How do I know if I have a cockroach infestation?
The most obvious sign you have a roach problem is if you see one. Your home is an ideal breeding ground for certain pest species of cockroaches. With plenty of food, warmth, water and nesting sites, they can remain active all year round.
Cockroaches are mostly nocturnal, preferring to stay hidden from view and coming out to feed at night. Cockroaches are attracted to all types of food available in your home. They will eat just about anything including food, paper, packaging, plastics and fabrics, and animal matter.
If you spot roaches during the daytime, it can mean the infestation has been going on for some time or that it has progressed to the point where immediate action must be taken
Where to look
Roaches eat just about everything they come across, which in return produces a considerable amount of roach droppings. Cockroach droppings will be visible during an infestation. Small roaches produce droppings that resemble coffee grounds or black pepper, while larger roaches expel cylindrical droppings. The quantity of visible droppings is usually a good indicator of the level of infestation.
Roaches can produce a pungent, musty odor that gets worse the longer the infestation goes on. The smell is usually the result of a large number of roaches, alive and dead, leaving behind droppings and from decomposition. Roach odors linger in the air and can even affect the taste of food.
Roaches are aggressive breeders. They don’t lay singular eggs – they produce oothecae. Oothecae are oblong, brown casings that house many eggs. When roach eggs hatch, the casings are left behind, providing evidence that roaches have invaded your home or business.
What to look for
Look in cupboards and cabinets, in pantries, and along the floor baseboards. In addition, roaches like to hide under sinks and behind dishwashers. Where there is a plumbing fixture, there is a hiding place for cockroaches. Even smaller kitchen appliances like microwaves, coffee makers, toasters and blenders provide shelter for cockroaches.
Look in the back most part of the bathroom cabinets (especially if they are full of soaps and toiletry products) or medicine cabinets. Check plumbing behind sinks, baths and toilets, anywhere they can hide in sheltered dark spaces with access to water. Remember, cockroaches will eat just about anything. That includes soap residue, toilet paper and tissues – even shed skin cells and hair.
Look along the base and corner joints of walls, where the foundation wall meets the floor, and any gaps cockroaches could squeeze through. Cockroaches will hide in and eat cardboard and newspapers which makes boxes and piles of paper excellent places to hide.
How to get rid of an infestation?
You looked, you saw, and you have cockroaches. Now what do you do?
The Do-It-Yourself method would be to clean, clean, and clean some more. That helps remove the food source, but it doesn’t remove the cockroach. You can seal cracks and holes, and fix water leaks, but remember they are already in your home. You need to kill the cockroach!
Call Sigma Pest Control!
At Sigma Pest Control, our pest technicians are trained to help manage pests of all kinds, including cockroaches. Regardless of whether you have one cockroach or a thousand, we will design a right program for your situation. Please note, however, that remediation cockroach infestation is not a one-time solution. Cockroaches multiply quickly. Timing is everything. Sigma’s Quarterly Pest Control Service provides a continuing cycle of protection, implementation, and monitoring.
Call Sigma Pest Control for a free inspection – 540-94-SIGMA.