Help ! I've Got Cockroaches !

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by SouthernComfort

The cure to a roach problem is to simply remove the food source. If you are not a live aboard, dont leave food refuse in the trash when you leave the boat. You say you have a dog, don't leave dry dogfood out in a bowl when you are not cruising.

Cockroaches are there ONLY because there is food for them to eat.

This advise is also true in your home and apartment. Its all about the food crumbs and such.

Not true at all. Cockroaches can and do live full lives on nothing more than the glue that holds cardboard boxes together...And that's how most get on board in the first place, in the cardboard boxes..

[s/v Jedi]

Still, didn't read anything that beats a ships cat. But I guess a cat isn't convenient enough for some...

cheers,
Nick.

[canucksailor]

Gawd! Who'd a thunk this topic would generate all these replies? I love the ship's cat idea, it's so...so...organic! But this ship's DOG would have issues with it...so guess it's back to the boric acid....
Thanks everyone...fyi, haven't seen any roaches since this thread began!

[SkiprJohn]

Boric works well when dry. It doesn't work so well after it has absorbed moisture. Bug bombs work good.

Try to keep cardboard of any kind off the boat and the same goes for paper bags. The roaches love the glue that they use to seal cardboard boxes and paper bag bottoms.

Good luck. We have B-52 roaches here and they are really a pest if you give them the right food.

regards,

[Martinini]

I was an exterminator for 25 years. This is what you do. Go to any grocery store, or Lowes, Home Depot, Feed store and purchase a gel roach bait and follow directions on container. Also look for something called egg stoppers on the various products availiable. This is a juvinile roach hormone that prevents instar nymphs from reaching adult stage. This method takes a little time to work, but is totally safe around animals and children. If you are talking about the large American or Austrailian strains, just buy a couple of boxes of the large roach stations,and place them all over. However the gel baits are effective on these guys as well. In Florida they call them Palmetto bugs. Boric acid only works in a limited fashion because a certain number of the nymphs will develop an aversion to it and pass that aversion on to any offspring they will have when they reach adult hood. Baits are the safest and most effective method to use on a boat, or anywhere else. Also they have a long lifespan when placed. You can place a small dot of gel bait on your dock line, and give them a dose before they make it to the boat. That is if they just don't fly from the dock to the boat.

[Martinini]

Another tidbit--one adult female will produce around 40 nymphs per egg capsule and can live from a few months to as long as 8 years, depending on the species. Keep in mind that foggers as per label disclosure only kills exposed roaches. Also they are flamable and in high enough concentrations explosive! I have seen houses with all the windows blown out and the interiors burned because someone forgot to turn all the pilot lights off, or just plain didn't read the label.

[Martinini]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The “No Pest Strips” strips contained the chemical 2,2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate, more commonly known as DDVP. This same chemical was also used in flea collars and is an organophosphate insecticide.

As an organophosphorus insecticide, it was first marketed by the Shell Corporation, under the trademark Vapona. Vapona was registered for pesticide use in 1960, followed by the Shell No-Pest Strip in 1963.

Trade names include:
Apavap, Benfos, Cekusan, Cypona, Derriban, Derribante, Devikol, Didivane, Duo-Kill, Duravos, Elastrel, Fly-Bate, Fly-Die, Fly-Fighter, Herkol, Marvex, No-Pest, Prentox, Vaponite, Vapona, Verdican, Verdipor, and Verdisol.
Trade names used outside of the U.S. include Doom, Nogos, and Nuvan.

The US EPA has classified it as toxicity Class I - Highly Toxic, because it may cause cancer and there is only a small margin of safety for other effects. Products containing dichlorvos must bear the Signal Words DANGER - POISON.

DDVP has been illegal to use in the US for many years now because it was a mild fumagant. It was great, you could put a few drops on a cotton ball and place out of sight and kill every fly in a resturant. I missed it when they pulled it!

[Martinini]

Best over te counter ant bait is called TERRO-----You can find it easily,works on Pharo ants as well.

[Joli]

One method that hasn't been mentioned.

Spray the hull with Awlgrip. They'll come out at night and die when they get stuck on the new paint. Of course it's not a very cost effective way to rid yourself of the little bastards.

[b-rad]

Ill put in anther vote for the harris tablets, had roachs when we bough the boat put the tablets on and the next weekend found a few dead ones, havent seen anouther one since been 7 months.

[donradcliffe]

Boric acid mixed with sweetened condensed milk, then put on foil or in bottle caps. The sticky roach hotels are only good for monitoring the population.
They raise their young on the fumigation gases, and they are explosive.
The small German roaches are much harder to get rid of than the large Palmetto bugs.
If you haven't seen any, wait till dark.
Good luck!

[DaveC]

I had a roach problem on another boat I had in the past. I would always find two or three whenever I returned to it. I put the roach motels and bug killer and everything in there, but they just kept coming back.

Finally one day I was inspecting my dock lines before a hurricane and under one of the cleats on the dock where the line hadn't been moved for a long time I found a nest of a hundred or more roaches! I gave them a whole can of Raid, and sort of felt bad as they were jumping in the water for thier lives. But after that, I never found another roach.

They must have been wandering onto my boat from the main nest on the dock. So don't forget to check the dock for roaches.

[nautical62]

I successfully got rid of the roaches on my boat during my last cruise. I started using the roach motels which seemed to have no effect at all. I then switched to using raid, which I'd spray where they seemed to be nesting and along areas they'd crawl. I'd spray it in the evening and then get off the boat for a while so as not to be breathing it in. I'd find dead or dying roaches on the floor the next morning. I repeated this maybe 6 times. Seems to have worked well.

[Jetexas]

Also in Houston, and I also vote for the bug bombs. Don't overbomb your boat, though. It tells you how much square footage each on is good for. Two should be plenty for a boat. I think you have to wait four hours before you can go back in. After the bombs, leave the big Raid baits in the galley cabinets and your other nooks and crannies. I keep them under my kitchen sink and in the bathroom cabinets year round. Switch them out every six months or so.

While live roaches are hypo-allergenic, like dust mites, the decaying dead roach bodies are actually major allergens for some people, so make sure you get them all swept up.

[frank higgins]

Originally Posted by canucksailor

I've got cockroaches - I'd have gone to another forum, but cockroaches eat, and there are 22 cruisers here, and only 8 on the other forum that applies!
I know to use boric acid, and I have some onboard - how do I use it, mix it, place it and is it safe with a dog on board?
SVP, respond quickly, they're growing quickly!!!

they like jam just mix it with valium 50 50