Cockroaches are one of the most resilient and unfortunately one of the most common household pests. When dealing with cockroaches, it’s important to know exactly what you’re getting into. Fortunately, cockroaches don’t require as much time, effort or finances as other specialty pests such as termites or bed bugs. However, they still require considerable amount of effort from our technicians and from you.
An American Cockroach
Cockroaches are a source based pest. What that means is that something or someone brought them in. It is likely that they didn’t just stroll up onto your property and decide to start an infestation. Many factors can contribute to a cockroach infestation: lots of shipping and receiving packages, items from garage sales or a mismanaged trash area can easily be identified as the source of your infestation. Because of their source-based nature and the unpredictability of their origins, most pest control companies, including Expert Pest, do not guarantee any cockroach treatments.
One popular myth states that cockroaches are one of the only things that can survive a nuclear blast. While that myth has not been put fully to the test, it has been shown that a portion of cockroaches can survive in environments at a consistent radiation level of around 1,000 rads for over a month. That’s enough radiation to kill a human in less than 10 minutes! Does it make sense why roaches are such a tough nut to crack? Cockroach pesticides are designed to eliminate roach infestations on a molecular level using a combination of residual, knockdown and growth regulating chemicals. The products used are designed to be used in small cracks and crevices and they are designed to have an effect on any cockroach entering the treated area for up to 30 days. The growth regulating aspects of the products work as a sort of birth control throughout the population. The cockroaches won’t be able to reproduce effectively after being exposed to the treatment, resulting in a complete elimination of the cockroach population.
As stated before in our earlier post about orange oil, natural alternatives to these products don’t really have the same success rates as our treatments. We don’t recommend using these natural products.
Taking care of a cockroach infestation requires more effort than treating for any other common household pests. Our technicians need to treat the cracks and crevices of any infested area, that includes any cupboards, drawers and baseboards. Because of the wider treatment area, technicians require a bit of preparation from the tenants before servicing an area. This includes: emptying drawers and cupboards in the infested area and keeping the counters and floors clean and free of debris. This greater attention to detail when treating for roaches is a part of the reason why most pest control companies charge extra for treatment. However, that one treatment should be enough to eliminate your population without needed any continuing service or retreats so long as all the preparation is done properly.
For the most part here in Southern California you will encounter three different species of cockroaches: German, American and Oriental. Oriental cockroaches are bigger and tend to infest only the outside of properties. Oriental cockroaches are easier to treat for and actually cost less to treat than german cockroaches. German cockroaches are a whole different can of worms: german roaches are more smaller, more resilient, more problematic and more difficult to treat for than oriental roaches. American cockroaches might be the creepiest of the two, sporting a pair of wings once they hit adulthood. They like to infest all the dark places in your home, venturing out to nibble on leftovers on the counters and in trash cans. German roaches are the super soldiers of the pest control world.
Whether you go with Expert Pest or any other pest control company, it’s important to keep in mind prepping for the treatment is probably the most necessary part of the entire treatment. Failure to prepare thoroughly for treatment for almost guarantee that your cockroaches will be there to stay until you can get retreated, resulting in more money spent and more days spent living with cockroaches.