Why Can't I Get Rid Of These Roaches In My Tampa Home?
If you've been battling cockroaches and you're at your wits end, it's not surprising. Cockroaches are notoriously difficult to keep out of Tampa homes, particularly once they've established themselves. Let's take a look at five reasons why this is the case.
1. Chemical Resistance
Cockroaches are tough insects. They can inhabit some of the harshest locations on earth. They're also adaptable. When a cockroach is exposed to a chemical and survives the exposure, it can shed its skin and create a new skin that is more resistant to that chemical. If this happens in your home, cockroach nymphs can grow up to be adults that are highly resistant to the products you're using to exterminate them. Not only this, roaches can pass down this resistant ability to their offspring. If you've been spraying cockroaches, this is one reason you're having trouble getting rid of them.
2. Bait Aversion
Cockroaches don't just have an ability to alter their skins to survive harsh environments, they can alter their taste receptors. Studies have shown that certain populations of German cockroaches have become resistant to the carbohydrate used in cockroach baits. If you have bait-averse German cockroaches in your home, you will not have any success with putting roach bait down to exterminate them. You may also make your problem more difficult to control if the roaches in your home are not yet avoiding the bait. Professionals use a multi-pronged approach to cockroach control to prevent cockroaches from evading treatments in this way.
3. Conducive Conditions
If you manage to exterminate roaches, but conditions keep inviting cockroaches to explore your home's exterior, you could be losing a battle of attrition. Cockroaches are attracted to moisture, darkness, tight spaces, and decaying organic matter. Here are a few tips for removing these attractants.
Remove things cockroaches hide under, such as:
- Palm leaf litter
- Dead branches
- Campfire wood
- Construction materials
- General lawn clutter
Reduce moisture in your landscaping by:
- Cleaning your gutters
- Removing weeds, grass, and other unnecessary vegetation
- Trimming bushes and shrubs
- Giving your landscaping only the water it needs
- Watering your plants in the early morning
Reduce decaying organic matter and strong smells that attract roaches, such as:
- Open garbage or a receptacle that has a noticeable odor
- Compost that is not mixed properly
- Dog droppings
- Pet food left outside
- Open lawn fertilizer
- Food left outside after grilling—particularly condiment containers that are not cleaned on the outside
- Improperly cleaned recycling materials left in your garage or shed
4. Entry Points
When cockroaches explore your exterior, they can't help but explore entry points. This is because they're drawn to tight spaces. They don't just squeeze under objects in your yard, they squeeze into gaps in exterior walls. Here are a few examples:
- The seal on the bottom of your garage door may allow a cockroach to squeeze through and gain access to your garage. Once inside, that roach might find electrical outlets that are missing covers, a hole around electrical wires that run from your garage door opener to the ceiling, and gaps in baseboards. This can give that roach access to the voids within your home's floors, ceilings, and walls.
- When cockroaches explore exterior doors, cockroaches may find missing or damaged door sweeps, gaps in old weatherstripping, gaps in double doors that are not properly aligned, rotting wood frames, or holes created by wood-destroying pests.
- When cockroaches explore your foundation slab and lower exterior walls, they may find foundation cracks that are large enough to gain entrance. They may also come in through gaps around plumbing, wires, wire conduits, and other exterior wall penetrations.
5. Interior Habitat
When cockroaches get into your Tampa bay home, most species won't prefer to stay. In general, cockroaches prefer humid spaces, and are averse to living in homes that have climate control. If this is the type of cockroach pest you're dealing with, you may be able to drive them out by removing the incentives that make them want to come inside and explore your home.
- Fix leaking faucets, showerheads, garbage disposals, and other plumbing issues. This reduces humidity and drinking water resources for roaches.
- Use the vent in your bathroom during showers and baths.
- Clean the shelves and floors of your pantry.
- Consider replacing wood shelves with wire shelves.
- Consider storing pantry food in sealed containers.
- Clean and deep clean your kitchen and dining room.
- Consider only eating food in your kitchen or dining room.
- Clean your bathroom.
- But dirty dishes in soapy water or do them as you dirty them.
- Keep your trash in covered receptacles and remove trash weekly.
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