Pest roaches

[dtknow]

For those who don't have(or don't think you havee) infestations in your house how often do you find these guys? I just smashed an adult...and I find one maybe every few months. No one else in my house has ever seen one though. I suspect they hitchike with groceries into the house.

 

[Rochelle]

Do you live in a warm, southern state? Or an apartment building?
Need more info!

 

[cacoseraph]

i moved back to the ghetto and my apartment building is rife with them. i am using orthoboric acid to control them

my point is this... anythign that has been in my house and not sealed in a tote or tupperware has a fair chance of getting a ffffreaking roach on it (we're talking germans, here, btw). so far, having lived there for about two weeks i have seen that i have transported three roaches to FAR away from my apartment. one son of a bitch with INSIDE MY WALLET which was in my pants pocket hanging on my damn bad. so they are insanely good at infiltrating and using, heh, "phoresy" to spread.


also, do you know what kind of roach you are getting?

 

[Aunt Ant]

i moved back to the ghetto and my apartment building is rife with them. i am using orthoboric acid to control them

Where do you get this acid, and how do you use it?
We're having pest roach problems at my boyfriend's apartment. 4 of my T's are there, and I'm debating getting them out of there so he can spray if he must. I don't like that option though, bug spray makes me ill

 

[Takumaku]

Boric acid, also called boracic acid or orthoboric acid or Acidum Boricum, can be found at any major store (Wal-mart, K-mart, Lowes, etc.) since it has so many uses (antiseptic, insecticide, flame retardant).

Ask your landlord, they may have a huge supply of it as it's a very effective insecticide. When I was living in a apartments, covering the crevices and along all the walls with boric acid was part of my "move in" ritual.

Some people like to make an acid cocktail (equal parts boric acid + powder sugar) and spreading this when dealing with roaches and ants.

 

[dtknow]

Nope, just a house. I am in Central CA.

I'm not sure how bad it has to be to be considered an infestation, but I generally have only found them at night, or in drawers during the daytime. Again, this is only one single roach(never more'n one) every few months.

 

[Rochelle]

If you're seeing them at night - and in drawers during the day.....you definately have an infestation. Those guys are masters at hiding and run at the slightest disturbance. Long history has apparantly taught them that your shoes really hate them..lol
Sounds like it's time for a firestrike...
BTW: does anyone know if the German variety can/will spread diseases/parasites to our collections of more "desirable" roaches? (that sounds so weird..lolol)

 

[dtknow]

Hmm...so what is the plan of action? I guess I could put out some boric acid soaked food or something along those lines. I've been to places I've considered infested and it was not hard to find the roaches...especially dead ones. How much of a chance is it that I am seeing roaches that have simply been smuggled into the house? All I've seen are weak and slow moving.

 

[reclusa]

They will tend to stay in the kichen and bathroom areas, as mentioned aboved, coming out after dark to look for food and water. A sing of an infestation is fecal matter plastered in the corners of cabinets and drawers. There are many good ready made roach baits avail at home depot. If you raise more desireable roaches (feeders), do not use anything with an insect growth regulator in it, as it will mess up all roaches in the house. feel fre to PM me if you have any other questions.

John

 

[dtknow]

I do raise feeder and pet roaches. Not sure what the fecal matter looks like but I can't find anything that I'd think would be it.

 

[cacoseraph]

If you're seeing them at night - and in drawers during the day.....you definately have an infestation. Those guys are masters at hiding and run at the slightest disturbance. Long history has apparantly taught them that your shoes really hate them..lol
Sounds like it's time for a firestrike...
BTW: does anyone know if the German variety can/will spread diseases/parasites to our collections of more "desirable" roaches? (that sounds so weird..lolol)

aside from biotic threats i am very concerned that the little pests will getinto my other tanks and my predators will eat them. roaches are well known to carry loads of pesticides that would kill other bugs (sometimes many other bugs).











i make goop out of the boric acid (which i happen to buy from the 99c store. 5oz 99% pura for 99c.)

i heat up something like 1 part water to real hot. i add ~ 1 part boric acid and stir until it is evenly dispersed (can't remember if water soluable) and starting to get kind of thick. then i add 1 part syrup and mix well. this mixture is still very much liquid state so i add toilet paper as a matrix to hold the poison liquid. add enough to make it REALLY hard to stir... basically when you go from stirring to turning the mixture you are ready. the goop should be the consistancy of paper machete. mache. "ma-shay". and in fact i use it as such... properly mixed up you can make balls of death "mashay" and wedge them into corners of closets

one thing... you need to be careful if you have roaming pets or kids. cats especially. it would take something under 20 grams of boric acid pura to kill a normal sized house cat! (LD50 is like 2700 or 3300 mg/kg... but i don't know if that is subcutaneous, intervenous, oral, or what. NaCl is the other ld50 number, incidentily)


oh yeah. with the goop you have to keep wetting it or roaches (and sugarfeeding type ants) will ignore it. i am goign to start experimenting with honey as the attractant. honey should greatly increase the length of time the poison goop remains effective between waterings.

i tried some of the goop and it definitely is sweet so bear that in mind for like, safety issues.


oh! and i had the coolest discovery last night... if you add some Monster: Energy it will glow orangish in ultraviolet light!