Help ! I've Got Cockroaches !

[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!!!

[Pblais]

You can do a lot to prevent them but you need more than boric acid to get rid of them. You need to kill all the adults and deal with the larvae. I would also ask if you are living on the boat or can you remove most of the gear so you can do a proper cleaning? Every square inch needs to be cleaned and the deeper and darker places more than all the rest. If not you will be fighting a battle that you might gain a foothold with but never win.

I would want to fumigate first, then clean thoroughly. Unless you totally get rid of them you never will. There is a limit to what bait type approaches can do given you have to wait for the eggs to hatch and the little ones start the cycle all over. They pretty much breed seconds after they are born. Eggs can lay dormant then hatch.

After you get rid of them and clean then you need to deal with how they get aboard and the ways to prevent them. Could be worse - could be rats!

[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.

[senormechanico]

We tried everything when we got the little buggers. Then we tried these.
It was the only thing that worked for us.

Black Flag Roach Motel
They walk in, get stuck, and the last thing a female roach does is lay eggs. The eggs hatch, get immediately stuck and die. End of problem.

A secondary benefit is you can SEE them getting stuck, and have a good laugh at the little bastards too!

[skipmac]

I once had a huge roach problem. Collected various breeds from all over the Caribbean, they all got together and bred a superstrain.

I pulled all food and roach edible things possible from the boat. That includes paper and especially books. Then spread boric acid everywhere, closed up the boat up tight and left for a couple of months. Wiped them out.

If you can't leave the boat then boric acid is reputed to have low toxicity, eaten or breathing the dust. One report indicated eaten it is about as toxic as salt but there are concerns with long term exposure.

[Lancerbye]

Burn the boat. lol

[canucksailor]

ok, the burning the boat suggestion is out....although if this problem isn't solved by this fall (oh God, noooooo!), I'll leave it in the Great Lakes region for next winter and freeze the bastards out!
The roach motel sounds super, will pick some up tomorrow - also, regarding boric acid, just HOW do I use it? I've got it, just not sure how to use it safely and in a way that will get these little buggers.

[canucksailor]

...by the way, I've got over 150 books on board, it simply isn't possible to remove them - it would affect the righting moment!

[mesquaukee]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I once had a huge roach problem. Collected various breeds from all over the Caribbean, they all got together and bred a superstrain.

Roaches are tough, resilent and fly long distances.

Plan on at least a month to kill them all. They lay eggs so if you think you got them all just wait and they will be back when the eggs hatch.

Whenever we have an infestation we hit them with everything. Borax mixed with evaporated milk, commercial preparations and beer bottles.
Bottles make a great trap, wrap the outside with tape, dump some food in it and stand upright in dark corners in lockers, etc.

After you believe you killed the last one keep the baits and traps maintained for at least a month. Those eggs will eventually hatch.

[canucksailor]

...wonderful. You folks are all so cheerful and positive about this - tough, resilient, etc. etc. - sheesh - wait for a month after the last one! ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!
Do roaches infest RVs? Maybe it's time to look at another mode of travel, lol....
btw, love the beer bottle trap idea - talk about recycling!

[Boracay]

I'll second the roach hotel and removing all food sources.

Sydney must be the roach capital of the universe. We control them by taking out the garbage every night, keeping everything clean and using those egg killing roach traps.

Seems to get it down to one or two big ones that die in the bath every so often.

[Mule]

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and get a flea bomb. the kind you set them off and leave. get rid of or seal up all exposed food. Open your cabinets, closets and so forth. Set one off, come back in 2 hours (leaving the boat closed. Sweep up the dead ones.

Trick done/ I lived in Houston area for years, roach capital of he world, all I ever used at home. And only 2x per year.

[daddle]

No big deal. Boric acid powder in the cracks and nooks around the galley. Behind drawers. Don't mix it with anything. You just want them dust themselves with it. It controls them well. If you are in paradise they get on board no matter what - they fly ya know. Helps to never stay in marinas and all the other things about cardboard boxes, etc.

They are no dirtier than the boat they live on. You can hunt them at night with the red night lights on. Apparently they think they are in the dark. Just pick them up in a paper towel...squish. Roach hotels do kinda work...but they stink.

Contrary to the alarmist responses, I don't think there are as many on board as people think. I kill a couple of dozen then don't see any for a long while.

Boric acid is as safe as table salt. Look it up on Wikipedia. Don't put it where a dog will eat it.

So how big are yours? The Tahitian ones that visited were pushing 4cm. The little Mexicans are tiny.

[Bruce Bevan]

I saw a novel way of getting rid of ants in a communications building that should also work for cockroaches. Corbon monoxide. Start a small Honda generator and leave it running inside the boat. Open all compartment doors. Close the boat up tight and take the dog for a long walk. By the time you get back the Honda should have starved for oxygen and the cockroaches should all be looking up a the cabin roof. In the communication building the verminator used a chainsaw for one hour, but I think that might be a little too smelly for this application.

Good luck.

BJB

[captain58sailin]

Boric acid is the buffering agent that they use in eye wash. It won't hurt the dog, or you. Use it in the finest powder form you can find and blow it into all of the nooks & crannies, leave a little on the counters, it doesn't take much to be effective. Keeping their food supply to a minimum will help, but they can thrive on about anything. A lot of them get on board in the cardboard boxes that you use as packing crates for stores, a lot of other critters find their way on board the same way, I usually dip the local produce in the ocean and hang it on the rigging for a day to get the unwanted visitors to leave.