Cockroaches

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EquALLity
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Cockroaches

Post by EquALLity »

Ehhh....
Ehhhhhhhhhhhh

OK so...

A week or two ago my friend who has cockroaches slept over at my house. And... :/ FML. Why. D:
My dad was like, "Just poke around her stuff and make sure that you don't see anything scurry around", and I was just like... wtf dad? Ummm???? How do I do that? What if she walks in on me? It's not like I can say, "Can I go through your stuff to make sure you don't have cockroaches with you?"

So erm...
It's 5 am and like I was going to try to get some sleep, so I went to my room, and a massive roach was there. :/ I tried to catch it, but it was too fast and I scared it away and can't find it anymore...
There's probably more than one if I saw one... and I'm worried it was pregnant, because it was pretty big, and the end of its body was long.

I don't want to kill animals, but honestly... what do I do? Because... I can't sleep in there with a cockroach infestation. :/

Will they die if I never bring food into my room? Will they starve to death? How do I get them out ASAP? :////
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by brimstoneSalad »

EquALLity wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:05 am There's probably more than one if I saw one... and I'm worried it was pregnant, because it was pretty big, and the end of its body was long.
There was probably just one, since she couldn't have had an infestation in her bag, but it is probably pregnant. You would be well advised to catch it if you can. If you can't catch it, you'll need to kill it because there will be hundreds more.
EquALLity wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:05 am Will they die if I never bring food into my room? Will they starve to death? How do I get them out ASAP? :////
No, they can eat almost anything. To put in in perspective: they can even eat your hair that sheds on the floor. Removing all food can help slow down the infestation, but you'll need to keep things VERY clean.

What WILL kill them is dryness. Roaches need water sources and humidity.
It probably already left your room and is hiding in your bathroom under the sink. Look for it there and spray it with poison if you have to.
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Jebus
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by Jebus »

Here is what I use to drive them away (without killing them) 10 drops of peppermint essential oil into a spray bottle filled with two parts water, one part white vinegar.
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Gregor Samsa
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by Gregor Samsa »

I think it's absolutely fine to kill the cochroach if you have no other reasonable way of getting rid of it. As far as I can tell cochroaches have an extremely limited sentience ie one shouldnt go out of one's way to kill them if it can be avoided but that's about it.
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DarlBundren
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by DarlBundren »

Gregor Samsa wrote:I think it's absolutely fine to kill the cockroach if you have no other reasonable way of getting rid of it. As far as I can tell cockroaches have an extremely limited sentience ie one shouldn't go out of one's way to kill them if it can be avoided but that's about it.
I didn't expect this from a guy called Gregor Samsa. :)
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Jebus wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:05 am Here is what I use to drive them away (without killing them) 10 drops of peppermint essential oil into a spray bottle filled with two parts water, one part white vinegar.
Pests get habituated to that stuff very quickly. If you have a stray roach wander in from outside that might make them leave and go somewhere else if they don't have a good reason to come in (like it's warm and humid outside and there's food elsewhere), but if you have a domestic infestation (that were used to the smell), or they're coming inside for heat, moisture, or food it won't work.

It's all about the deterrent vs. their motivations for coming in, and no deterrent beats hunger, thirst, or being cold for an insect (or rodents for that matter).

Don't you live in a more tropical region? They might just be wandering around and that could be enough to turn them away and go somewhere else just as nice but without the smell. Deterrents can work well as long as they don't have any compelling reason to come in.
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by Gregor Samsa »

DarlBundren wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 3:05 pm
Gregor Samsa wrote:I think it's absolutely fine to kill the cockroach if you have no other reasonable way of getting rid of it. As far as I can tell cockroaches have an extremely limited sentience ie one shouldn't go out of one's way to kill them if it can be avoided but that's about it.
I didn't expect this from a guy called Gregor Samsa. :)
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EquALLity
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by EquALLity »

brimstoneSalad wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 6:00 am
EquALLity wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:05 am There's probably more than one if I saw one... and I'm worried it was pregnant, because it was pretty big, and the end of its body was long.
There was probably just one, since she couldn't have had an infestation in her bag, but it is probably pregnant. You would be well advised to catch it if you can. If you can't catch it, you'll need to kill it because there will be hundreds more.
EquALLity wrote: Thu Nov 16, 2017 5:05 am Will they die if I never bring food into my room? Will they starve to death? How do I get them out ASAP? :////
No, they can eat almost anything. To put in in perspective: they can even eat your hair that sheds on the floor. Removing all food can help slow down the infestation, but you'll need to keep things VERY clean.

What WILL kill them is dryness. Roaches need water sources and humidity.
It probably already left your room and is hiding in your bathroom under the sink. Look for it there and spray it with poison if you have to.
Yeah apparently this type of cockroach just grows up and becomes pregnant naturally. Ffs.
Yeah I can't find it :/ not in my room or in the bathroom. I mean, it's probably in one of those areas and I just haven't seen it... But idk how to find it

It wasn't that afraid of me at first, barely at all, it was only until I tried to put a container on it that it ran away under my dresser. Maybe it'll come out again. Do you think I could bait it with water? Would it come out at night if I'm in the room and there's water?

Also, apparently this cockroach only carries its eggs for 1-2 days before depositing (the German cockroach). Rip. Well at least it's not that disturbing a roach, doesn't even look like what I think of cockroaches as. But still :/

My dad doesn't even seem to care that much though. He's just like "well I haven't seen it so there's nothing I can do". Welp
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by brimstoneSalad »

EquALLity wrote: Fri Nov 17, 2017 12:09 am Yeah I can't find it :/ not in my room or in the bathroom. I mean, it's probably in one of those areas and I just haven't seen it... But idk how to find it
Roaches are thigmophilic, they like to be in tight spaces with surfaces touching their tops and bottom. Look for it in small cracks.
If you open the cabinet or whatever under your sink with a flashlight, look up and into any tight areas.

Also, take all of your clothes out of the dresser and go through them carefully, take all of the drawers out, and examine every crack. It may be in there.

You may also want to check in the kitchen.

But it could take hours to find a single roach, it could even have gone into the walls.

You may just want to get some poison, or ignore it unless it becomes a big problem.
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Re: Cockroaches

Post by PsYcHo »

The larger roaches can be problematic, but when it comes to roaches bigger is better. The smaller ones cause the worst infestations and are the hardest to get rid of.

It's moral to not want to kill it, but you also don't want to play host to several hundred of it's relatives, which can cause health problems for you and your family, so I would use baits. And they can live for weeks without water, and months without food, and also for a time without their heads, so keeping things clean won't stop them from sticking around.
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