Nobody wants to share their home with uninvited pests, especially not with the notorious American Cockroach.
Discover the steps and strategies in our detailed guide on “How to Get Rid of American Cockroach” and say goodbye to those unwelcome guests.
How to Get Rid of American Cockroach
Cockroaches are renowned for their remarkable resilience.
For instance, a roach can astonishingly survive up to a week even after decapitation.
This resilience makes them challenging to get rid of, but knowing how to kill American cockroach is essential. You can follow these steps against them:
Keep Them Out
This isn’t just about preventing an American roach infestation.
You should be proactive in ensuring they don’t find a way into your space.
Check for small openings or fractures in walls, around sockets, or close to drains.
Utilize materials like silicone caulk to block their entry points.
Stay Clean
Roaches thrive in messy environments.
Maintain cleanliness in places such as kitchen tops, sinks, and flooring to keep them free from food remnants.
Address spills promptly and ensure no dishes are left unattended in the sink for extended periods.
And remember to store pet food properly.
An additional tip: frequent vacuuming helps in removing minuscule food particles.
Keep the concealed areas of your house dry and regularly use water in seldom-used restrooms.
However, if you’re still spotting roaches, think about engaging with a professional.
Pest control specialists are equipped with the knowledge and tools, including effective American cockroach killer solutions, to manage these pests and can provide guidance on American cockroach control.
>> Read more: How to Get Rid of German Cockroach
Where are American cockroaches commonly found in homes?
The American cockroach, both young and old, really likes places that are wet, dark, and warm.
They need water, so they don’t usually hang out in dry spots.
While they mostly live outside, they might come into your home looking for food.
Here’s where you might find them in and around your home:
Indoors:
- Basements
- Crawl spaces
- Trash bins
- Floor drains
- Inside walls
- Kitchen cabinets, especially near trash bins
- Sump pumps
- Tubs
- Attics
Outdoors:
- Under roof tiles
- Up in the attic
- In mulch
- Trees
- More mulch
- Stacked wood or woodpiles.
Signs of American cockroach infestation
If you’re worried about American cockroaches setting up shop in your home, here are four clear signs to look out for:
- Seeing the Cockroaches: Often, you’ll spot these speedy bugs running away to hide in dark corners when you turn on a light or walk into a room.
- Finding Droppings: Cockroaches leave small droppings where they hang out. These look a bit like mouse droppings with blunt ends and lines on the sides. It’s easy to mix them up, so if you see anything like this, it’s a good idea to get an expert to take a look.
- Egg Capsules: Keep an eye out for dark, 8 mm long egg cases. These are often stuck near where they eat. They like to hide them in basements, under appliances, or in dark corners of laundry rooms and kitchens.
- A Strange Smell: Some people can smell cockroaches. They give off a scent that’s a bit like old, wet books. If you have a keen sense of smell and catch a whiff of this in your home, it might be a sign.
>> Read more: American Cockroach Life Cycle: From Egg to Intruder.
The harmful effects of American cockroaches
American cockroaches are more than just icky. They’re bad for our health. Here’s why:
They Carry Germs: Cockroaches are like little germ buses.
They walk through dirty places like trash or old food and pick up all sorts of bad germs, including E. coli and Salmonella.
When they stroll across our food or counters, they leave these germs behind.
They Cause Sneezing and Wheezing: Besides being yucky to look at, stuff that comes from cockroaches, like their droppings or spit, can make us feel sick.
Some people might sneeze, itch, or even have trouble breathing.
Kids can get it the worst, with allergies or asthma acting up year-round.
How to Prevent American Cockroaches
Here are some simple preventative measures to keep American cockroaches and other pests away from your home:
- Secure Your Food: Always use sealed containers for storing your food. This ensures roaches can’t get to it.
- Tight Lids are Essential: Whether it’s your indoor trash, garage waste, recycling, or compost bins, make sure they’re covered well. A tight-fitting lid keeps the roaches out.
- Watch the Pet Food: Cockroaches love pet food. So, it’s best to empty your pet’s food and water dishes at night when roaches are most on the move.
Conclusion
In wrapping up, knowing “How to Get Rid of American Cockroach” is essential for a healthy and comfortable living space.
We’d love to hear your stories and experiences. Don’t forget to check out more informative blogs from Pestweek!
Calina Mabel has over 15 years of experience in the field of journalism and communications. Currently, Calina Mabel is the Content Writer for categories such as Cockroach, Ants, Bed Bugs, Mosquito, Rodent, Termite, and Flies on Pestweek.com. She aims to build content for these categories with a focus on providing valuable and accessible information to readers, in order to create the world’s largest knowledge community about Pests.
All content written by Calina Mabel has been reviewed by Emily Carter.