atypicalsub
Posts: 284
Joined: 4/11/2008
From: an atypical sub
Status: offline
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Not certain exactly which species of cockroach we are talking about here. Most species can fly but will only do so in rare instances. Flying takes a hell of a lot of energy, crawling is simply a far more efficent way for them to move about.
Cockroaches generaly will hang out around sinks. They need fresh water for everything. Insects have no saliva glands so they can't eat anything unless it is wet first.
Boxed food in the cupboard is generaly of no interest to insects. As stated above, they need food to be wet. If it is kept completely dry they can't taste it and won't even identify it as food. They simply can not tell the difference between dry sugar and sand. That said, if there is too much moisture in your kitchen there is a possibility of it condensing on packages in the cupboard and that might be enough for insects to taste the food. Good ventilation will solve that problem. If you're worried about it leave a fan running in your kitchen over night with the cupboard doors open to dry things out.
Cockroaches pose no direct threat to humans. They are not predatory, just scavangers. They do not attack live animals but are only attracted by the smell of decaying meat.
The best way to deal with them is simply to keep your kitchen and bathroom as clean as possible. Wipe down surfaces with a solution of about one shot glass of bleach to a gallon of water. The bleach will kill bacteria anywhere the roach may have walked. Roaches depend a lot on smell to find food and locate a mate. The bleach will make it extremely difficult for them to fine either so any in the are will most likely just leave to find an enviornment more to their liking.
Roaches use water pipes like highways to move between apartments or rooms in a house. Put up road blocks. Go to the hardware store and get a can of the insulating spray foam. Fill the holes around any pipe openings under the sinks and around the bath tub and toilet. Also slide the stove out and do this around the gas pipe (assuming you have a gas stove). If there is a plastic or metal disk where a pipe goes into the wall or floor slide the disk up the pipe and spray foam into the hole behind it before putting the disk back in place. Get a tube of kitchen and bathroom caulk and lay a bead of caulk around the base of the toilet. Likewise along the base of the bathtub where it meets the floor and along the wall edge if there is not a continious seal there.
Finaly get some borax. You'll find it at the store with laundry additives. Sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls down down along the wall under the sinks and anywhere else there might be moisture. Roaches will eat this. They are incapable of burping so the resulting gas will kill them. It won't hurt household pets.
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"Do not do anything you are ashamed of, and don't be ashamed of anything you do"
(although I'm sure my bio-family wishes I did less and was ashamed of more)
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