Keeping my grey's safe, get rid of roaches

[krutsingd]

Greetings all! Well, this is a first experience for me. A beloved family member came to stay with us for awhile and apparently brought roaches in his luggage or laundry or something. I'm quite sure that they came from him as I learned (after the fact) that he lives in a roach infested apt. complex. Regardless, I now have a issue with roaches. I'm looking for a completely safe way to get rid of them. I want to get ride of them asap but am afraid of chemicals/insecticides and their affects on the Grey's. Please, if anyone has dealth with this before, I really need help. I know those little nasties are multiplying in my home probably faster than I can type this message. It really creeps me out. I'm also afraid they might migrate toward the cages and the food that gets dropped by the Grey's.

[Dave007]

Unfortunately, roaches are the hardest bug to get rid of. They multiply every 6 to 8 days. They can build up a resistance to store bought pesticides. Because you're correctly aware of their capabilities as far as both human and bird food scraps and the contents of trash bins, your only alternative is to get a professional exterminator to do the whole area. They can get into cracks and crevices and live for weeks without anything to eat. Professinal exterminators have the proper tools to get into those areas.

Roach infestation is totally different than ants. Ants can be given certain substances which they like but are deadly. The ants bring these things back to the main colony and the rest of them also eat it and die. I speak from first hand experience from when I was a kid living in the lower part of NY. All the tenements had roaches and the owners of the building were required to exterminate every 4 mts.

It's gonna be temporarily hard on you and your bird because he's gonna have to stay with a relative or a friend for a couple of days. The fumes are extremely toxic. Think about doing this quickly before the roaches take over. Sorry for the bluntness but roaches can become a very serious permanent problem if not taken care of quickly.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2007/12/22 00:54

[nevjoe]

An old fasion way to get rid of them is to put fresh coffee grinds (1 Tablespoon)in a tall glass. Add butter to half way up the glass on the inside. Then put them in the area where they go. Use a good amount of butter.

 

IT WORKS

 

Joe

[KatB]

I've never heard of that, Joe. What happens then? Do they eat the butter and die, or does it make them go away? Or do they go into the glass and get trapped? I have to know the rest of the story! :woohoo:

[nevjoe]

They can't get out. Dump them down the bowl, Start over. Cruse ship trick.

 

Joe

[ziggy]

Being in the restaurant business for years I can tell you that roaches are very hard to get rid of. All restaurant have to deal with roaches on time or another. A good pestaside is BORIC ACID it is a white flour looking powder that when a roach walks through it it gets in the little hairs on there lage and they bring it back to the colony. There is no so called queen in the roach colony. After a while they will start to die and not replace themselves with new eggs. Each female roach carrys a lava pod on there backside and each pod has 16 babies in there. They multiply by the thousands in a very short time. You realy want to get this under control ASAP if not you will have a great mess on your hands. Boric acid is also a powder you put under the stove behind the fridge and spots that roaches will go. Roaches will always go under the stove and fridge because they need the heat and the darkness. The food is every where so they need food and a water source. They are hard to get under control but the boric acid works wonders. It will not hurt the bird as a areosol will it is a powder you place on the floor. You might want to have a pro look at it and bait your house. The bait is a gel that they eat and then will die. This is a proven method but takes a little more time then areosols and the acid. Sorry you have to go through this.

[BMustee]

When I moved into a Duplex a few years ago it was like the movie "Joe's Appartment"...roaches would fall from the door frame when you opened the door. It was NASTY!!! I put the food traps and the gel in all the places that roaches like to go and kept the A/C as low as it would go. They don't like the cold and when they would go under the frig for heat there would be a nice toxic treat waiting for them. It was only a month or so before they were all gone.

[dblhelix]

The boric acid powder is also a relatively bird safe way to deal with fleas if anyone ever has that problem.

 

Hope you get those pesky roaches under control.. :sick:

[Christina]

I use a professional exterminator. It isn't too expensive but its worth every penny. Of course, I hate roaches!

[Christina]

I use a professional exterminator. It isn't too expensive but its worth every penny. Of course, I hate roaches!

[krutsingd]

Hey guys, thanks for all the great ideas. I can tell they have been multiplying. We purchased roach bait/houses but that seems to have had very little impact thus far. Tomorrow I'm heading to the store for Boric Acid. That has been the number one recommendation other than the professional exterminator, that I've seen on other web sites as well. I'm going to give the Boric Acid a try and then if that doesn't solve my problem, I'm calling the exterminator. These little guys are truly nasty pests!!! Thanks again, and if there are more suggestions out there, I'll take them.

[KatB]

Also, you might want to pick up a bottle of Camicide for shooting the buggers that come out into the open. I found it at my local exotic pet store, in the bird dept. It is advertised as being safe to use around birds, though I would of course take normal precautions. It comes in a pump bottle, so you don't have to worry about the aerosol overspray. Works wonders.

[Anne]

I live in Florida and they are every where and I have animals and don't like to use bug sprays so when the roaches get in the house I keep a spray bottle with a little dish soap and water in it and spray the heck out of them and they drop dead in a few seconds:)

[danmcq]

Welcome Anne!!!

 

That's a great tip on on the dish soap. Who would have imagined it would kill roaches?

 

Why don't you go to the Welcome Room and introduce yourself, so others will know we have a new member? You'll find we are a very friendly forum with a great group of people and of course all our wonderful Greys and other Parrots we own. :-)