Roach infestation in homes can be very embarrassing and a menace because it causes health issues, especially for the children and pregnant mother at home. It is therefore paramount that roaches are complete reed of, in home and offices, where human beings reside.
This overview will expose the following:
- Development stages of cockroach
- How to eliminate and disinfect home against cockroaches
- Where to find cockroach at homes
- Cockroach harmful effects
- Is cockroach poop dangerous?
- Cockroach elimination methods
- What do I do if my dog eats cockroach bait?
- How do I control cockroaches in my house?
- Conclusion
Cockroach bait and dogs behavior in Homes
Cockroaches are the most common domestic and industrial pest causing both physical damage and health issues in homes and offices. They are creepy insects and are nocturnal so most of their damage is caused without any notice until it becomes too obvious because they are most prevalent in the dark spaces.
Cockroaches are flattened, fast-running brown insects with two long antennae on their forehead which they use in sensing obstructing objects and the odor of food. Because they are mostly active at night, they hide most of the day and when they come in contact with bright light.
They congregate in distinct dark places in response to aggregating odor in their feces and are rarely found around beds like the bugs. They practically feed on anything including human foods, books, excrements, etc.
The cockroach has three developmental life stages:
the egg, nymph, and adult:
- The Egg Stage: – this is the early stage where the young cockroach grows inside an egg. These eggs are identified as small, brown, bean-shaped egg cases produced by the female cockroaches and deposited in places hidden and out of the way.
- The Nymph Stage: – The eggs of the cockroach give rise to several nymphs up to 40 of them per egg case. The nymphs look exactly like the adult cockroaches except that they do not have wings and are usually seen as small cockroaches pestering around cupboards and under dining tables, gas cooker burner tops, and where ever you store food and items at home. These are the ones that cause so much embarrassment at dinner time and first thing in the morning when you check the top of your cooker or burner.
- The Adult Stage: – Here you see fully developed cockroaches with wings that enable them to fly around very fast at night. They also creep very fast and are difficult to trap and kill because they flatten their body so fast that they could creep under any furniture and homes and offices at almost the speed of light.
In a filthy and cockroach-infested environment, it is easy to find the brown, shinning, bean-shaped droppings (cockroach eggs) littered around with their feces.
How to eliminate and disinfect homes against cockroaches:
To effectively eliminate cockroaches in our spaces, we must know where they stay and hide away from human disturbance at home and offices. For the purpose of this review, we are talking about cockroaches mostly found at homes and offices (German and American Cockroaches. Click this link to learn more about the types of Cockroaches).
Where to find Cockroaches at homes and offices:
Cockroaches and most active at night so in the daytime, they hide in dark places, under refrigerators, furniture, wardrobes, Kitchen cabinets, stores, kitchen, and bathroom ducts, and sometimes in the ceiling. The nymphs are mostly found around the kitchen in between the metal spaces of the gas burners and ovens. In some cases, they get into the refrigerators where your food is kept, especially the nymphs.
Cockroach harmful effects:
Cockroaches are known to freely move from filth, and excrement to uncovered or unprotected food and food items, thereby potentially carrying diseases from, say, dump sites into homes and kitchens where Cockroaches have been said to passively transport microbes on their body surfaces that are potentially dangerous to the humans and that the spread of 33 various kinds of bacteria, including E. coli, salmonella species, parasitic worms, and other human pathogens. ( https://www.pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-health-hub/the-truth-about-cockroaches-and-health/).
Is cockroach poop dangerous?
Yes, cockroach poop is dangerous. Their feces, saliva, and body parts are said to contain a certain protein called an allergen that can cause an allergic reaction and even trigger asthma symptoms when ingested. This is possible when foods and drinks are not properly protected from crawling cockroaches around homes and restaurants. That is why cockroaches should be completely eliminated from homes, especially where we have toddlers and children because they are more exposed to the harmful effects of ingesting cockroach poop when their food and candies are exposed to crawling insects.
Cockroach Elimination methods:
There are various methods of eliminating cockroaches at homes and offices, some of these methods include:
- Insecticide treatment
- Sprays
- Dust
- Baits (bait stations and placing small-sized gel baits using syringes
Insecticide treatment has the disadvantage of requiring covering of food items and food before application, in some cases, evacuation of the space may be required for the spraying of the space with an aerosol insecticide could be administered. The insecticide may not effectively penetrate between floor cracks and hidden dark spaces where cockroaches are usually found.
Use of sprays will require spraying those areas where cockroach feces are spotted for it to be effective because if that is not done, the cockroaches will surface again in a matter of days after spraying.
Dust of boric acid and diatomaceous earth are most common to householders. However, boric acid seems to be more effective for cockroach disinfection. For the best result, the boric acid powder must be applied as a powder, visible to the naked eye, along the floor edge where the cockroaches are likely to crawl upon it so that they indirectly inject the boric acid particles where it preens its legs. That’s the only way it can be effective.
I find the use of bait gel most effective from experience. I applied it using a syringe to place a small tiny amount of bait gels around the edges of cupboards, wall floors and floor cracks that I know are along the paths the cockroaches follow and on the edges of dust bins in the kitchen at night. Within a week from the application of the bait, I notice an air of freshness and freedom from the sight of cockroaches and their nymphs.
Effective Cockroach killing insecticides and baits are available online on the amazon store, use these affiliate links below. Some of the good and effective gel bait include Advlon Cockroach Gel Bait, Combat Ant & Roach Killer Gel & Station, and Terro Liquid Ants Baits. For more products on pest control check on the amazon store.
What do I do if my dog eats cockroach bait?
Dogs incidentally love eating cockroach baits probably because some of them contain peanut butter and sweets. that is the reason behind the advice that baits gel should be applied in very little quantities at hidden corners, away from where the dog and other pets at home cannot easily get to.
In the event of the dog ingesting roach bait gel, first of all, wash the mouth of your dog with plenty of running water, then get the dog to lick palm oil or vegetable oil while you get it to see your veterinary doctor check the dog.
A word of caution in applying cockroach bait is that very few dabs at hidden parts of the house is what are required. These dabs should be placed at locations within the house, accessible to your dog. Moreover, only ingestion of a sizeable amount of the bait can hurt your dog.
How do I control cockroaches in my house?
One of the easiest and most effective ways of controlling and eliminating cockroaches at home is by mixing three parts of baking soda and a part of sugar and placing it in a shallow bowl around your kitchen waste bin and any part of your home where you see signs of cockroach feces. The cockroaches will be attracted to the sugar and ingest it along with the baking soda. The baking soda will kill the cockroach by dehydration.
Other methods include getting soaps that contain borax and leaving a loose pack where you notice cockroach feces. The soap aroma will attract the cockroach to ingest it and the borax will dehydrate it to death.
Conclusion:
Cockroaches are dangerous to family health. When your kitchen or any part of the home is infected, it is advised to use elimination methods to clean out the home and spaces of cockroaches, then use the control methods to sustain cockroach-free homes and premises.
- Don’t leave dirty dishes in your sink overnight
- Empty your dust bin every night before bed
- Don’t leave your doors open, especially at night
- Don’t eat food or snack all around the house to avoid food particles dropping everywhere
- Keep your floors clean at all times
- Vacuum clean your carpet/rug regularly
Also check your home for bedbug infestation, click here to learn more.
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