When you have cockroaches in your house, the question won’t be IF you want to get rid of them. The question will be HOW (and how quickly!). To help you protect your Orlando home from this nasty pest, we’ll share:

• how to proactively prevent roaches from getting inside in the first place
• types of roaches you might encounter (they do love Central Florida’s weather)
• the health threats they pose
• ways to identify that you have a roach problem
• how to get rid of an infestation

If you already know you have a problem, don’t delay. Contact us online today or call us at (407) 675-5000.

Preventing a Cockroach Infestation

Although, in general, roaches can be pretty happy living outdoors, they tend to come indoors if it gets too hot or they’re in search of food. You can’t control the temperatures, but you can make it difficult for these critters to get fed in your home. So, first, overall cleanliness and sanitization can help.

Here are more tips. Pick one place inside your home to eat and stick to that. Then, put any leftover food away as soon as it’s reasonable, also wiping up spills and crumbs. Wash any dirty dishes each day, clean off the stove, and wipe down countertops. Regularly clean underneath your kitchen sink, as well as under and around appliances: your stove and microwave, refrigerator and dishwasher, toaster, blender and more.

In your pantry and kitchen cupboards, ensure that all foods are tightly sealed. Empty leftover pet food in bowls nightly and wash them.

Also look for possible entry points and close them up. These can include spaces around utility pipes, windows, doors, and crawl spaces. Keep a tight lid on trash cans inside the home; empty them each night into outdoor containers that are also tightly lidded and kept a distance from your Orlando home.

Roaches in Florida

Although being included in top ten lists is often a good thing, the city of Orlando has landed in the number three spot for a less than desirable reason: for having the third most indoor cockroaches of major cities in our country. In fact, 30% of homes surveyed in Orlando reported having cockroaches.

Four types of roaches commonly found in Florida are the following:

• German cockroaches: This is actually the most common type of cockroach in the world. As an adult, this variety has light brown to tan coloring. They also have two dark stripes on their backs. They sport wings and have the ability to fly, but they usually run, instead. They love warm and wet places and can often be found in kitchens and bathrooms.
• Asian cockroaches: This type was first seen in the United States in 1986. Where? In Florida. They look remarkably like their German cousins, but their wings are longer and narrower, with their eggs and babies being smaller in size by comparison.
• American cockroaches: This variety is not, ironically enough, native to the Americas. They likely came here on ships from Africa in the 1600s. They have a different hue from German and Asian varieties: reddish-brown with a figure eight in a yellowish color. American cockroaches are the largest variety of this pest.
• Smokybrown cockroaches: This variety is also pretty big, just slightly smaller than American cockroaches. They are a solid color—mahogany—with full wings, and both male and female ones can fly well. The smokybrown cockroach definitely prefers warmer weather and isn’t typically found outside of states with more tropical temperatures.

Health Threats Posed

As the National Center for Healthy Housing notes, roaches can definitely cause health problems in the home. They leave behind debris, from droppings to saliva, and from shed shells to other body parts. These can trigger allergy and asthma attacks. Plus, they can bring germs into the home that cause serious diseases, and contaminate your food with substances that can make you sick.

Signs of Roach Infestations in Your Orlando Home

If you actually see pests, and they sound like what we’ve described in our “Roaches in Florida” identification section, that’s a good indicator that you need cockroach removal services. Often, though, you may have signs of an infestation without ever seeing an actual roach.

First, there are their droppings. These are dark, similar to pepper or coffee grounds. They can range in length but are typically less than 1mm in width. Clean them up with care because whatever disease-carrying pathogens the roach has will likely be in their waste, easily spreadable from the droppings.

As cockroaches scurry along baseboards and walls, they can ooze an oily substance that leaves dark smear marks, irregular in shape. If you find these markings in horizontal directions, this can be another sign. Or, if you can tell that food is being consumed by critters, or paper, plastic, fabric, and more, this could be the work of cockroaches.

Then there are the eggs. They differ from species to species, with the German and smokybrown types having segmented eggs. The Asian and American varieties, though, have no segmentations; just raised areas in a circle shape. After the eggs hatch, cockroaches go through a series of life stages. As they develop, they shed their skin, half a dozen or so times each. You may well find shed skin in a range of sizes if you have young cockroaches that are growing into maturity.

Plus, cockroaches can really stink. As in, literally. Their feces give off a substance that attracts other cockroaches, one with a musty smell that can be very unpleasant. As the size of a roach infestation grows in an Orlando home, so does the awful odor.

Here’s one more sign of roaches in a home. You can sometimes hear them scurrying about at night.

How to Get Rid of Roaches in Florida

It just makes sense to call in cockroach pest control experts. Professionals can use treatments to exterminate the current population while also providing a perimeter around the house to keep them from returning. The reality is that roaches are attracted to Florida’s climate, so getting rid of them once just isn’t enough. You also need a proactive plan to help keep them away.

Contact Turner Pest Control Orlando

Our trained technicians provide the best Orlando pest control services you need at an affordable price. We use modern treatments and equipment for cockroach removal, and you may be surprised at how flexible and affordable our plans are.

At Turner Pest Control, we base our services on the square footage of a home, so smaller houses typically have plans that are less expensive than larger ones. We focus on immediate problems first and then provide ongoing service to keep your Orlando home free from roaches.

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

Plus, we make it really simple to get started. Schedule a roach inspection today online or call (407) 675-5000.