How do you keep from bringing cockroaches with you from an old residence when you move to a new residence?

Answer 1

You should do your best to eliminate the roaches before you move. A gecko lizard is the best way to eliminate roaches.

Cockroaches lay eggs, so you may be bringing them with you in boxes, furniture and so on. We had an infestation when I was growing up, and my mother made us check everything and scrape the eggs off and that pretty much ended the problem. Make sure you use new boxes, clean everything that is inside when you move.

I have been in the Pest Control business for 18 years. I know a little about cockroaches. The most common roach is the German Roach or Blatella Germanicus. It generally does not lay eggs. Other roaches do but are rarely the ones you find in your home. Instead it carries the egg case or Ootheca through hatching. It will very rarely deposit the egg case in a high humidity environment near a food source but this is rarely the case.

The female supplies the egg case with moisture. If she dies more than a few hours before the egg case is ready to hatch out, the young dry up and die.

The young are far too small to be eliminated by going through things.

The best bet, though rarely practical, is freezing or cooking. By cooking I mean subjecting items that may hold roaches to temperatures in excess of 120 degrees for a period of 20 minutes. This will kill any and all insects in all states of development.

Foggers and sprays will work, but are ancient technologies and require years of experience to make them work. I know. At one time that and a few primitive baits were all we had. Gel baits properly used will get the job done.

When entomologists want to raise roaches to study they use cardboard, food and water. The cardboard gives the young a place to hide from the adults as they tend to make snack food out of them until they are a little larger than snack size. They can also survive on the glue that holds the cardboard together and water. Same for most organic glues used to put paper bags together and the glue that used to be used on stamps and is still used to seal envelopes.

Cardboard is your enemy when it comes to roaches. New boxes for sure, ditch the old ones as they may harbor young roaches.

Placement of baits in cabinets, closets, dressers, the kitchen and pretty much all cracks and crevices throughout the home before moving in will go a long way towards preventing/eliminating an infestation. Roaches are drawn to corners. Baits should be placed, according to the label, in corners.

They must have water, so provide them with bait near water sources. (The condensate tray in the bottom of the refrigerator is a common source of water.)

If you limit their food sources severely they will be more likely to eat the bait and die. The bait is "shared" through cannibalism. One eats the bait and dies. All those that feed on the one die. They are fed on and kill those that eat them. Up to 44 can die from one roach ingesting the bait.

And for what it's worth...I have NEVER heard of a roach infestation being eliminated by using a living critter of any kind and certainly not a Gecko. If you want it as a pet...fine. Just don't count on it to eliminate an infestation of roaches. Ain' happenin'.

Nor have I EVER heard of a Gecko being able to eliminate a roach infestation.

I do know that if you are moving and want to rid your possessions of any cockroaches you must shrink wrap everything before the move.Such as books and magazines with-in which they can lay eggs. As they also need air to breathe, shrink wrapping your items that may have roaches or roach eggs in it will kill them as they can not breathe and will suffocate.

It is difficult to get rid of all cockroaches, so be very careful when packing as they like to hide and lay eggs in small corners (and in toilet paper and I suggest you throw away all toilet paper and buy new ones) and as said previously in cardboard boxes, and when seen they move very fast.

Good Luck and I hope this was useful.