The smallest thing can invite cockroaches into your home. Whether it’s clutter, leaking water, or an overgrown garden, these can become favourable environments to pests. You may not even know that you are feeding a colony of cockroaches. To help avoid cockroach infestations from invading your home, here’s an easy list of things that you might want to fix…
General Clutter
Cluttered spaces are highly appealing to cockroaches. Anything that causes a disturbance in your space can mean an abundance of cockroaches. This clutter includes cardboard boxes, takeaway containers, dishes left on the sink, food and crumbs lying from the table to the floor. It’s important to tidy these quickly to avoid further infestations. Wipe down surfaces where crumbs of food and water can be found with soap or a cleaning solution. Essential oils or boric acid can help make the area unattractive to cockroaches.
Food Sources
If there’s anything that attracts cockroaches like ants to honey, it’s food. If you have a habit of leaving out food in the kitchen or anywhere else around the house, it’s highly likely that cockroaches will move right in. When you provide them with the food that can keep them going for months (or even years), you’re giving them enough time to grow, reproduce, and cause infestations that could be harmful to your families health. It’s also important to rinse off any traces of food on your plates, glasses, and utensils. This will prevent cockroaches from crawling through them and infesting them with bacteria that you’ll ingest the next time you use them. For leftovers, be sure to place them in airtight container or bags that are stored in the fridge or pantry.
High Humidity
Cockroaches love high humidity. Reduce the humidity in the air using a dehumidifier in the dark corners and spaces of your property. You should also turn the exhaust fan on while you shower to keep the humidity low.
Messy Gardens
Similar to a cluttered property, a messy garden also invites a cockroach infestation. These pests will come to your garden to look for the same things such as shelter, water, and food. Garden areas such as birdbaths, gutters, flower pots, wood and leaf piles, and trash bins are all good sources of water, shelter, and food for cockroaches, so clean these areas as much as you can.
Leaking pipes or puddles of water
Cockroaches can survive a whole week or two without food and water. However, without any food, they can still survive on water, which is why they prioritize the search for water more. If your property has any leakage of water coming from sinks, taps, pipes, and airconditioning units, then it’s possible that you may attract cockroaches in the area. Moisture from wet rags, sponges, and water bowls also generate the same attraction. Remedy this by fixing up leaks and wiping down wet surfaces to make it less likely for them to want to stay.
Dealing with a cockroach infestation doesn’t have to be a headache. With proper education and the right ingredients, you can gather enough resources to keep the pests away. But if you’re out of ideas, it’s always good to contact a professional that can keep them away for good. Get in touch with Picton Pest Control today!