[Tressa]

Now that must have been to worst post I've posted yet, YUK

[brokencrayola]

Originally Posted by lvgirl

But how do you tolerate the smell of the chemicals? How do you justify the health risks to you and any pets?

I just can't get over the blasé attitudes most people have about them out here.. like it's no big deal that every home is infested with these huge disease-carrying creatures. It's like the West's dirty little secret. Where I come from, there's a social stigma against cockroach infestation. Only filthy crackhead types live with cockroaches. It's just hard to adjust my standards on something like this. :/

I am not a person that cares for chemicals, but I also not a person that likes my apartment to be infested with roaches either. The bottom line is they are not going to just disappear on their own once present. You either live with them and they continue to breed and makes their presence more known, or you try to get rid of them. We used foggers. We'd gather the pets and plants and leave for the day, return several hours later and open all windows and leave again, then come home. None of us or our pets ever had a problem. I realize there are people that are ultra sensitive to chemicals. Those are people that should live in areas of the country maybe where there are not these type of insects that take over their living area. I now live in Idaho and it is just too cold here for roaches, so there aren't any.

[BUGBULLY]

First of all if you only had two roaches, consider yourself lucky. When you are living in a condo or an apartment, you are basically living with about 8 to 15 other families. You are all in the same building, so what your neighbor does, effects you also. I own a Pest Control company, and the products we use are odorless for people like you with allergies. If your allergies are bad, you can just go outside when the Condo is being treated. No matter where you move to in Vegas, you are going to have insects, you live in the desert. But like I said only 2, you are lucky!!!! It also depends on what kind of roaches they were.

When it gets warmer outside, that is when the most activity takes place. Insects are just like you and I, they are going to come inside looking for food, water, and shelter, so when it starts getting in the 80's to 90's, be prepared!!!! Pest control is a safe and effective way to control the insects, but like I said control, No-one can ever guarantee you that you will never see one inside your home. That is just not realistic living in the desert, and also in a condo.

[kainers]

Hi..first post here, been reading the forums for a few months now.

If its something that you are having a problem with, you might want to return home or go somewhere else. These things are everywhere. Your luxury apartment, my middle-range home, my friends 800k home, and her parents 1.5mil home...I've seen roaches at all these places. It's just a common bug here like the lady bugs for you back home. In the summer...there are tons. In the winter, hardly any.

[fuddels]

Don't ever move to South Georgia. One can saddle and ride the suckers here!

[jfkIII]

lvgirl...did you think your move to Las Vegas was going to be trouble-free????? I mean, given the other let-down problems that others could find in that move, this is really a relatively small one. Nowhere is perfect.

If your fear of bugs is truly a phobia (i.e. medical condition), you have no choice but to get it treated by a psychiatrist and stay in LV.....or move.

[Buzz123]

I can't believe anyone would be so worked up over finding two roaches in a previously empty apartment. Or that all these people who don't even live here talk about what a roach problem we have in Las Vegas. One thing we don't have in the desert is a huge bug problem. Have any of these people ever been east of the Mississippi where the bugs can carry you away in your sleep? Every place in the world that has humidity has bugs everywhere. We live in the desert. Relatively few bugs here compared to states like Florida, or even New York, but many of those we have were imported with the landscaping and by people moving here from other places. If you walk outside at night in Las Vegas or any city in the world you will see roaches on the sidewalk. Most of us don't have, and never have had, a serious bug problem in Las Vegas. Yes there are some bugs but have you ever been to the south or anywhere in the east? Bugs are part of nature and they have a purpose. What I'm worried about is that we are killing them all off. Few of them actually hurt anyone. But even I don't want them in my house so I have a pest service every two months, which is all you need. I never let them spray in the house (the bugs come from outside so a barrier around the outside perimeter of the house is all you need), but the exterminators have come in and put little plastic inserts in the walls under the sinks to squirt some stuff in the wall. Bugs will find holes in the walls, generally around the plumbing, leading to the outside and that's how they get in. So that's where they squirt some powder that gets them when they try to enter. Every now and then one gets in but so what? The OP obviously has an overactive imagination when it comes to bugs, and no, I would never recommend anyone ever go to a psychiatrist for anything, let alone a little fear of bugs. The way to get over it is to get educated about it and to gain an ability to confront those little harmless insects.

As far as your allergies and asthma...get rid of them; my wife and I did. Read this: NAET

and this: The BioSET.net Website | Bioenergetic Sensitivity and Enzyme Therapy

[jfkIII]

In Florida, they give big giant roaches a pretty name of "Palmetto Bug". Here in Upstate NY in the summer, we have mosquitos so big they can pick you up and give you a tour of the Catskill Mountains (beautiful...but not as impressive as The Grand Canyon!) And in NYC, if not the whole state of NY, there's a GIANT cockroach named Eliot Spitzer, who was just exterminated this morning!

Two cockroaches in a lamp cover???? Who knew Vegas could be so bad!!!!!!!!!!

(Just wait until she discovers the bark scorpions! )

[ParkTwain]

Couple of things based on my limited experience of living in Vegas for 4 1/2 years.

1. It doesn't take much chemical to keep the bugs away. Use a borax mixture. It's usually very very diluted. It's not dangerous to anything but the bugs. The exterminators will charge about $35.00 to $45.00 every other month. The ingredients they are using are practically free.

2. Look all around the inside of your apartment for gaps in walls, floors, fixtures, telephone outlets, electrical outlets, etc. Make sure that all are taped up, sealed off, etc. And tell your landlord about the gaps that you find, too. I did this in my first apartment, and the incidence of seeing bugs went WAY down. This is the most productive thing you can do to deal with the bugs, after spraying.

3. Keep your place clean and avoid having much water left on your cabinet surfaces.

4. You'll probably see more bugs in the summer.

5. Look around just outside your unit to find any water sources, such as irrigation control boxes, etc. You can spray in and around those, too. My exterminator does that in the control boxes built into the ground in the lawn of the neighborhood common area next to my home. Having a grass lawn near your unit means there will be more bugs, in the summer especially. The lawns are also going to be watered, so pay attention to where the water sources are relative to your unit.

[BUGBULLY]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

I can't believe anyone would be so worked up over finding two roaches in a previously empty apartment. Or that all these people who don't even live here talk about what a roach problem we have in Las Vegas. One thing we don't have in the desert is a huge bug problem. Have any of these people ever been east of the Mississippi where the bugs can carry you away in your sleep? Every place in the world that has humidity has bugs everywhere. We live in the desert. Relatively few bugs here compared to states like Florida, or even New York, but many of those we have were imported with the landscaping and by people moving here from other places. If you walk outside at night in Las Vegas or any city in the world you will see roaches on the sidewalk. Most of us don't have, and never have had, a serious bug problem in Las Vegas. Yes there are some bugs but have you ever been to the south or anywhere in the east? Bugs are part of nature and they have a purpose. What I'm worried about is that we are killing them all off. Few of them actually hurt anyone. But even I don't want them in my house so I have a pest service every two months, which is all you need. I never let them spray in the house (the bugs come from outside so a barrier around the outside perimeter of the house is all you need), but the exterminators have come in and put little plastic inserts in the walls under the sinks to squirt some stuff in the wall. Bugs will find holes in the walls, generally around the plumbing, leading to the outside and that's how they get in. So that's where they squirt some powder that gets them when they try to enter. Every now and then one gets in but so what? The OP obviously has an overactive imagination when it comes to bugs, and no, I would never recommend anyone ever go to a psychiatrist for anything, let alone a little fear of bugs. The way to get over it is to get educated about it and to gain an ability to confront those little harmless insects.

As far as your allergies and asthma...get rid of them; my wife and I did. Read this: NAET

and this: The BioSET.net Website | Bioenergetic Sensitivity and Enzyme Therapy

Just getting the outside of a condo complex will not take care of a problem. When you live in an apartment complex or condo complex, you are basically living with a lot other people, all attached in the same home. So if you have nasty tenants in the surrounding units, their problems can become your problems. Also with a lot of the condo conversions, that were once apartments, you run into a lot of problems. I have seen some really nasty apartments, turned into ok looking condos. All they did was paint over the roach feces. But they are still there. Roaches can pretty much get in anywhere. And putting holes in your walls will not cure the problem, if there is a roach infestation. Most of the roaches are not in the walls, but in cold, damp areas like under the sinks, and in the cabinets. Yes, treating outside the home will help keep a barrier, but not keep them out. Also it depends on how they are treating the outside, are the using a power-sprayer, a back pack, or just a B & G. If a company is just using a B & G on your outside, you are getting riped off. The B & G does not apply that much product, and most techs are using the same product for the inside and out, which makes no sense. If the inside product is used outside, it will break down too fast, and it is not strong enough to take care of and stop the insects from getting into your home.