Can i put roach poison powder in my T room?

[JamesGSixx]

After reading through this thread, I don't see any good solution to control the roach population since the roaches are small enough to get into the tarantula enclosures. Any baits, poisons, pesticides, dusts, powders, etc. will surely make way into contact with the tarantulas.

I don't know anything about the environment in the Philippines, but if there is a reoccurring problem of infestation the roaches are breeding somewhere and that needs to be looked into and corrected. The best option to at least get an idea of how bad an infestation is will be to use a non toxic roach trap. Every summer in my apartment in North Texas I get the big American cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) in my spider room and I use a non toxic trap and release them outside. Fortunately in my case, I don't have a breeding population, that I can tell, so I don't have an infestation. A few large juveniles and adults just make their way into my spider room from the heat of the summer to relax with my Blaptica dubia roach colony and have a feed.

The non toxic trap is simple to make and very effective. You will need several large jars and put a thin layer of petroleum jelly or vegetable oil on the inside, place some fruit in the jars, then place the jars in the corners of the room or some other dark and protected place. Spread out the jars in several locations in the room and maybe outside of the room too. Wait a day or two, then check the jars for roaches then dispose of them how you will. It sounds too simple to work, but it works perfectly for me in dealing with the American cockroaches that make their way into my spider room. The "wild" roaches will climb into the jar to eat the fruit, but the petroleum jelly/ vegetable oil barrier will prevent them from being able to climb out. Last summer when I did this, I used vegetable oil since that is all I had at the time.



Out of curiosity, what do you do with the sticky traps when there are roaches stuck to them? Do the roaches die quickly on the traps or do you have to kill them yourself?

Thanks! It's very humid and warm here all the time, so it's easy for them to breed throughout the year.i don't even know how they survive in my room as it's pretty clean and it's always cold because of the AC.

I think we have american cockroaches as well since the description online looks just like them. I'll try to do that. I can't stand house roaches. they just give me the shivers

 

[darkness975]

Okay so i recently have this house roach infestation in my room. They're not the big matured ones but the small hatchlings that emerge from the egg and some of them are getting a little big. around sling size. I know it's super gross don't judge haha. there's just tons of house roaches in the philippines. So i'm planning to put this roach powder in my room in hopes to kill all of them without harming my t's. Is it possible? I know bug spray will definitely kill all my t's so i'm 100% not gonna use that. I'm just worried that the poisoned roaches might somehow get in my t's enclosure and get eaten. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Sounds like a major risk to me. If you have to use that poison, you should remove the Spiders and permit for ample time to clean it out before bringing them back in there.

Is it that bad that you cannot control it with sticky traps or some other means?

 

[Torech Ungol]

Could diatomaceous earth be a better alternative?

I wouldn't use this. Diatomaceous earth works by perforating myriad tiny holes in exoskeletons. Anything with an exoskeleton is vulnerable to it. If there's a concern that powder might get airborne, the same concern applies here.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

I wouldn't use this. Diatomaceous earth works by perforating myriad tiny holes in exoskeletons. Anything with an exoskeleton is vulnerable to it. If there's a concern that powder might get airborne, the same concern applies here.

Yep, I'm with you there. DE is such a fine powder it takes nothing to get it airborne.

I'd go with a gel or liquid like @EulersK recommended. If you're worried about contaminated roaches getting into enclosures, you could use a barrier of some sort. If you only have a couple enclosures, you could put them in a pan and fill it with water to create a moat. If you have more, you'd be better off using a physical barrier on the outside of the enclosures (make sure the barrier is lower than the lowest vent hole) to prevent the roaches from climbing up the side of the enclosure. You could use petroleum jelly, olive oil, or a mixture of baby powder and alcohol. The idea is to mix the baby powder and rubbing alcohol into a solution and brush it on to the plastic/glass, then the rubbing alcohol will evaporate and leave a thin layer of baby powder which will cause the roaches to lose traction when they try to climb up.

I'm not sure how safe it would be to apply the solution while T's are in the enclosures, so you might want to remove them from the enclosure while the alcohol evaporates. It might be a fair amount of work depending on the size of your collection, but it'll be worth it if you can't move them into another room.

 

[Ellenantula]

I would only use DE around the edges of the room (in crack between floor/wall) so it won't go airborne. I like the ideas to protect the T enclosures. Sticky traps work great (although a big risk if a T escapes) but my gripe with sticky traps is the roach has to actually walk on them for them to work (plus they might catch something you didn't mean to harm).
If you have a LOT of roaches, might be time to remove the Ts while you have your home professionally treated; then use the ideas here to prevent a re-infestation.

Whatever you try -- good luck!