Roaches

[lj4rockpebbler]

I have lived in an apartment for 14 years now without roaches but ever since I brought a bird home, about 1 1/2 years ago, I'm now seeing roaches. I do everything possible to keep the roaches at bay between cleaning, vacuuming, putting food away and nothing seems to help. I've been online for sometime now trying to find a way of eliminating these roaches without harming my bird. I heard of boric acid being safe if not ingested but what if my bird got to a roach that had consumed boric acid? I find items that say that they are safe for pets but not necessarily for birds and what they can't breath in which would hurt their little lungs. Any thoughts?

 

[gracebowen]

Do your own pest control has many bird safe options.

 

[SailBoat]

Since, your apartment has been free of Roaches for many years and just recently found them. It is likely not your parrot or its food unless you have changed your cleaning patterns lately. It is most likely a new tenant or two in the building that brought them in with them. That would imply a wide spread outbreak beyond your apartment.

I would talk to a few other tenants and see if anyone else is having a like problem. You maybe surprised to find you are not alone. If true, its time to contact the owners and that will likely require moving-out of a long weekend while they treat.

 

[SoCalWendy]

I had a roach problem due to some squatters that moved in to the house next door. They had no trash service, and when they were finally evicted, and the place was being cleaned up the roaches scattered and came on over. I saw one, then two, then 5.... then I found one in my shower and that was it! I called a friend who is a pest control person, and he wanted to spray inside my home. I told him that was out of the question because I have birds. So he went to option two, by laying down chemicals that have no smell and that are not visible to me or to the birds, a kind of poison that they would take back to their nest. Since day one of the application and it's now been over a year and not one roach. Call a pest control, they have many options these day, maybe they can help you too.

 

[RavensGryf]

I had a roach problem due to some squatters that moved in to the house next door. They had no trash service, and when they were finally evicted, and the place was being cleaned up the roaches scattered and came on over. I saw one, then two, then 5.... then I found one in my shower and that was it! I called a friend who is a pest control person, and he wanted to spray inside my home. I told him that was out of the question because I have birds. So he went to option two, by laying down chemicals that have no smell and that are not visible to me or to the birds, a kind of poison that they would take back to their nest. Since day one of the application and it's now been over a year and not one roach. Call a pest control, they have many options these day, maybe they can help you too.

This post reminds me, I was in an apartment once where one day all of a sudden roaches started showing up for the first time. We believed it was the guy who moved in upstairs. A couple days later, all of us in that certain building had notices on the door about that whole building being treated. It was a pain to have to empty all the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom. They must have used what you had done Wendy. It was definitely safe. We moved back a day or so later with the birds, and I couldn't even tell anything was done. It was completely invisible, no residue or anything. I remember wondering if they even came lol. We never saw a roach after that.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Julie,

I can deal with spiders, I can deal with ants. But roaches no way, no how! Im not sure what he used, but I was just so grateful it worked! ) I will stay in a tent, then live with roaches. In apartments, is very common and it can be very hard, especially if people below like to cook with a lot of grease. But I live in an RV at a private home, and I have no clue as to how they even got in. The bottom of my RV is even sealed. Ewww can't stand them, even thinking about them give me the creeps!

 

[RavensGryf]

Thankfully no roaches, but we used to have an extremely bad ant problem. We sprayed the perimeter of the house outside with pesticide once a month for a few months, and now no ants this year. That's so nice. Now since it's still hot enough weather, we have flies coming in. I absolutely HATE flies! If I'm not lucky enough to get them out the door, I try to get them with Orange Guard, but they're so fast.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Thankfully no roaches, but we used to have an extremely bad ant problem. We sprayed the perimeter of the house outside with pesticide once a month for a few months, and now no ants this year. That's so nice. Now since it's still hot enough weather, we have flies coming in. I absolutely HATE flies! If I'm not lucky enough to get them out the door, I try to get them with Orange Guard, but they're so fast.

LOL flies... get out the ol bug tennis racket. Thats what we have. Zap! those pesky flies. The weather has been so nice in the evenings, especially. I am so glad its getting better. It was just too hot. No one wanted to come to our Estate Sales, because it was too hot!! Now we get to look forward to El Nino and venomous sea snakes... fun fun!

 

[SilverSage]

I would set out roach traps. I also use food grade diatomaceous earth. I doubt your bird is causing them, but if you got your cage used it could be that you brought them in in the hollow tubing used in many parrot cages.

 

[Scott]

Roaches may be the end-state life form on Planet Earth!!

I lived in a high-rise condo in San Juan PR for a year in the early 1980s and learned to deal with the scourge of roaches. Walking into the kitchen at night and turning on a light revealed a frenzy of roach movement out of the shadows to safety. The refrigerator was always jam-packed with food - some of it not needing cooling but kept from their prying tentacles. Dry food such as cereal, potatoes, Kool Aid, (yeah, drank that back then!) etc was kept in airtight plastic bags inside cupboards. They are insidious and very difficult to manage, particularly in tropical climates!

 

[Mallory]

I wish roaches were our biggest problem! Here in Texas we have fire ants that will come indoors for food, water or when the temperature starts dropping. Having as many animals as I do including tarantulas I cannot keep my apartment spotless nor can I use any true insecticides. We buy food grade diatomaceous earth - an inert product made of fossilized diatoms (single celled algae). It is harmless even if breathed in small amounts by birds, but if an insect or other invertebrate walks through it the stuff sticks to them and creates microscopic holes in their exoskeleton. In a few minutes to hours they die. We use it to line the inside perimeter anywhere insects could get in and it is much safer than gel baits and such. Even if a dog, ferret or bird consumes it, no harm done although the ferrets like to get into a big pile of it, sniff it and give themselves sneeze fits if they are out while I'm setting it down. The ants actually refuse to cross it. Being one of the only apartments that doesn't use the pest control company we basically have "herd immunity" from roaches as they roam from apartment to apartment but I see the rare american cockroach pass through. I have never seen any true infesting roaches but if I did, I would start applying the diatomaceous earth more vigorously.

 

[MyFlock]

Roaches. I had them before the birds and after the birds. I never had asthma until I moved here which I attribute to the roaches. It hasn't seemed to affect the birds health. I have roach traps and use DE, borax it's a losing battle..I live in an older home in Hawaii.

Some even get in and fly around the house! Fun times!

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm sure it's common to have roaches in the more tropical climates, and no matter how clean of a person you are, it's hard to eradicate when they're just a common part of the environment.

 

[lj4rockpebbler]

I actually saw a pest control worker parked outside of my building for a few days which gives me the assumption that it may not necessarily be coming from my bird as someone had pointed out earlier. I keep night lights on and throw bay leaves in spots where they have been seen along with some roach baits and it seems to have helped somewhat. I also ordered the Orange Guard so we'll see how that does. Thanks for all the replies!