Suspecting that you may have pests in your house typically leads to the following questions:

• How did they get in here in the first place?
• What exactly are they?
• Are they dangerous? Can they make us sick?
• How can I confirm that there’s a problem?
• How do I get rid of them? FAST!

In this post, we’ll answer these questions about roaches and share tips on how to protect your Jacksonville home from this nasty pest.

If you already know you have a problem, either contact us online today or call us at 904-355-5300. We’ll inspect your home, confirm the pest’s identity, and recommend a treatment plan.

Cockroach Infestations: How to Prevent Them

Roaches like to live outdoors but will happily come inside if the weather gets too hot or they’re hungry. You can’t control outside temperatures but, thankfully, there are tactics you can take to make it more challenging for roaches to feast in your home.

In general, overall cleanliness and sanitization can help. So can choosing one specific place for the family to eat—whether that’s a kitchen table or a dining room one—and sticking to that location. Put any leftover food away after meals and clean up crumbs and wipe up spills and countertops.

Make sure all dishes are washed before you go to bed and regularly clean under and around appliances. This includes your stove and microwave, dishwasher and refrigerator, blender, toaster, and more. Keep the area underneath your kitchen sink clean, as well.

Take a look at your kitchen cupboards and pantry. Is there any spilled dry food? Clean that area up and make sure that all foods are tightly sealed, including pet food bags. Empty food bowls of your pets each night and rinse them out.

Here’s another strategy. Roaches can slither into Jacksonville homes through the smallest of places. So, walk around and through your house. Identify possible entry points—such as spaces around utility pipes, windows, doors, and crawl spaces—and close them up.

Keep tight lids on indoor trash cans, emptying them nightly into tightly-lidded outdoor containers that are kept a distance from your home.

Roaches in Florida

Twenty-three percent of households surveyed in Jacksonville, unfortunately, reported having roaches. This was uncovered during a survey of the country’s major cities, and this made Jacksonville the seventh highest one in the nation when it comes to indoor roach problems.

There are four main varieties of roaches in Florida:

• German cockroaches: This light brown-to-tan colored roach is the most common type in the world. You can recognize them by the two dark stripes on their backs. Although they have wings, they tend to run rather than fly. Lovers of warm, wet spots, they can congregate in kitchens and bathrooms.
• Asian cockroaches: This variety was first spotted in the United States (in Florida, actually) in 1986, and they can be confused with the German cockroach. Differences include their wings, which are longer and narrower, and their eggs and babies, which are smaller.
• American cockroaches: This variety probably came to the Americas in the 1600s, riding in on ships from Africa. Their coloring is different from the first varieties mentioned: reddish-brown with a yellowish figure eight on their bodies. American cockroaches are the largest variety.
• Smoky brown cockroaches: This solid mahogany cockroach is also large, just slightly smaller than its American cousin. Their full wings allow this species to fly well, and both males and females do exactly that. They revel in warmer temperatures, such as those found in Jacksonville.

Threats to Your Health

Unfortunately, roaches can cause a variety of health problems, some serious. National Center for Healthy Housing shares how they trigger allergy and asthma attacks because of the debris they leave behind: from droppings to saliva, and from shed shells to other body parts. Roaches also track in germs that can cause serious diseases, and contaminate your food.

In Your Jacksonville Home: Signs of Roach Infestations

Sometimes you’ll actually see them and maybe you’ll recognize their species through info provided in our “Roaches in Florida” identification section. (Whether you can recognize the variety or not, that means you’ll likely need cockroach removal services.) Other times, you may hear night-time scurrying noises without ever actually seeing a roach.

Or, you may spot their droppings first. Usually less than 1mm in width, their length can vary, and they can resemble coffee grounds or black pepper. Be careful when cleaning them up because they can carry disease that’s easily spread. Do you see dark smear marks, running horizontally along baseboards and walls? If so, and if they’re irregular in shape, those are probably smudges from oily substances that roaches ooze.

Or, you may first notice that food—or paper, plastic, fabric, or packaging materials—are being eaten by some sort of critter. If so, they could be cockroaches.

Eggs laid vary in appearance by species. If you spot segmented ones, for example, this could mean a presence of the German cockroach or smokybrown one. If, though, the eggs aren’t segmented, and they feature raised circles, this makes it likely that it’s the American or Asian cockroach that’s causing the infestation.

If you’re seeing shed skin in a variety of sizes, this indicates that you could have young cockroaches that are growing in maturity. That’s because, as these critters develop, they shed their skins as they grow, perhaps six times apiece.

Here’s one more (pretty unpleasant) sign of a cockroach infestation. They stink. The awful smell comes from a substance in their feces that’s designed to attract more cockroaches to the area, and this musty odor grows as the size of the infestation does.

How to Get Rid of Roaches in Florida

It isn’t easy to get rid of roaches through DIY treatments, so it makes sense to contact Jacksonville cockroach pest control experts. Professional roach exterminators can use effective treatments to rid your home of the current population, as well as apply perimeter treatments to prevent them from coming back.

Because roaches thrive in Florida’s climate, getting rid of them one time can solve the immediate infestation but isn’t a long-term solution. That’s why you also need a proactive plan that focuses on keeping them away.

Contact Turner Pest Control in Jacksonville

You’ll benefit from the pest control services you need at an affordable price. Our trained technicians use modern treatments and equipment for cockroach removal, and we offer surprisingly flexible plans to fit your budget.

At Turner Pest Control, prices are based upon a home’s square footage, which means that smaller Jacksonville houses typically have plans that are less expensive than larger ones. We prioritize treatments, first focusing on the immediate infestation and proactive perimeters, and then providing ongoing services to keep your home happily roach-free.

If you’re not satisfied with your treatment, our trained technicians will return until you are satisfied, at no cost to you. We keep it really simple. There are no complicated contracts with Turner Pest Control. We’re here to help you, standing behind our service, people, and products.

Request your roach inspection online or call 904-355-5300.