Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cockroach

La cucaracha ya no puede caminar

aiko — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:27:42 -0800

It's a terrible picture, but is this a cockroach? ☐ Yes. ☐ No. It is - err, was - about 7/16 of an inch long, had a ribbed thorax (abdomen?), and had a grey-ish underbelly. Looking at cockroach pictures here, the ribbed thorax looks like a cockroach feature.

Just a few roaches, but...

Muu — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:14:13 -0800

I've had roaches popping up in my apartment recently, but my lease is up in a few months. If I don't call an exterminator before I move out could I be stuck with an extermination fee? i've never had too bad of a problem with roaches in my apt. Maybe once every 2 months or so one would pop out of nowhere and I'd start madly trying to kill the suckers while screaming like a schoolgirl (they don't come often enough that I get used to them), but then for several months, nothing.

So my assumption's always been that they're just coming up from the sewers once in a while to say hi, but recently I've had to encounter them once a week or so. Might be the summer setting on, but that's never got them coming out this often before. I've sporadically laid down boric acid under the fridge and such (especially today, after another one popped up on the wall up high and out of easy reach, and I missed a swing sending it straight to hiding under there...), but that hasn't really put a stop to them either.

My lease for my current apt runs out in 3,4 months and I've already been planning to move out for noise problems that occur during the winter. I'll definitely try doing some of the boric acid balls I saw on other threads in the meantime, but if it really was an infestation (even if mild) and self-remedy fails to get rid of them, could this become an easy excuse for the landlord to keep a chunk of my deposit?

I know those guys are spendy, but if I'm gonna be stuck with the bill anyway I might as well reap the benefits...

What photographer tortured cockroaches?

miffed — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:21:18 -0800

Looking for the name of an artist who did a beautiful / disturbing series of photographs of cockroaches (and/or other insects??) being tortured. My memory is vague, but I think one was crucified, one immolated, etc. I also feel like it was a female artist.

Cockroach etiquette?

exphysicist345 — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 22:28:22 -0800

What is the proper etiquette concerning a cockroach you see in someone else's house? I'm a houseguest of friends who are adult, middle-class, churchgoing, etc. whose house is in a respectable suburb. While using the bathroom, I happen to see a fairly big cockroach run across the floor. Should I tell my hosts? Or should I just say nothing?

If I say nothing, and the hosts are actually unaware they are infected, the cockroaches will build up a bigger colony before the hosts happen to discover them, and thus be more difficult to eradicate.

If they don't know they have cockroaches and I speak up, there's the shoot-the-messenger possibility. Or the hosts are terribly embarrassed that anyone found an insect in their house. Or am I simply being rude to bring up such a matter. Etc.

What would you do? Keep it secret or speak up? If you'd tell, how would you politely and reasonably broach the subject? What would you actually say?

Ew. This is not the type of roach I thought you'd be passing.

numinous — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:58:26 -0800

Joe's-Apartment-Filter: Advice and anecdotes on how to best roach-bomb our place? I'm moving and want to obliterate these monsters!

We’re moving! After two years of terrible management, university take-over, neighbors predisposed to frat parties, and a slew of other issues, I have finally reached the end of my lease. Praise be! Very recently, I’ve discovered yet another reason why this move is so opportune: roaches. I’ve had the good fortune to have never before lived in a place with roaches. So, when I tell you that one recently crawled over my foot while I was in the bathroom (shudder), you’ll understand that I'm absolutely horrified. Horrified and disgusted and just EW YUCK WTF GROSS GET THE HELL OUTTA MY HOUSE OMG.

As I’m so totally new to this (horrifying) game, I don’t know where to start when it comes to extermination and prevention. I’ve already bought roach traps, and set them up in various places, and have already reduced the number of roaches encountered to maybe one every two weeks. BUT! I really, really, really, really, reaaaaaaaaaaally don’t want to transport any of these beast during the move and inadvertently introduce them into our shiny new abode.

Based on advice culled from previous AskMe’s (one, two), I’ve decided that roach bombing our apartment is our best bet for complete roach annihilation. I’m inclined to go with the Raid Fogger, as it’s widely available and not too pricey. I have already purchased a big box of Borax, and have sprinkled it in various spots throughout our current apartment. But this is not enough to soothe my mind and quell my fears that they are still lingering just behind the bookcase, or in the couch, or wherever. I want not to live in fear. I want peace of mind. But most of all, I want to kill with extreme prejudice. So here’s the part where you offer all of your anecdotes and sagely advice!

Do these bombs/foggers actually work?

If I use these foggers, do I need to activate one in each room of our apartment?

How toxic is this stuff? Is it dangerous to humans? (e.g. if there is residue left from it, and it gets on my hands and I rub my eye or pick my teeth, is there a potential for harm?)

What stuff should I move before initiating the fogging mechanism? (Flatware? Kitchen utensils? Sealed food? Electronic equipment? Specific textiles?)

Will food left in the fridge be safe for consumption after the fogging?

How long should we wait after activation to return into the apartment? (Raid suggests 3 hours, but that seems rather short. Is it?)

Is there anything that I've overlooked? If so, please feel free to supply me with that advice, too. Thank you (seriously).

Cockroach Crazy

peewinkle — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:52:47 -0800

I just became the person in charge of a large building. Which is infested with cockroaches. Help! The building is huge. It used to be a church. It is over-run with cockroaches. I mean, they are crawling up my leg as I type this. I know I have to bomb, use gel and redo that every few days, four or five times. But am I using the right stuff?

I am using the bombs and gel that you get at Home Depot.

A few years back, I moved into an infested house (yes, I am a poor bastard) and I made the landlord call in an exterminator and he used a gel that looked like an epoxy stick (two separate tubes that squirted gel out equally to mix) and it worked great. Is this the same stuff that you can get at Home Depot or is it a commercial version?

I really don't have the cash to call an exterminator.

There is a lot of stuff in the building, which makes great places to hide for them, but no food stuff and nothing here for them to eat.

The building is three levels and they are everywhere. I've been sleeping in a hammock and eating out.

Any advice or info would be great!

(Yes, I know...... yuck)

ROACH ON MY FACE + wimp = oh no

prefpara — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:55:01 -0800

ROACH. Need near-term help. I woke up at 5.45 am because I felt a tickling sensation on my shoulder/neck and sat up. I thought it was likely my hair, but turned around anyway to see AN ENORMOUS (size of my hand) COCKROACH ON MY PILLOW.

So now I am in the living room. No one I know is awake. In the long and medium term, I'm going to talk to the building manager about getting an exterminator and I will likely crash with a friend tonight.

My issue is: what do I do RIGHT NOW? I have a pathological inability to deal with bugs larger than a mosquito. My glasses, clothes, and phone are in the bedroom. My boyfriend is out of town until Thursday.

So far I've poured some bleach down the drains and taken out all the trash that I can. But I have not succeeded in re-entering the bedroom.

Should I try to rig up a poor man's hazmat suit using ceran wrap and aluminum foil? Should I unwind a coat hanger and try to "fish" for my clothes and glasses? Can roaches fly? Is this a myth? Will it fly in my face, where it likes to party?

Can anyone think of a way to get me into the bedroom that does not involve willpower, which has failed?

I may not be thinking clearly. It was on my face.

Bug-filter: Cockroach? Please god, nooooo!

saturnine — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:21:35 -0800

Oh the joys of foreign bugs. Please can someone confirm/deny whether this is a cockroach? I'm creeped out to the nth degree. Yes, that photograph is far closer to any gross bug than it should be. I have searched through other questions on this subject, and this picture seems similar to what I have crawling around in a jar on my counter right now... but not 100%. My main problem being that I'm not from the US, so I'm not used to all the insects San Diego keeps throwing at me. Hell, I freaked out when a cricket got into the apartment the other night.

So what do I have and how should I kill it without touching it? If it's not a cockroach, is this something driven inside by the rain (it's pouring today, and I left the screen door open)?

If this is a cockroach, what do I do?

Caper's Ghost — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 18:53:34 -0800

Tonight I found this insect on the wall of my apartment. What is it? Tonight I found this insect on the wall of my apartment. My girlfriend’s dog actually found it first (thank god she wasn’t here at the time), and I found the dog staring at it. The bug was about 4 feet up on the wall, just sitting there. This was at roughly 8:00 p.m. EST. I tried to brush it down to the floor and it flew off the wall. It seemed to fly very lightly and easily, like a moth almost, but it didn’t fly more than a few feet down to the floor. I saw it fly a few times, but never more than a few feet. I managed to capture it easily (perhaps in part thanks to the dog, Teddy, who mauled it a bit). After capturing it in a drinking glass, I took some pictures of it. I think it sustained some physical trauma from the dog, because it has been very easy to capture and control and I always heard that roaches were very elusive.

After taking some pictures of the beastie, I killed it with ammonia-based generic brand window cleaner. After that I photographed it next to a coin for size comparison.

After some quick google research, I don’t know exactly how to classify this insect. It looks a lot like a roach of some sort. The wing pattern seems to look like what I consider a roach, but it is very light-brown colored. Most pictures of roaches I came across are a lot darker than the thing I found on my wall.

A few more facts: I live in an apartment in suburban Alexandria, Virginia, USA. My roommate and I are not exceptionally messy, but we have been known to let some stuff pile up in the sink or garbage can now and then. Nothing ridiculous though, just a little cluttered at times. The neighborhood is pretty clean though, and I have heard no other complaints of cockroach infestations. My building is three floors tall (I’m at the top) and it has four apartments on each floor.

Also, yesterday I got back from a two-day long camping trip to West Virginia, and brought a bunch of stuff up to the apartment from the car. There is a possibility that I brought this in from outside.

To date this is the first experience I have had with what may be a cockroach. Tell me, mefites, is it a roach? If so, what kind? Where may it have come from, and do I or will I have an infestation on my hands?

Thanks!

Cockroaches in my dishwasher. Ewww!

calistasm — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 19:11:22 -0800

I have cockroaches in my dishwasher. Help me kill the little bastards with extreme prejudice. Due to some little beasties hitching a ride in boxes that were mailed to us, we have a cockroach problem. It seems to be mostly under control now (after two sprayings, a bombing, baits, glue traps, and roach gel), but I cannot for the life of me figure out what to do about the ones in the dishwasher. They seem to be living in the door. There are droppings along the top of the door, and I have seen them crawl into the body of the dishwasher from the air vents. I have considered spraying through the vents with Raid, but it seems unwise, since I actually USE the thing. What suggestions do you have?

Relevant: I live in an apartment building, I don't want to move, I am unsure if replacing the dishwasher is feasible, and in any case I want to see if I can do anything about it first. Thanks.

Boric Acid (roach killer) safe to use in my cupboard?

bingwah — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 06:49:14 -0800

I'm Using Boric Acid for a cockroach problem - is it safe to put it in my cupboard next to plates and cups? I don't have a huge roach problem but enough to make it a nuisance and me and my wife are pretty disgusted by them. I usually see about 1 or 2 a week in the kitchen only.

I've read this thread:
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/15936 and I'm using three different roach "killers". I layed down boric acid, Combat roach Gel and have put out Raid Roach traps. I don't know how long this stuff is supposed to take to work but it's been almost a month and we're still seeing them.

I purposely avoided my cupboards because I didn't want toxins near my plates and cups. Today however I saw a roach in my cupboard.

Is it really bad to put down boric acid in my cupboard? Obviously I'd wash any plates or cups before using.

Literal "debugging" issues.

nowonmai — Mon, 22 May 2006 08:47:57 -0800

How can cockroaches be evicted from the innards of a laptop? A friend of mine lives in a building with a bit of a cockroach problem. This wasn't a big issue until this morning when a couple of baby cockroaches popped out from between the keys of her Powerbook to say "hello". Does anybody have any suggestions how cockroaches can be evicted from and persuaded to stay out of this machine? This previous AskMeFi didn't really help.

6-legged protein supplements

moira — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:39:02 -0800

So. You're eating take-out from your favorite Indian restaurant. While munching away, you dig for another bite and discover... a cockroach, nicely marinated and well-done. Whadaya do? Outside of spewing the contents of your mouth back onto your plate, that is.

Is this just something that happens occasionally? Not actually a big deal? I'm obviously totally grossed out, but also surprised. The place is quite clean (not that I'm familiar with their kitchen). Do we notify the owners, who we quite like, or the Department of Health, or what?

Could you ever bring yourself to eat at the restaurant again?

Location: California, U.S.

You got a roach in my LCD!

Sticherbeast — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 10:51:42 -0800

There's a cockroach stuck inside my microwave LCD screen. What in the blazes? How do I get it out without completely disassembling the microwave? Here's one picture! And another!

Cockroach genocide?

loquacious — Sat, 25 Jun 2005 03:30:28 -0800

GAH! Cockroaches! Please help! Short story: I want your cockroach eradication knowledge. It can be anecdotal, scientific, folk lore, whatever. It can be poisons or traps or advice on how to seal up the apartment to keep them from getting in and moving around.

Long story:

I've moved into a new apartment with my GF. The new (oldish) apartment came with a bunch of roaches. The previous tenant was (literally) a filthy crack-ho pig. Well, meth-ho, more likely. Seriously. I met her and her posse when we were visiting the apartment 4-plex and checking it out. She was seriously one of the most offensive, assuming, and demeaning people I've ever met, and I've been around the block a few times and lived in some pretty screwed up places.

The neighbors in this four-plex are visibly not that clean, but they're mostly nice and I really don't want to be that sort of new neighbor that makes life hell for everyone.

Plus, at least two of the three neighbors have physical/medical/age issues - to the point that once I get settled in here I'm seriously considering going down and helping them clean up a bit. I do not enjoy cleaning. At all. But they can probably use the help. And if it decreases the roaches here by reducing them there, even better.

The landlord is a state away in California- and seems like a nice guy. He knocked our first months rent almost in half, after a previously agreed upon free half-month, for our patience with the hassles.

Short story on the hassles: The temporary folks he hired to clean the place before we moved in bailed out on him. We moved in three days after he said it'd be ready to find out that literally nothing had been cleaned. Not even a partially vacuumed carpet. The cupboards under the kitchen sink had a layer of roach droppings in it like a fine mulch. There were dirty dishes still in the dishwasher.

We've been sprayed - and it sucks. I can still feel and smell the fumes and outgassing. We're being extra clean. I've put down roach discs and a handful of glue traps (the kind for mice and rats, but cockroaches stick to them even better)

I could "live with" the roaches - if by "living with" we meant "terminating them with prejudice, keeping extra clean, keeping foodstuffs sealed and put away, but not generally freaking out about them and letting them run the place."

But my girlfriend can't. She's terrified of them and totally disgusted by them. I can understand that. If this place was crawling with spiders, however harmless, I'd be pretty upset.

We want to keep them to a minimum and/or eliminate them before they mature to the legendary 3-6 inch long mature ones that Phoenix, AZ is infamous for.

I'm open to any and all suggestions except for "move" and "sue the slumlord". This apartment is a frickin' huge - totally ginormous - two bedroom for under $600 a month, a welcome change from a tiny, ill-configured studio in totally ghetto LA for $800. The location and proximity to workplaces is awesome. Trader Joe's is fifteen minutes away. And the landlord seems nice - which is a huge bonus in a world of megacomplexes with faceless bearaucrats for management.

A Better Roach Trap

cmyk — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 01:44:20 -0800

I found an enormous cockroach in my car. How do I get it out of there? I don't eat in my car. I don't leave empty coffee cups in there. I leave the windows rolled up when I park the car. I do live in Florida, however, and it's been insanely rainy this past week - bugs are looking for dry ground.

I tried to flatten it with my shoe, but it scurried into the back seat. So much for that.

Letting the roach starve in there isn't an option. I'm very phobic. I get shaky, I feel nauseous, etc. If I found it in my hair while I was driving, I'd probably wind up wrapping my car around a pole.

I'd like to trap or kill it in a way that doesn't involve pesticides and DOES involve easy disposal of the body. If my dogs found a dead roach they'd eat it. They're in the car two or three times a week, so it's a concern.

I've heard things about Vaseline and half-empty beer bottles... if the price of driving roach-free is that my car smells like a bar, so be it.

Can I control roaches with a gecko?

TungstenChef — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 18:00:10 -0800

Gecko-based roach control was mentioned in another AskMe thread. There must be something wong with this idea, but I don't know what. In an earlier thread on roach control Jack Karaoke mentioned a friend who controlled his roaches by getting a gecko and letting it roam free in his kitchen. I love critters (who aren't roaches), so this idea really appeals to me. Has anyone tried this? Would a leopard gecko be the right kind? Am I setting myself up for having a dead, stinky lizard behind my fridge?

What are some cat-safe cockroach extermination methods?

brownpau — Wed, 13 Oct 2004 22:40:38 -0800

Can anyone recommend an effective cat-safe cockroach extermination measure? I have a roach infestation problem in my apartment. I've sprayed the nooks and crannies with Raid, plugged the cracks with Combat Gel in the cracks, left a dozen traps in a dozen corners, and mercilessly kill any roach I see, but their population is not dropping. I'm Googling and Froogling about for possibilities, but firsthand accounts would be great. Again, I need something cat-safe.