Help ! I've Got Cockroaches !

[daddle]

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.

Ugh. No thanks. I'll live with a few natural organic roaches.

[Hydra]

European roaches are probably less voracious and prolific than American ones. But the apartment block where I lived some time ago was infested. When I moved, some roaches and eggs were transported in the cartons.

I got rid of them with two simple tricks: a few roach hotels under the furniture and no heating in the apartment for some winter months: room temperature between 10 and 12°Celsius (40 to 43°F). Roaches need warmth to live, so they disappeared in a few weeks.

Maybe all those cruisers in the Tropics just ought to sail north and pass the winter in the cold

Alain

[mikefp60]

Just to add a little humor to a rather non-humorous subject. And don’t ask me why I know this. And I have dealt with critters that make roaches seem like cute pets.

Borax is absolutely effective. Dust it into cracks and crevices where they are likely to trek as was mentioned in a previous post. They are actually very clean creatures and when they track the dust back to the nest other roaches will preen them of it ingesting the borax.

Which causes constipation.... which they die from.

So the funny part is thinking of the annoying little buggers croaking by the numbers from not being able to drop a deuce.

Now THATS good clean fun.

[senormechanico]

Don't let PETA hear about that or they'll institute a ban on borax as cruel punishment.

[MichaelC]

Boraxo. Spread it liberally in every part of the bilge, every enclosed locker. A couple of large boxes in your boat. Everywhere. It will kill them. Alan and Sherry Farrell told me about this, and I used the stuff in the tropics. Never had roaches.

[defever]

back when i was single-handling in fla/bahamas i had tons of roaches but, hey, a single hander needs friends and i just thought of them as pets ya couldn't ever get rid of. when my future wife moved aboard she freaked and said it was either her or the roaches...soooooooo, after a microsecond of thought i called a fumigator (in this case Truley Nolan). the guy came out and put boric acid in the walls (thru electric wall plates), etc and also had this little plastic syringe-looking thing w/ brown goop in it. he put a little of this goop in moist, dark places and left after saying we would never see another roach. we did see 2 more---one was dead and the other was crawling across the sole disintgrating before our eyes. i guess one or the other of his products worked because that was 12 yrs ago and we live in fla/bahamas/c. amer and no more roaches. you can buy the goop at lowe's/home depot---look for the big plastic syringe...

[s/v Jedi]

Our three ships cats hunt and kill every roach that dares to come aboard. They pile them up together with the crabs, birds, squid and flying fish they catch and/or bring aboard like a cat supermarket display.

On fumigating/smoke etc. the trick is indeed the repeats to catch the ones crawling from their miserable eggs.

cheers,
Nick.

[scook1]

Coming from up north, I did not realize how big a problem this was. We don't have issues with cockroaches here. Of course, I would trade any day.
Spencer

[cantxsailor]

You don't spend any time on the south side of Chi do ya.

A while back I had a guy bring me an SKS for repair that was chock full of the little ones. When he racked the bolt back to show it was clear they started coming out all over the place. I made him take it home and submerge it in kerosene for a few days before I'd work on it in my shop.

Like I said about the Vapona it kills the snot out of everything on the boat including the owners (later not sooner) if they didn't read the instructions. I still use them for when I'm not on the boat for a while...........m

[Fishman_Tx]

2 each Raid fumigators (NOT the fogger). Remove all the (unsealed) food and take the dog out for the day. Close up tight. Come back in the afternoon and open all the hatches and portlights. Run a fan for a few minutes. The residuals dissipate quickly but don't forget to open the bilge as the gas settles in low places. None will get away....

[barnakiel]

The boric acid can be mixed with powdered milk and formed into balls (or stuck into PET caps. Roaches will eat the stuff and die.

The best commercial stuff we used is the Eco Gel made (i.a) by novar.es. It contains:
- impidacloprid,
It works same like the boric acid. You just leave drops of the gel everywhere where the bugs walk and repeat again two weeks later. Magic.

b.

[Pacific Jewel]

Right. This was probably already said but I haven't read through all posts so here goes.

First, fumigate. Second, go and buy "Combat" at the supermarket (Are you in Canada or US?). This stuff works. Seriously. Buy alot. And put it everywhere. Your dog can't eat this (I hope). They are black plastic discs that those creepy critters crawl into and eat poison, which also affects any eggs they lay.

I lived in Hawaii a long time and there are many a cockroach there - big ones. As soon as the Combat discs passed its use by date, they were back (needs to be changed every 3 months). But before that - nada. I swear by them.

GOOD LUCK!

[Chief Engineer]

I didn't know Shell strips were still available...I haven't seen one in the US....

Maybe they are legal in Canada, eh?

[Chief Engineer]

Oh and by the way if you "bomb" has a flammable propellant...Turn of ALL electrical in the boat.

[hellosailor]

1. Borax is not the same as boric acid.
2. Roaches don't die from eating acid. It is a microcrystalline powder with extremely rough edges, which clings to the roaches by static electricity. That's also why it doesn't work after it gets damp and stops clinging. The killing happens because the sharp crystals cut the carapace of the bugs and then their fluids leak out. They literally "bleed the death of a thousand cuts" except of course it is bug juice, not blood.
3. And that same mechanism is why boric acid is not entirely safe to spread around, if it gets in your lungs, it basically works the same way as asbestos or coal dust. Damages the tissue and may never quite get entirely expelled.

So by all means, put it behind and under things, just don't put it where you may inhale it.

Chief, you make a good point about things going BOOM. Another good reason to use the Raid Fumigator smoke pots, instead of aerosols with explosive propellants.