  Sometimes they mooch and sneak into my roach or cricket tub, which ever I have going at the time.  I've never used pesticides here in 11 years.... no roaches.  Well, maybe one or two a year but that's only because I got to them before the spiders and geckos in my house did.


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## Bulldog08

why not just invest in a can or two of 

	
	
		
		
	


	




or keep the roaches as pets, thats what I do.


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## nuclear_zombies

I live in Canada, and roaches arent a big problem here (it's usually fire ants or small termites) When you guys talk about roaches, do you mean big-ass cockroaches? A buddy of mine had a bit of an ant problem, and he got a pair of bearded dragons and set them loose. Not only did they clean up the ants, they had babies too!! Would a bearded dragon consume roaches as well? It seems reasonable to me:?


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## arrowhd

Wow, you just never know what people will be talking about on here.


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## Drachenjager

gekos lol
i got terminix lol


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## 8+)

bistrobob85 said:


> A centipede can eat TONS of roaches in a lifetime, but do you really want an impredictible, large, agressive and venomous invertebrate lose in your appartment?!?!
> 
> The chances are also that if you let loose a centipede somewhere in there, it will die from dehydration before it hurts any roaches, or any people, actually...
> 
> Please just dont do that.
> 
> phil.


Probably thinking about Scutigera. Most likely S. coleoptrata.

The geckos might be worth a try. One problem is someone else in the complex will probably spray. The poisoned roaches could flee to your apartment and kill the geckos. Still worth a try. I had success with a tokay once for while.


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## nuclear_zombies

Drachenjager said:


> gekos lol
> i got terminix lol


You can always rely on the Texans to kill things using a neat array of guns and chemicals. Terminix is poisonous garbage created by losers.


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## venybeny

*thank you for great ideas*

Thank you all for the really good ideas.   I completely wasn't thinking about geckos because this is NY so wouldn't it be too cold for them.
I have been using Raid (or other nasty stuff ) but they stink real bad and I have a small dog so I'm tottaly afraid I'm gonna poison him also.  I was more thinking about house centipedes because they are real small and kinda cute.  Also, I haven't really thought about it but if my roaches have been eating poison and they aint dying, could that kill the centipede when it eats them?


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## Bulldog08

mmm nothing like roaches and pedes crawling over you while you sleep!


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## Arachno Kid

I may be a nub to centis but I have learned not to feed my bugs if the bugs they are eating are WC, they might have harmful pesticides they have digested which your bugs might get if you feed them.


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## Drachenjager

nuclear_zombies said:


> You can always rely on the Texans to kill things using a neat array of guns and chemicals. Terminix is poisonous garbage created by losers.


it works  and at least we can catch Ts and scolopendrids in our back yards lol


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## nuclear_zombies

Drachenjager said:


> it works  and at least we can catch Ts and scolopendrids in our back yards lol


hahaha Perhaps you've never heard of the Canadian badger, or the wolverine. If you want to compare hardcore creatures, invert or vert, dont "at least" me on your seemingly nasty and popular exotics. Come up here to my back yard and try to catch some of the neat and homocidal mammals that inhabit the foothills about 15 feet from my back door(that doesnt include the beer drinking rednecks). Bearing in mind I'm just starting into Scolopendra, your local species dont impress me anyways. I like my bugs, but it isn't that hardcore. Take your terminix and go fly a kite.


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## Drachenjager

nuclear_zombies said:


> hahaha Perhaps you've never heard of the Canadian badger, or the wolverine. If you want to compare hardcore creatures, invert or vert, dont "at least" me on your seemingly nasty and popular exotics. Come up here to my back yard and try to catch some of the neat and homocidal mammals that inhabit the foothills about 15 feet from my back door(that doesnt include the beer drinking rednecks). Bearing in mind I'm just starting into Scolopendra, your local species dont impress me anyways. I like my bugs, but it isn't that hardcore. Take your terminix and go fly a kite.


get a life and back off me and all Texans before we invade canaduh

on second thought , we dont want a place that far north lol


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## nuclear_zombies

LOL, that was amusing but rather uncreative and entirely ludicrous. If you read the initial comment I'd made, the poke was at the manufacturer of a poison, not at Texans. I have found Texas to be one of the better US states I have visited, the beef there is excellent!. Getting back to the topic at hand, venybeny: You should consider attempting a solution that doesnt involve chemicals first, like the bearded dragons or some other carnivorous lizard. I've only read stories on the internet on the severity of roach infestations, again they arent that common here in Alberta(though there are a few species of large, hard bodied beetles). Are you talking hundreds of roaches? Thousands? I've also heard that many species of roach are becoming resistant to the usual chemical pesticides, and I would suspect the roaches indoors over many generations and repeated exposure have gained some immunity. They are indeed shockingly tough critters!!


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## Hedorah99

nuclear_zombies said:


> hahaha Perhaps you've never heard of the Canadian badger, or the wolverine. If you want to compare hardcore creatures, invert or vert, dont "at least" me on your seemingly nasty and popular exotics. Come up here to my back yard and try to catch some of the neat and homocidal mammals that inhabit the foothills about 15 feet from my back door(that doesnt include the beer drinking rednecks). Bearing in mind I'm just starting into Scolopendra, your local species dont impress me anyways. I like my bugs, but it isn't that hardcore. Take your terminix and go fly a kite.


Texas also has the Javalina aka White Lipped Peccary. Not really known for its calm disposition. Have you so little to do that you are picking a fight based on native fauna?

To the OP: I have heard of tokay geckos being used as roach control. Probably a better choice than a Scolopendrid. A tokay will bite but at least its not venemous.


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## Drachenjager

nuclear_zombies said:


> LOL, that was amusing but rather uncreative and entirely ludicrous. If you read the initial comment I'd made, the poke was at the manufacturer of a poison, not at Texans. I have found Texas to be one of the better US states I have visited, the beef there is excellent!. Getting back to the topic at hand, venybeny: You should consider attempting a solution that doesnt involve chemicals first, like the bearded dragons or some other carnivorous lizard. I've only read stories on the internet on the severity of roach infestations, again they arent that common here in Alberta(though there are a few species of large, hard bodied beetles). Are you talking hundreds of roaches? Thousands? I've also heard that many species of roach are becoming resistant to the usual chemical pesticides, and I would suspect the roaches indoors over many generations and repeated exposure have gained some immunity. They are indeed shockingly tough critters!!


yep i agree there, roaches that you want to kill dont want to die lol the ones you want to keep a live tend to die pretty good lol. but im not too keen on using a predator for roach control because i tend to like the predators much better and you never know what kind of parasites or chemicals they have been exposed to. I would try diatomacious earth and borax together and see what happens. it will probably take a good while to make a big differance tho.


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## Drachenjager

Hedorah99 said:


> Texas also has the Javalina aka White Lipped Peccary. Not really known for its calm disposition. Have you so little to do that you are picking a fight based on native fauna?
> 
> To the OP: I have heard of tokay geckos being used as roach control. Probably a better choice than a Scolopendrid. A tokay will bite but at least its not venemous.


i dont know what all kinds of ill tempered critters are in Texas lol but ... skunks are probably my least favorite lol 
i am partial to the eagles and hawks


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## nuclear_zombies

We may vary on what constitutes picking a fight, Hedorah99. This is Drachenjager and I doing a little posturing and asserting ourselves, which is pretty normal around here from what I've seen. Picking a fight, in my experience usually involves fists, various blunt objects, sharp things, and some of the neat machines of war humans have ingeniously (albeit maliciously) constructed.  On topic- Aren't roaches also problematic in that they hide inside walls and crevices etc? It would explain the predisposition towards using pesticides because it's a "fire and forget" solution. I've seen wild roaches on Vancouver Island, I'm not sure if they're native to the place. They're ridiculously fast, well armored and quick breeding. All the endearing aspects of good roaches, lol. My little brother dropped a 3 pound rock on one from about 36 inches up (I'm eccentric, for a Canadian because I cant stand the metric system), and the darned thing still scuttled away at a good rate of speed. It seems to be a bit of a catch 22 with chemical vs predatory methods of roach control, as I'm sure neither can garuntee that they wont return, even if all of them were killed off. Jokingly, maybe you should try to negotiate with them. Pay them to leave?:?


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## Hedorah99

nuclear_zombies said:


> We may vary on what constitutes picking a fight, Hedorah99. This is Drachenjager and I doing a little posturing and asserting ourselves, which is pretty normal around here from what I've seen. Picking a fight, in my experience usually involves fists, various blunt objects, sharp things, and some of the neat machines of war humans have ingeniously (albeit maliciously) constructed.  On topic- Aren't roaches also problematic in that they hide inside walls and crevices etc? It would explain the predisposition towards using pesticides because it's a "fire and forget" solution. I've seen wild roaches on Vancouver Island, I'm not sure if they're native to the place. They're ridiculously fast, well armored and quick breeding. All the endearing aspects of good roaches, lol. My little brother dropped a 3 pound rock on one from about 36 inches up (I'm eccentric, for a Canadian because I cant stand the metric system), and the darned thing still scuttled away at a good rate of speed. It seems to be a bit of a catch 22 with chemical vs predatory methods of roach control, as I'm sure neither can garuntee that they wont return, even if all of them were killed off. Jokingly, maybe you should try to negotiate with them. Pay them to leave?:?


Roaches cannot be negotiated with!!!

Sorry about the afore mentioned comment. i have seen so much bickering around here lately I assumed it was an actual argument over who had the more kick arse fauna. My apologies to both of you. 

As far as chemical control, its a spray and pray method, but in the long run it may be more effective than biological control in an apartment setting. The amount of critters, whether it be gecko or centipede, needed to control a blossoming established american/german roach colony would probably need to be so large they would in fact become pests themselves. I am not positive about that but it seems like a possibility.


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## nuclear_zombies

No problem dude, it's all good. I agree that there is some malice behind many posts! It's just never personal with me. I will call it as I see it good, bad or indifferent. I feel it is unprofessional to attack someones person and be excessively rude, though I've been guilty of it too. A little bit of butting heads isnt really a big deal to me at all, it can actually be quite stimulating and lead to greater understanding. Even in AB, you get ALL kinds. I'm a bit of a nut myself, and I am quite tolerant of other nuts.

As much as I dislike the use of any poison (for the blatantly obvious reason that it is poison), you are likely right about the roach problem. It's likely hundreds or thousands of the little buggers infesting the place. Here's a nutty solution (I am in no way serious): Move to Calgary. The worst infestation I've ever heard of here was a moderate termite problem, and some issues with small mice.


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## Drachenjager

nuclear_zombies said:


> We may vary on what constitutes picking a fight, Hedorah99. This is Drachenjager and I doing a little posturing and asserting ourselves, which is pretty normal around here from what I've seen. Picking a fight, in my experience usually involves fists, various blunt objects, sharp things, and some of the neat machines of war humans have ingeniously (albeit maliciously) constructed.  On topic- Aren't roaches also problematic in that they hide inside walls and crevices etc? It would explain the predisposition towards using pesticides because it's a "fire and forget" solution. I've seen wild roaches on Vancouver Island, I'm not sure if they're native to the place. They're ridiculously fast, well armored and quick breeding. All the endearing aspects of good roaches, lol. My little brother dropped a 3 pound rock on one from about 36 inches up (I'm eccentric, for a Canadian because I cant stand the metric system), and the darned thing still scuttled away at a good rate of speed. It seems to be a bit of a catch 22 with chemical vs predatory methods of roach control, as I'm sure neither can garuntee that they wont return, even if all of them were killed off. Jokingly, maybe you should try to negotiate with them. Pay them to leave?:?


how could i fight with someone with a name like that ?!?! i mean come on with that name i gotta love em lol reminds me of a movie i saw once lol was great for a low grade horror flick lol
naahh i didnt figgure that nuke would be offended and am not lol i was just ragging on lol Actually one of my best friends is from NS Canada and i give her a real hard time lol

and yeah they do infest walls , in fact terminix was my last option before soaking it down with diesel and torching the place ...i am not joking about that either


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## venybeny

ok everybody finally thank you all for your input.  2 of you kinda started arguing then made up, so it's all good.  It was fun to read. 
I've finally decided that I shouldn't get centipedes. They seemed like a good solution but I'm pretty sure they'll get poisoned from the roaches.  I finally decided: I'm moving out to another place.  After a year of living here and dealing with hundreds of roaches, I've been getting real sick lately and my doctor has said that its possible its the bugs.  I've been cleaning non-stop, getting all leaks fixed, used so many pesticides, diatomacious earth, boric acid, roach motels, sprays, and even sticky tape.  I'm finally giving up. YOU HEAR THAT, ROACHES, YOU WIN!!!   A final word: For all you, smarty pants out here, please invent something that will nuke those b-stards. Oh wait, I forgot those damn things can live through a nuclear explosion.  You get my drift. Venybeny out.


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## Stylopidae

Well...no, don't not get a centipede. Just keep it in a tank and get a couple tokay geckoes.


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## Penna

Step on them.


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## Spyder 1.0

ive heard that bears do wonders. Yeah. Bears. Just let one or two loose in that apartment and you will be set!. :nododgy


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## Tleilaxu

Just get Paris Hilton to move to that place... the roaches will leave real quick LOL!


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