Gokiburi

[matsuki]

Most of the locals seem content to "shoganai" their roach problem. Me, on the other hand, I have done everything possible to seal off my current apartment from the outside world...and yet those disgusting things seem to still find a way in. (Guessing it's from the sink/bath drains as I have already sealed the useless fan vent in there) Ever since I sealed the place up, I haven't come across more than a few but all it takes is one to send a lemur screaming home and I can't have that.

Last night I managed to mark up my bathtub with my hockey stick until crunching a particularly large one. I've got those borax bait boxes in the corners, behind everything but seems like it always comes down to a 1 on 1 battle. (particularly fun as the Japanese version of these beasties seem to have better flying skills than most ANA pilots) How do you guys deal with these nasty lil invaders?

[gkanai]

You might consider hiring a professional (we have Duskin come in once a few months). It's not foolproof- we still get maybe 1 a month.

[matsuki]

You might consider hiring a professional (we have Duskin come in once a few months). It's not foolproof- we still get maybe 1 a month.

I'm about to move to a new place (not really related to the roach problem) but I figure it might be best to implement any measures that others are successful with before dragging my stuff over there. Speaking of which, do the roaches become any less of a problem, the higher you are in a building?

[Samurai_Jerk]

I lived in a first floor apartment about 5 years ago with a space between the floor and the front door and no screens on the bathroom or kitchen windows. My first summer I started seeing roaches so I bought a 10 pack of roach disks. This was only a 6 mat 1K aparment but I put them all out and only saw one half-dead roach after that.

I don't remeber the brand but I'm sure they're all pretty much the same.

[Taro Toporific]

I'm about to move to a new place (not really related to the roach problem) but I figure it might be best to implement any measures ...

Any roaches the you acquire are benefit that the landlord is giving you.

tinyurl.com/roaches-ala-Lafcadio

...the nutritional excellence [of cockroaches] has been underestimated or scorned, according to The Eat-A-Bug Cookbook, which also reports (on p. 66) that Lafcadio Hearn found that many New Orleanians had great faith in a remedy of boiled cockroach tea.
--via wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eat-A-Bug_Cookbook

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I've found that nothing obliterates pesky cockroches quite like a spray of Arse Jet...Actually, in my case that pretty much obliterates much more than cockroaches, too.

[CrankyBastard]

[Coligny]

Most of the locals seem content to "shoganai" their roach problem. Me, on the other hand, I have done everything possible to seal off my current apartment from the outside world...and yet those disgusting things seem to still find a way in. (Guessing it's from the sink/bath drains as I have already sealed the useless fan vent in there) Ever since I sealed the place up, I haven't come across more than a few but all it takes is one to send a lemur screaming home and I can't have that.

Last night I managed to mark up my bathtub with my hockey stick until crunching a particularly large one. I've got those borax bait boxes in the corners, behind everything but seems like it always comes down to a 1 on 1 battle. (particularly fun as the Japanese version of these beasties seem to have better flying skills than most ANA pilots) How do you guys deal with these nasty lil invaders?

Cats... definately cats... Just don't get one that find cute to bring back dead bodies in your bed as trophy gifts...

[matsuki]

Cats... definately cats... Just don't get one that find cute to bring back dead bodies in your bed as trophy gifts...

Hahaha, I had quite an encounter with one last month that made it to my bed without the aid of a cat...nothing like waking up to something crawling on your face lil fugger took off and though he was home free until he landed and met his end under a hockey puck. I still can't get over how much flying these things do!

[nikoneko]

Cats... definately cats... Just don't get one that find cute to bring back dead bodies in your bed as trophy gifts...

Haha yep. We always know it's roach season when the younger one starts sleeping in the kitchen. Then we get "presents" in the morning.
Also those traps or whatever you call them that sterilize them work very well if you don't have cats, they are a bit harder to find but work great.

[Russell]

Haha yep. We always know it's roach season when the younger one starts sleeping in the kitchen. Then we get "presents" in the morning.
Also those traps or whatever you call them that sterilize them work very well if you don't have cats, they are a bit harder to find but work great.

What kind of traps are those? How do they sterilize the buggers?

The occasional one I get in my home makes me go ballistic, because they remind me of my days as a student. The only way to get rid of them is to treat the whole apartment building, with all the residents cooperating. Otherwise forget it.

[Iraira]

Not wanting to tempt fate, but I've only had one get into my place in the last 6 years, and it apparently came through the aircon. When I started to chase of him/her, he/she didn't even try to run away. It was kinda like the little fucker had it's ass so handed to it in the AC, that it wanted death, even if it involved a lesser evolved animal (mammal) knocking it to the floor and stompin' it. Apologized to the folks living below me the next day. Since I smoke on the veranda, I tend to spray it (the veranda, not my cigs) down with anti-goki spray once a week or so. Them varmints know not to come around here no more.

[GomiGirl]

My cat is great for letting me know if/where there are any cockroaches around. She will stare at them and try to catch them but of course she is totally useless in that department. But it allows me to swoop in with a tissue in my hand and catch the bugger and squish it before putting it in the bin.

No I am not afraid of them - the ones we have here are nothing to the flying pteradactyls we had in Australia that I had to regularly remove from my house.

[Taro Toporific]

[tidbits]

[matsuki]

The only way to get rid of them is to treat the whole apartment building, with all the residents cooperating. Otherwise forget it.

Yep...but fat chance of that happening.

I lived in a first floor apartment about 5 years ago with a space between the floor and the front door and no screens on the bathroom or kitchen windows.

This and Russell's reasoning above is why I sealed up my place tighter that Coligny's sphincter when his wife is hovering around his porn collection. I had the same problem with spaces around the door so I foam taped the frame so it creates an airtight seal. I uses clear silicon in every crevice I could find, and even duct taped the fan in the bathroom shut at the first sign of them critters this year. It definitely helped as before I was doing this, I had to deal with 4~8 a week. Lately I only come across that many in the whole summer...the only thing I can think of is the AC unit and up through the piping??

[waruta]

I'm about to move to a new place (not really related to the roach problem) but I figure it might be best to implement any measures that others are successful with before dragging my stuff over there. Speaking of which, do the roaches become any less of a problem, the higher you are in a building?

We live on the 5th floor and did do the bug bomb thing before moving in, since there was tatami as well and didn't want the mites or ticks or whatever crawls up in there. The only other cockroach I saw was one running down the hallway making a beeline for my open door - slipper solved that unwanted guest. The biggest problem I believe is the next door neighbors, on both sides they are retired 60+ pensioners, cook all day and I dunno about the state of their house, but most bugs (from roaches to huge centipedes) seem to be coming from their little veranda bonsai/garden thing....

*edit* "better flying skills than most ANA pilots" .... You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to chokonen888 again. LOL.

[matsuki]

The biggest problem I believe is the next door neighbors, on both sides they are retired 60+ pensioners, cook all day and I dunno about the state of their house, but most bugs (from roaches to huge centipedes) seem to be coming from their little veranda bonsai/garden thing....

Yep...seems like my seal and pray is will be the most effective at keeping that kind of mess out. I'll go buy some more clear silicone and go over every crevice with it after I bomb it...just need to see what I can do about the AC units and any crevices around there.

"better flying skills than most ANA pilots" .... You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to chokonen888 again. LOL.

I'm serious, I only dealt with water beetles in LA when I was about 4~5yo. They just tended to skitter away. After that, never saw them again, just the occasional cricket which became free food for my many pets at that time. I can deal with them skittering away when the light goes on but these Japanese roaches are like Spiderman with wings. Scamper, fly, scamper fly, until they finally meet their end under my hockey sticks...and I have a bunch of black marks on my walls and ceiling.

[matsuki]

Forget gokiburi what about Mukade? How can anyone care about Gokiburi which can be eliminated by Duskin or another firm, compared to Mukade which are resistant to boric acid and travel in pairs and enjoy stinging the shit out of humans with their cattle prod sting ?

I hate mukade !!

...because I have been lucky enough to have never encountered a Mukade, be it dead or alive.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Forget gokiburi what about Mukade? How can anyone care about Gokiburi which can be eliminated by Duskin or another firm, compared to Mukade which are resistant to boric acid and travel in pairs and enjoy stinging the shit out of humans with their cattle prod sting ?

I hate mukade !!

You must live in East Rooster Poot.

[Catoneinutica]

[Catoneinutica]

Ever since I sealed the place up, I haven't come across more than a few but all it takes is one to send a lemur screaming home and I can't have that.

Kids, this here is what's termed "sig file gold." If none of y'all claim it, I might!

[Doctor Stop]

Kids, this here is what's termed "sig file gold." If none of y'all claim it, I might!

First.

[waruta]

Kids, this here is what's termed "sig file gold." If none of y'all claim it, I might!

I thought "(particularly fun as the Japanese version of these beasties seem to have better flying skills than most ANA pilots)" this was pure gold.

[BigInJapan]

How can anyone care about Gokiburi which can be eliminated by Duskin or another firm, compared to Mukade which are resistant to boric acid and travel in pairs and enjoy stinging the shit out of humans with their cattle prod sting ?

Speaking of mukade... I felt something walking on my foot earlier, looked down and saw a 6 or 7 cm long centipede working it's way up my leg. I quickly shook it off and luckily it didn't get a chance to sting. That's the the second one in the last week or so, might have to start plugging up the nooks and crannies.
The cucaracha here on the other hand are tiny babies compared to the monsters I encountered in the Caribbean many years ago.

[wuchan]

the home centers have a powder that you spread around the base of your house. I shoot it around the base of my house three times a year and I have never seen a roach in my new house. I once saw one in the old house but I found out that the powder hadn't been put down for a year.

1: buy poison powder
2: spread around base of building
3: ??????
4: no invaders (profit)

[matsuki]

Kids, this here is what's termed "sig file gold." If none of y'all claim it, I might!

Nobody messes with my lemurs, nobody!

[Akage]

If you don't have kids or pets, look for something called boric acid. No clue what it's called in Japanese, but it one of the best things you can get to protect your home against roaches.

[matsuki]

I think that's all the "poison" powder really is.

[waruta]

If it works on nuclear reactors, it should work on cockroaches.