cockroaches (live, floors, moving)

[ZebraCrossing]

I think that Joe has a few more problems with roaches than we will ever have.

‪Joe's Apartment (Original MTV Short)‬‏ - YouTube
Second thoughts better watch this movie after your home has been treated.

[CCRESI]

As the rain keeps falling, bug activity increases. I am having the pest control come out this week, I have seen some bugs on my lanai that are rathhhher large.

[hummahchick]

Wow....now I know why many of the apartment complexes I've looked at in Fla have 'pest control' included in the rent....sis and I been contemplating moving to Cape Coral area next spring...now I'm having second thoughts after reading these posts. Are bugs a problem all 12 months???

Curious 4 Florida

[st468]

Ortho Home Defense Max. Buy it at Home Depot, about $15 or less for a gallon with sprayer attachment. Spray the perimeter of the home and under the overhangs about once a month, around windows, garage, corners of the kitchen- under fridge, sink, range and bathroom areas (inside) etc. The stuff is non toxic once dry (safe inside). No roaches, ants, bees, etc. at my place and it costs me less than $20 per year. The stuff really works! No need to get scared into spending a fortune on a pest control service unless there is some sort of pre-existing serious infestation.

[coastal chic]

When we first bought our house, it had been vacant for a couple years and we'd see a couple roaches run across the floor at night when we first moved in and it totally freaked me out- I can handle snakes and spiders, but not roaches!!!! Called a pest control company ASAP. Since we started having it sprayed, we never see them. I would say pest control is mandatory here. Bugs move in when no one is around- houses that are vacant / seasonal, when it rains a lot, if we have a cold winter, etc. just like mice up north. Palmetto bugs generally prefer to live outside, so you normally don't see lots of them inside. It's the German roaches (the small ones) that can be hard to eliminate. Luckily, I've never had to deal with them.

[Ltspla]

The big roaches arent that bad, we have them handled mostly with typical hardware store bug traps and poisons (not experienced with the German ones mentioned above). Mosquitoes are everywhere for a couple of weeks before Mosquito control. Lovebugs are bad two times a year. Beware ticks, a tick infestation is the worst! Only killed two snakes in 7 years.
But The REAL pest concern here is of course - Big Foot

[Hemidancer]

The first day I moved into my house, I saw a palmetto bug in the garage. The day after I moved into said house, I called Terminix. From Day 3 on, I have not seen one bug, inside or out, and I intend to keep it that way. My Terminix guy (I call him the Bug Guy) comes once every 3 months and just sprays around the perimeter of the house and that's all it takes - no muss, no fuss. The best use of $90 per quarter I can think of.

[crystaljdecker]

Cockroaches are an easy fix. I would suggest tenting a home that has a problem and then you should be fine. The father away from town you live, the more problems you will run into with bugs, spiders, etc.

[justNancy]

Tenting is a bit extreme IMHO. However, I definitely understand why someone might resort to using whole house fumigation if nothing else works. The most important thing is locating the source. If they're palmetto bugs, then using bait works well, since they eat it and take it back to the nest. MaxForce bait gel or bait stations work very well. After the roach dies, the other ones will eat it and are also poisoned. This takes about a week to 10 days to work, which is why many people don't realize the benefits of bait stations. In most cases, someone will grab a can of Raid and start spraying, usually 10 times more than is necessary. Just because a bug keeps moving, doesn't mean it isn't going to crawl into a crack and die. I'm guilty of this (spraying too much, not crawling into cracks) so I admit that it's not easy being patient once you begin seeing large roaches in your home. If you spray or squash the bug, it can't get back to the nest, so the bait doesn't work.

Please don't use boric acid if you have pets. If a cat walks across boric acid and licks its paws, it might become very ill. There are many articles saying it's very safe and non-toxic, but I disagree. I'm on the fence when it comes to treating lawns and trees. I like pretty lawns, but I also don't like what we are doing to our environment. Everything we put on our lawns or in our gardens can seep into our water supply. Storm water run-off is one of the greatest environmental threats to Florida's water quality which is why using lawn fertilizer is often discouraged.

Here are just a few more threads about bugs for more reading on the subject.


[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/sarasota-bradenton-venice-area/1322663-how-do-you-deal-palmetto-bugs.html[/url]

[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/sarasota-bradenton-venice-area/1131268-palmetto-bugs.html[/url]

[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/miami/1012582-palmetto-bugs-bugging-me-help.html[/url]

[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/tampa-bay/1121760-cockroaches-steroids-wtf.html[/url]

[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/tampa-bay/960463-roaches.html[/url]

[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/fort-myers-cape-coral-area/1047783-myers-noth-port-florida-mosquitoes-love.html[/url]

[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/florida/1257621-insect-snake-phobia.html[/url]

[url]//www.city-data.com/forum/miami/1210369-got-bugs.html[/url]

[SteveHC]

I used to live up in Connecticut before moving down to Cape Coral 4 years ago, and believe me the bugs were WAY worse in Connecticut - no comparison. I think it's because due to extreme budget cutting over the years throughout the North, regional spraying has been cut b back up there in a really major way, to the point where they almost don't do it at all. Meanwhile, Lee County's (CC's county) Mosquito and Hyacinth Control Commission continues to operate one of the country's very best insect control operations and is even its own taxing authority.

Having said that, there's no denying that when it comes to attached multi-unit rentals (such as traditional apartment buildings), bugs will tend to be a problem no matter WHERE you're talking about. However, Cape Coral has unusually few apartment buildings; most all available rentals are either condos, single family homes or duplexes. The exterior of lots (lawns etc.) and the very bottom of exterior walls need to be treated about once every other month; interiors are usually treated once after moving in (sometimes twice if necessary to completely eradicate anything), then once every 6 or 12 months thereafter. That's it.

You could of course do such pest control yourself, but it's seldom worth it. Professional service is generally very affordable, with the smaller independents usually being the cheapest.

When I was up in CT you couldn't walk out of the front door during dusk-to-dawn without literally getting bitten alive, and inside roaches and ants were BRUTAL. But down here about all I ever see inside is maybe 3-6 DEAD roaches per year, and I have as of yet to get bitten by ANYTHING outdoors.