Roach issue! Please help!

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DprEffect

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So a year ago i got my first apartment. Before this ive never delt with roaches. This apartment had a very severe german cockroach infestation. I tried combat gel bait,
diatomaceous earth and had the apartment come out and use professional grade spray and gel. Nothing seems to work. In the end i ended up moving cause it was so bad i felt it was effecting my mental health having to constantly deal with them. I Moved to a much nicer apartment. Before i moved in i had them spray and laid down diatomaceous earth as well. I figured id end up carrying a few eggs with me even though i was super careful.

First month goes by. I saw maybe 3. I figured okay i carried a few that were on my furniture. which i promptly killed. But no baby roachs and i couldnt ever find any eggs. Not horrible. Then none for about a week or 2. I figure great ive gotten rid of them... Nope....

So 2nd month.... I start noticing baby roaches even with self treatment and having my apartments spray. It was still minor i just kept doing self treatment and had them spray. I start noticing though. Im not finding any dead ones just the ones i kill.

3rd month.... Nothing is working... Its getting bad again and i dont know what to do to stop it. Most nights when getting ready for work i kill at least 5-10 baby and adult roaches.

Has anyone here successfully eradicated a german roach infestation. Its litterly driving me crazy. Ill wake up with a roach crawling on me. If im sitting at my computer desk ill have them crawl over my feet. I dont know if i can deal with this for a whole nother year.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions. Im open to it. Only thing is my roommate has a cat so..... It has to be pet safe....
 
I have never had an infestation like you describe but here's some pointers: Even though you may have your apartment sprayed, maybe the adjacent units are not. Or are. They may be going back and forth. You spray, they go next door. They spray, they come back. Also, keep food covered and do dishes every day. Don't leave dirty counters. Basically, remove any food source. They like moisture - do you have a leak under the sink management should fix? The d-earth is good but as long as you don't have pets, borax is better. Good luck. I hear they are hard to get rid of.

Question: Does the apartment complex spray or do they hire a company? They may be using something not as strong as a professional. If you can afford one, you might want to try and hire one.

One other thing. Talk to your neighbors. I don't know where you live but here if there's an infestation of more than one unit and someone calls the news station, they will send a crew out to get the apartment management to take action. It's a health hazard. Maybe call the health department in fact.
 
I agree with Scaramouche, professional extermination is the way to go. You can spend a lot of time with roach motels, boric acid, and spray cans trying to solve this.

Back years ago when I was in college, my roommate had a lizard that got out of its cage. I came out in the middle of the night to find it catching roaches in the kitchen. My suggestion was to leave him loose.
 
Hire a pro!

I've had a german cockroach infestation. There is only one majorly controlled chemical that even touches german cockroaches. And only the pros have access to it.

It will also take many, many applications, over the course of months, to get rid of them. Do not seek shortcuts, one time treatments, or do it yourself reapplication treatments. They do not work.

And yeah, it's going to cost you to have it done with the followups too. Unfortunately there's really no other way. These buggers are persistent, and nearly immortal, but they can be exterminated.
 
Just to answer a few questions.

Dishes are done daily, i try to clean the counters and sweep daily, maybe i need to start vacuuming daily also. DE is safe for cats in powder form from my understanding thats why my roommate has it, she claims its safe for her cat. borax i know can harm or kill pets though, which is why we havent used it.

The apartments do hire someone to spray so it is professional grade spray. My mom seems to think that maybe the spray is drawing them out which is why im seeing more since they started spraying, cause before i saw very few, most of the time none. because instead of hiding like roaches do they are being attracted to the spray.

As far as talking to neighbors i feel bad. cause im sure im the one who brought it, and if i the new neighbor say anything, they will put 2 and 2 together and know i brought it also. I checked the apartment very carefully before moving in, for 1 signs of bedbugs and signs of roaches. even if they were good at cleaning up i would have found some sign that they use to have roaches, which i didnt. so this is all on me from bringing it into my new apartment.

As far as how often i have them spray. they have someone from a pest control company that they have a contract with come out every monday and the apartments encourage us to take advantage of it since its part of our rent. so ive had them spray for 3 weeks now so far. 2 of the 3 ive been awake and seen them spray. (I work a overnight shift and sleep in the afternoon/evening.) For the time being im just going to keep having them spray once a week. I will say its no where close to as bad as my old apartment. but the fact that im still seeing them scares me that i may get that way.

I will also say the majority of the time i see them is at night. during the day its very very rare i'll see one.
 
No! Pro grade spray used to kill roaches is NOT the same stuff they use to kill german roaches. Normal pest applications will not get rid if them.

You need to hire someone specifically for killing german roaches. They will come in and apply this one special type of chemical agent that sort of works to mostly kill a few of them in a few days. Thats why it takes multiple applications, and many months to get them all. Even this extea special chemical they normally never use because it's too powerful- is barely enough to kill a german cockroach.

Stop thinking normal pest sprays, or anything you can do at home, is going to kill them. It won't work. If anything, they will feed off that weaker poison and multiply more.
 
get some caulk and a caulk gun and go around and seal ANYTHING that looks like a crack or hole they could pass though
 
babybennie said:
get some caulk and a caulk gun and go around and seal ANYTHING that looks like a crack or hole they could pass though

You'd be surprised, that doesn't work. Neither does normal roach spraying. Starrunner is right, the OP did everything she could, and then some. German cockroaches are just that pervasive, and thry always find a way. Do not underestimate them.
 
After quick reading the responses. I agree get a pro. I dealt with them at work.

First get rid of any CARDBOARD!!!! That is where they nest an lay eggs.

Keep things dry. They love ANY moisture they can find.

The standing rule (told to me by the pro at work) is that for every roach you see there is 100 more!

Look for warm dark spots. That is where they like to hid.

I hope this helps.
 
I'm no expert - but I would agree that you should get good professionals in.

Luckily we don't get them in the UK generally - but when I've been on holiday in Southern Europe and I get up to pee during the night - there is nothing worse than a roach waving its antennae at you as you sleepily enter the bathroom.
 
If you have to wait for a professional in the meantime get 2 jar lids in one mix baking powder (bicarbonate soda) and icing sugar in the other just water.

Leave them somewhere they won’t be tripped over to attract and dispatch the disgusting critters.
 
You know how a woman gets rid of cockroaches in New York? She asks them for a commitment...
 
Roaches crawl through electrical/air-conditioning/heating ducts, and can chew through drywall/plaster/etc.. If neighbors aren't keeping their place clean, and roaches have already made an appearance, there's nothing you can do but move the hell out and find a place that doesn't have an infestation. Sucks, and I've had to do this many, many times in my own life.

B.
 
You missed the point 'If neighbors aren't keeping their place clean' part of my post.
Yes, if EVERYONE is taking steps to eradicate the little bastards? Then its possible to win the battle.
I've found that to be the exception in close-quarters-living environments (apartments/duplex's, etc.). I'm not knocking poor people with that comment, btw. Middle-Class/wealthy can suffer infestations, but since they usually have more $$$ at stake, they tend to take more deliberate actions to fix it.

B.
 
First off I'd like to say which i failed to mention was that my last apartment was a major infestation. My new apartment its minor (for now).

I will keep you guys posted but i believe ive found something that is working. I bought some potent roach bait gel. Stuff is called Advion roach bait gel. It has 846/960 5 star reviews and many people swearing its the only thing that eradicated their german roach infestation.

https://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/...MIo4vlqI_o1wIVh4l-Ch2rVAPyEAQYASABEgJdffD_BwE

Day 1: I put the stuff down in places ive seen them. Within 5 minutes a few roaches were already eating it. This stuff is like crack to them. Lol

Day 2: Saw one run across my desk and had another climb onto my foot. ( just got out of shower, feet were still a little damp on top) had one also crawl up my arm while i was trying to sleep. Saw 2 in bathroom when i flipped light on later that night when i was getting ready for work. This has been normal before putting this bait down.

Day 3: found a 2 dead ones. 1 live one in my dresser when i went to grab a diaper. Didnt see any after that.

Day 4 : a few more dead roaches. No live ones

Day 5: no live or dead roaches

Day 6: no live or dead roaches

Day 7: found 1 dead roach under sink. Might have missed it last time though.
No live roaches.
 
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