Roaches in the pipes


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Old 01-29-12, 08:06 PM
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Exclamation Roaches in the pipes

Hi all,

I'm in an apt building from the '70s-- cinderblock, mostly. Since my next-door neighbor's apartment was painted, a massive German roach colony has moved into mine. I killed nearly twenty today, of all sizes, and finally caught one coming out of my bathroom sink drain. I'd suspected for a while that's how they were getting in.

I promptly Drano'd it, but I'm not sure what to do beyond that. I have been reading online about roaches using the passages around pipes to get around, but nothing seems to show up about them getting in ::through:: pipes.

They're also very clever and avoid my roach hotels. They prefer the center of a room to corners or edges.

I am using Gentrol Point Sources and just bought a can of the aerosol, but that takes time to kick in. I spray using Hot Shot's botanical Kitchen blend, since my roaches seem to be resistant to traditional poisons.

The apartment complex has been spraying once every three months, but is going to start doing it monthly. They only offer sprays and crumbly poisonous baits, though.

Please help!
 
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Old 01-30-12, 07:24 AM
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A couple things:

they’re not coming from any drains that get used to any extent as the pipes are sealed, otherwise you’d be having leaks. They do follow the pipes, wiring, etc as these are good avenues. If you see them coming out of a drain, it’s because they went in when you weren’t looking.

Gentrol is great stuff-we use a lot of it-very necessary for german roach control. You have knowledge that many don’t have. I trust that you’ve identified them correctly as german roaches. That being the case I would suggest Dupont Advion bait. It is a gel that comes in a syringe. We use it a lot. There are on-line places to get it though I’ve never dealt with any of them or know anyone who has. You may want to look in the yellow pages as sometimes pest control companies will retail products. Advion is not restricted use, at least in Pa. so it can be retailed. If you can’t get it anywhere, then buy the gel baits sold in stores, also in syringes. Look for the following active ingredients, not necessarily in the order of preference: Fipronil, Indoxacarb, Hydramethylnon. All three are good. Do not spray on or near the baits as that will repel the roaches and work against you.

What is the crumbly bait that they are using? Baygon, Niban, ??
Keep us posted.
 
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Old 01-30-12, 10:03 AM
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Thanks for the quick response! It's good to know about the pipes-- I had suspected it because when I moved in, I had jillions of them coming out of the pipes simultaneously, almost like there was a colony down there in some septic or other.

I am not sure what the bait is that the company uses-- we've switched companies-- but I'm really reluctant to use it, since my apartment is extremely small, and even with gel baits it's hard to keep from knocking into it sometimes. Especially since it's my kitchen and bathroom that are the issues, I like to keep the toxicity to myself low (hence the appeal of Gentrol.)

I was thinking of trying a bait recipe I've been seeing that mixes boric acid with sugar-- how effective is that? When I did gel baits the roaches totally ignored them (like they do with the roach hotels.) Clearly they are demanding in their desires for poisoned haute cuisine.
 
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Old 01-31-12, 02:01 PM
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We use gel baits to solve roach problems in many situations, including sensitive areas. Gentrol and gel baits. The hot shot aerosol will repel roaches from the bait, as well as ruining the bait. Gel baits work well and are very safe. If you want a boric acid based bait then look for such on the label. Find the “active ingredients”. Boric acid can be called Orthoboric acid as well. I think there are liquid roach baits in stations on the market. They sounds like a good idea. As far as making your own bait-I can’t imagine that any of us could make a bait in our own kitchen that would be safer or more effective than what chemist, entomologists make and produce after much field and safety testing. Remember, it has to be qualified by the EPA for it’s use and safety.

German roaches are strongly attracted to Victor Roach Pheromone glue traps. If you have german roaches then they will go to these as a pheromone is used. Otherwise, you may want to re-confirm their identification as german roaches.
 
 

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