What is it about cockroaches? These pests are the ultimate unwanted house guest and cause homeowners stress and embarrassment. While cockroaches are often associated with grimy, disgusting apartment buildings and shady restaurants, even the cleanest homes can still get roaches. That’s why it’s important to stay on the lookout for a developing cockroach infestation. To protect yourself and your family, you’ve got to know the signs of a cockroach problem in Turks & Caicos.
About Cockroaches
You can find cockroaches in just about any modern city or town around the world. These flat-bodied, oval-shaped insects are remarkable survivors capable of living off of the most repulsive food sources. They will eat anything from discarded produce to excrement and can be found inhabiting bathrooms, kitchens, dumpsters, and sewers among other locations.
Cockroaches are excellent at hiding and an infestation can grow to gargantuan size in the out-of-reach areas of the home. Their sleek physiology allows cockroaches to squeeze beneath heavy appliances and into void spaces in walls and floors. A female cockroach can lay up to four hundred eggs in her lifetime, causing infestations to grow rapidly. However, before you ever see a single live roach, you are much more likely to spot signs of a cockroach infestation.
Five Signs Of Roaches In Your Home
If you’re seeing live cockroaches around your home, your cockroach problem is probably quite advanced already. But if you can catch the signs of cockroaches early, you can avoid a massive infestation. Here’s what to look out for:
Odor – While you might not see cockroaches, you can certainly smell them. As a cockroach infestation grows, pheromones are emitted from accumulating cockroach droppings, which attract even more roaches. This musty, dank odor is hard to miss.
Droppings – Cockroach droppings often resemble coffee grounds or specks of black pepper. These droppings can be mistaken for rodent droppings, but whereas mice and rats leave droppings with pointed ends, roach droppings have flat ends.
Stains – A severe cockroach infestation may cause the appearance of stains and discoloration on floors and walls. These stains are dark in color and are sometimes accompanied by roach droppings.
Eggs – Cockroaches lay their eggs in cases that they often deposit in clothing, blankets, and paper materials. Depending on the species, these egg cases are brown or black in color and measure up to ½ inch in length.
Shed skin – As they grow, roaches shed their skin. These discarded exoskeleton remnants will vary in size, as cockroaches shed at various points in their development and life cycle.
How Dangerous Are Cockroaches?
Cockroaches are known to spread disease and contaminate homes. Roaches are known to cause dysentery, gastroenteritis, salmonellosis, and a host of other diseases. When a cockroach infestation reaches a certain size, roaches can even cause allergies. An abundance of shed skin, feces, and saliva can cause microscopic antigens to fill the air, resulting in irritation to the skin and lungs. Eczema and asthma are both common conditions that result from living or working in a cockroach-infested environment.
Roaches are also notoriously difficult to get rid of. They can skitter out of sight at super speed, can resist crush damage, and have even demonstrated resistance to store-bought pesticides. Because they prefer to live in dark, hidden locations, identifying the source of an infestation isn’t easy.
That’s why you need support from the professionals at Parkway Pest Solutions for your roach problems in Turks & Caicos. Whether it’s cockroaches or any other pest, our experienced team can take care of it. If you spot signs of cockroaches in your home, don’t wait until it’s too late. Contact us today to request your free inspection.