Get ready to experience the thrill of the hunt. Cockroach hunting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world, and it’s surprisingly easy too.
Catching cockroaches is a great way to spend your free time or a fun challenge for kids and adults alike. In this article, we’ll talk about how you can catch cockroaches at home using simple methods like traps or sprays.
We’ll also cover some tips on preventing roaches from entering your home in the first place so that you don’t have to worry about them ever again!
| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| • Cockroach infestations can pose significant health risks for you and your family. |
| • There are many effective ways to control and eliminate cockroaches, including natural remedies, baits and traps, and professional extermination services. |
| • Keeping your home clean and well-sealed can help prevent cockroach infestations from starting. |
| • If you do have a cockroach infestation, it’s important to act quickly and thoroughly to eliminate the problem. |
| • Seeking professional help may be necessary in severe infestation cases. |
1. Prepare For Battle
As you are about to embark on this journey, it is important to remember that cockroaches are not aggressive.
They do not bite and they have no stingers or teeth. The only way a cockroach can hurt you is if it falls into your eye or lands on your finger and then runs up your arm.
The latter scenario happened to me once when I was 10 years old, but I’m still here and thriving! Don’t let the fear of these little creatures keep you from doing what you want to do in life!
Don’t let cockroaches take over your home! Our guide on 15 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Cockroaches provides practical tips that you can use to control and eliminate these pests.
2. Are You Up For A Fight?
Before you get a trap and start the hunt, it’s important that you know what you’re getting into. Cockroaches are fast and smart, so they can be hard to catch.
If they bite you while they’re running away from your trap, they could also spread diseases like salmonella or E. coli. You should always wear gloves when handling roaches or their droppings (aka poop).
Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the way, there are three different ways you can go about catching these little buggers:
3. Get The Right Equipment
To catch a cockroach, you need to use the right equipment. The right equipment includes:
- A cockroach trap
- Cockroach spray
- Cockroach bait
- Insecticide/insect spray
- Roach traps
A cockroach infestation can pose serious health risks for you and your family. Learn more about the dangers of cockroach infestations and how you can prevent them with our comprehensive guide
4. Fight Fire With Fire
If you’ve caught a few of these slippery little creatures, but aren’t sure where they’re coming from, or if this is just another one of those “cockroach season” things (you know how it goes), then it’s best to be prepared. A good roach spray can help you out here.
You can find several online stores that sell specialized insecticides against cockroaches and other pests.
These sprays are generally not toxic for humans, but ensure that you read all labels carefully before using them near your family or pets.
Most will recommend spraying the affected areas with long-lasting residual effects; then leaving the area open for a few days so that no more roaches will come through until they die off naturally (or not).
If at any point during this ordeal you see any type of live parasite on yourself or your surroundings whether it be an ant colony or just one lone bee don’t touch it!
Instead, put on some safety gear such as gloves and goggles and use an insecticide directly onto the bug itself without ever touching its body with bare hands. This may sound like common sense now, but I’ve been told those bees sting worse than hornets do!
5. Starve A Cockroach To Catch It
- Starve them out. Cockroaches are attracted to food, so you need to remove their food source and water.
- Clean up after yourself. Cockroaches love crumbs from your sandwich or leftover scraps from dinner last night, so be sure to clean up after every meal and avoid leaving dirty dishes in the sink for days on end.
- Don’t leave pet food out for birds or rodents—both of whom will attract cockroaches!
Are you struggling to control cockroaches in your home? Our guide on cockroach control – natural remedies vs. chemical pesticides explores the pros and cons of different methods and helps you make an informed decision
6. Track Their Movements
You can do this by using a flashlight to find them, or by using a magnifying glass. If you look carefully at the surfaces they’ve been visiting and around where they’re likely to be hiding, you might notice droppings that are shaped like ovals or even coils.
Cockroaches also leave behind tiny tracks where their legs have dragged across the surface of your floor; these tracks may be visible in wet areas like sinks, tubs, and toilets.
Cockroach eggs resemble tiny grains of rice that are laid on flat surfaces; once laid they take about three weeks to hatch into nymphs (baby roaches)
7. Catch Them In A Trap
If you’re dealing with roaches that are already inside your home, there are a few different ways to catch them.
It all depends on how many roaches you have, where they’re hiding, and what kind of bait is available to you (or if it would even work).
Use a trap: You can purchase traps from any hardware or pet store and bait them with whatever food is most appealing to the type of cockroach in your area.
Roach traps work well because they capture bugs without killing them, so they don’t have an odor or leave behind dead bodies as evidence that there was ever a problem.
These traps also release more pheromones than other methods which attract more roaches over time.
Use bait: While using this method will require some elbow grease on your part (you’ll have to manually place the bait around areas where you think roaches are living), it can be effective since trapping won’t necessarily work if there aren’t enough bugs nearby.
To create effective baits using ingredients found in most kitchens like peanut butter or bacon fat!
Ways to Catch Cockroaches In A Trap
| Type of Trap | Description |
|---|---|
| Glue Traps | Sticky cardboard traps that capture cockroaches when they walk over the adhesive. |
| Bait Traps | Traps that lure cockroaches in with a baited lure, which contains a slow-acting poison. |
| Electronic Traps | Traps that electrocute cockroaches when they come into contact with the device. |
| Ultrasonic Traps | Traps that emit ultrasonic waves to deter cockroaches from entering an area. |
| Blunder Traps | Traps that use a one-way entrance to lure cockroaches into a sticky glue trap. |
| Jar Traps | Traps that involve placing bait in a jar and coating the interior with petroleum jelly or dish soap. |
| DIY Traps | Homemade traps that may consist of a jar or plastic container with bait, water, and dish soap. |
| Pyramid Traps | Traps that use a series of stacked cardboard boxes to capture cockroaches when they climb in. |
| Pheromone Traps | Traps that use pheromone scents to lure in cockroaches and trap them on a sticky surface. |
| Water Traps | Traps that involve filling a container with water and placing a piece of bread in the center as bait. |
| Vacuum Traps | Traps that use a vacuum hose attachment to suck up cockroaches |
| Roach Hotels | Devices that resemble small, enclosed hotels that contain a glue-based sticky trap. |
8. Make Them Follow The Food, Then Catch Them
So you’ve got a cockroach problem, or you’re just starting to have one. The first step is to get out the traps and bait them with what they love most: food.
Cockroaches will follow any scent of food, so the key is to find something that smells like their favorite thing—and then set it up so they can’t figure out how to get past it without getting into trouble.
If you don’t have time for such elaborate preparations, there are also commercial kits full of ready-made roach traps and bait kits that do all the work for you (and cost less than $10). These will still take some effort on your part as well—but if all else fails, at least now we know which way works best!
Did you know that cockroach bites can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions? Our guide on how to treat cockroach bite explains how to relieve symptoms and prevent further complications
9. Cockroach Bait Kits
If you have a large infestation or have tried other methods without success, a cockroach bait kit may be the best option.
These kits contain a small amount of food that attracts the roaches, so they’ll come out from hiding to eat it. Once they’re out in the open, you can easily spot them and exterminate them with poison.
Bait stations work by attracting cockroaches with food. They are then poisoned by the poisonous substance in the station (usually boric acid).
The bait stations are available for purchase at hardware stores, online retailers and pest control companies; however, if you prefer to make your own bait station instead of purchasing one from these sources (for example to save money), there is an easy recipe below:
10. Let The Professionals Do It
If you are still struggling to rid yourself of cockroaches, or if you just don’t have the time to dedicate to a lengthy extermination process, it might be worth hiring a professional pest control company.
There are plenty of companies that can help you with your cockroach problem. To find out which ones are most suitable for your needs and budget, follow these steps:
- Get quotes from at least three different companies – this will give you an idea of what they charge, as well as the kind of service they offer
- Ask each company for recommendations – ask friends or family members who have used their services before what their experience was like
- Check the credentials and experience of each company (in terms of their success rate) before hiring them
11. Keep Your Home Clean
The cockroach is a filthy little creature. It will eat your food, poop on your dishes, and leave behind its own waste wherever it goes.
In order to keep them from coming into your home as much as possible, you should do the following:
- Keep your home clean by using a vacuum cleaner to remove dust from surfaces regularly and cleaning up spills quickly.
- Store food in sealed containers or bags so cockroaches can’t get into them.
- Clean up after pets (especially dogs) when they have accidents inside because this attracts cockroaches due to smells left behind by their feces and urine.
Keeping cockroaches away from your home doesn’t have to be difficult! Our guide on how to keep cockroaches away offers simple and effective tricks that you can use to prevent infestations and maintain a clean environment.
12. Stop Roaches From Entering Your Home
Caulk gaps using a silicone caulk. If you find gaps around the house, use a silicone sealant to fill them up. Roaches are small and can fit in tiny spaces. You want to seal off all entry points so they don’t have access to your home or apartment building.
Keep food in sealed containers or in the refrigerator or freezer if possible until you’re ready to eat it (or throw out anything that’s spoiled).
Make sure that your trash can has a lid on it tightly at all times (no holes) because roaches love to live inside of trash cans and they tend not to be shy about coming out while you’re trying to take out the garbage!
Clean up spills immediately after they happen by mopping them up with warm soapy water, let dishes dry completely before putting them away, wipe counters down with bleach once after cooking something messy like spaghetti sauce then wipe again 30 minutes later with hot water mixed with vinegar; this will kill any pathogens left behind on both surfaces AND get rid of any bad smells too!
13. Use Insect Sprays And Bombs After Catching Them
If you’ve caught the cockroach, spray it with insecticide. Use a spray with a long reach and ensure that you get the insecticide directly into its eyes and mouth—this will kill it quickly.
If you’re using a spray to kill cockroaches, ensure that it is effective on this type of bug before using it.
Conclusion
If you follow the tips in this article and diligently work to keep your home clean, you will have an easier time keeping cockroaches away.
You can also use one of these methods for catching them or hiring a professional exterminator if all else fails.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources that may be helpful:
How to Trap Cockroaches: This step-by-step guide provides instructions for creating effective and humane cockroach traps using common household items.
Roach Traps 101: CockroachFacts.com provides a comprehensive guide to cockroach traps, including information on different types of traps and how to use them.
How to Get a Cockroach Out of Hiding: This article offers practical tips for coaxing cockroaches out of their hiding places and eliminating them from your home.
FAQs
What are some common signs of a cockroach infestation?
Common signs of a cockroach infestation include seeing live cockroaches, finding cockroach droppings, noticing an unpleasant odor, and discovering egg cases or shed skins.
Why are cockroach infestations dangerous?
Cockroach infestations can pose a number of health risks, as cockroaches can spread bacteria, viruses, and parasites. They can also trigger allergies and asthma attacks.
How can I prevent cockroach infestations?
You can prevent cockroach infestations by keeping your home clean and dry, sealing up entry points, storing food properly, and eliminating sources of standing water.
What are some effective methods for killing cockroaches?
Effective methods for killing cockroaches include using bait stations, dusts and sprays, traps, and professional extermination services.
Are natural remedies effective at controlling cockroaches?
Some natural remedies, such as boric acid and diatomaceous earth, can be effective at controlling cockroaches. However, they may not provide complete eradication and may pose risks to pets and children if not used properly.
Hello! I’m Hellen James, and I write about how to keep pests from invading your home. For the last 10 years, I’ve been working in pest control and am excited to share my expertise with you!
