Are you bothered by crawling cockroaches in your home? Then it is important to take action quickly. Fighting cockroaches is a difficult job and must be done quickly, because a cockroach infestation forms very quickly. They also spread a nasty odor that you would rather get rid of quickly.
Recognizing cockroaches
Cockroaches are crawling insects with a flattened body. They have 6 legs and 2 pairs of wings. They have antennae on their heads and their legs are long and spiky. The most common cockroaches in the Netherlands are the German cockroach, Oriental cockroach and American cockroach. You can also notice that you are bothered by these creatures by other things:
- The feces
Cockroaches' droppings look a bit like ground coffee. It is a kind of black substance that can sometimes run on walls. - Shedding skins
Cockroaches shed their skin 5 to 8 times, so you may encounter several skins left behind. - The smell
You will not easily smell a cockroach, but if you suffer from a cockroach infestation you will smell a dirty, putrid odor. Cockroaches spread an odor to communicate with each other. - Egg parcels
Cockroaches lay quite a few eggs. The packages with or without eggs can often be found near the place where the cockroaches are hiding.
How do cockroaches reproduce?
A female spreads a special scent, also called pheromones. With this she lures a male to her. They will then mate with each other using their abdomens and a fun fact is that the female only does this once in her life! After this is done, her body produces egg packets. It depends on the type of cockroach, but in general these are 7 to 8 packets. There are approximately 30 eggs in an egg package.
What do cockroaches eat?
A cockroach is an omnivore. It eats your food, but also all kinds of waste. This can be rotting food, but also feces and carcasses. When a cockroach cannot find organic food it will eat paper, cardboard or even leather. It also sometimes happens that cockroaches eat others of their own kind.
Cockroaches are harmful!
Cockroaches are annoying and unsanitary creatures that are also harmful to your health. They carry various diseases that they can transmit to humans. Cockroaches spread bacteria through their feces, dander and saliva. They will enter your home and leave behind various spores that can cause food poisoning and skin diseases. When there is a cockroach infestation, it is important to keep children and the elderly away from the creatures.
Asthma and allergies
Cockroach saliva contains certain proteins that can cause asthma and/or allergic reactions in some people. Some examples of the diseases they can spread are:
- Salmonella
- Dysentery
- Typhus
- Tuberculosis
- Hepatitis
- Parasitic diseases
- Fungal infections
- Stomach and intestinal infections
Fight cockroaches yourself
There are many different types of cockroaches, but one thing they all have in common is that they are very difficult to control. We have put together a number of tips for you to try it yourself, but catching cockroaches does require the necessary expertise.
A cockroach trap
There are various cockroach traps on the market, but the most effective is the trap with glue. If you place it correctly, it will attract cockroaches and they will remain stuck in the glue. Using a trap will attract most cockroaches to your trap, but you cannot be sure that you will catch all cockroaches using this method.
Een ‘gewone’ kakkerlakkenval
De ouderwetse kakkerlakkenval heeft meestal 2 verdiepingen en verschillende deuren. De val dien je met voedsel en lokstof te vullen. Dit zal kakkerlakken aantrekken en wanneer zij de val inlopen en naar de 2e verdieping gaan zullen zij de weg kwijt raken. In paniek zullen zij een geur afgeven dat weer andere kakkerlakken aan zal trekken die dan ook op de val af zullen komen. Ook kun je een vochtige dweil vlakbij de plek plaatsen waar de kakkerlakken zitten. De beestjes zullen ’s nachts naar de vochtige dweil trekken en in de ochtend zul je de meeste onder de dweil vinden. Hiermee zul je niet alle kakkerlakken kunnen verwijderen, maar kun je de beestjes die je hebt gevonden wel gelijk verwijderen.
Make your own spray
You can make your own environmentally friendly spray from soap and water. You should then spray this product over the cockroaches. The cockroach will suffocate from all the soap in its pores, but with this method it is important that you remove the cockroach immediately, as soon as it has dried the cockroach can recover.
Buy an anti-cockroach spray
You can also buy an insect spray with poison. There are special sprays available for crawling vermin or crawling insects. These sprays contain a substance that can kill all kinds of insects. You must be careful that you really kill all the cockroaches and that the eggs will not survive, otherwise the eggs will hatch after a period of time, causing you to suffer from a cockroach infestation again later. Cockroaches hide well, so you should check this extra carefully.
Using liquid poison
The most effective poison is liquid poison, but by law it can only be used by a professional pest controller. This is a special poison that must be diluted with water. It is then sprayed on all surfaces. This method is also preventive, because you will not soon suffer from a new plague, because all cockroaches will be tackled.
Preventing cockroaches
There are several ways you can prevent cockroaches in your home. We would like to give you some tips:
- Make sure that the creatures cannot find food or leftovers. Clean everything up immediately after use and keep everything clean.
- Always put away pet food.
- Clean up your mess. Cockroaches love old newspapers, cardboard boxes and other types of junk.
- Do you have a lot of cracks, seams or cracks? Make sure you close these as quickly as possible, because cockroaches like to find these kinds of hiding places.
Our men fight cockroaches
Cockroaches are persistent pests that are difficult to control. In the event of an infestation, chemical pesticides are usually forced to be used so that not only the adult cockroach itself dies, but also that all the eggs do not survive. Therefore, seek the right help in time so that the creatures will disappear as quickly as possible with professional control.
Use our contact form for free!
You can submit a request to be called by the 3 best pest controllers in your region via the simple contact form on our website. They will contact you without obligation to discuss your wishes and to get a good idea of the situation. This way you can see which company appeals to you most and you can make the right choice.
