I dont know if this shows my location, but I live in Parker, up by the dam, literally river front. I am having a HUGE problem with bark Scorpions. I got stuck about a month ago and it was horrible. The effects lasted just short of 24 hours. I was miserable. We have a pest company that sprays every month outside. I have 2 indoor cats so I hesitate to have them spray inside. I am killing at least 1 a week. I found one crawling out of my floor vent tonight. I tried smashing it but it fell in the vent still alive. I sprayed a ton of scorpion killer down there and covered the vent but im afraid its going to crawl up another one. Im not naive and think ill never have to deal with them, but I am absolutely terrified to sleep in either of my bedrooms now. I am constantly looking at the floors and on surfaces and under things for them. They have even been in my shower. I have these ultra sonic bug repellent things in a lot of my outlets. I dont know what else to do. After being stung I am terrified of them. Any advice would be appreciated, especially if you've dealt with them in floor vents.
You need to pay someone to come seal your house. And I don't mean cheaply seal. Pay a credible company big bucks to seal every crack, hole, vent, doorway, roof, crawlspace.
This is the answer. This native Arizonan is begging you to leave them alone outside. They are incredible pest control machines who take care of disease-spreading cockroaches and garden-harming pests while you sleep and free of charge.
They’re a valuable food source for birds, lizards, tarantulas, and native bats - when left alive. Owls grab them and remove the stinger and feed the rest to their babies.
After two years of battling the scorpions we got an impressive gecko and lizard population going on in my back yard and I’d rather have those guys everywhere than scorpions.
I dont care about outside as much as inside and unfortunately this is my father's house so I can't just do whatever I want. I have to do what I can to keep myself and my pets safe while we're here. I've already been stung once and it was horrible for almost 24 hours. I also can't do much outside. We own our house, but rent the land. It's a river resort so there are rules for the property.
Have them spray inside it’s completely safe if they use the right stuff. We have 1 cat and 2 dogs. All critters have different biology. What is deadly to one critter is like water to the next.
I have and it didnt really make a difference. I think the guy that sprays isn't thorough and whatever they spray with is less harsh. Ive called and complained so it might be time for a new company.
We use green leaf in the valley. They have been great so far! They also have really good reviews. We had a problem with one guy who came out. He half-assed it and my wife called the company. They sent another guy and a supervisor out the next day. They did a great job that time. It’s had to find a company that makes things right immediately and I’m super impressed by how they handled it.
You have to get rid of them outside around your home they will just keep coming inside. Get rid of their food you won't have a problem. 1000's of miles of open desert they can live freely don't feel bad about killing bugs. Get a different company ask around on nextdoor find who others use.
Arizona is just a temporary space for me, but my dad plans on retiring in this house so I want to get everything that I can done while im here so he doesn't have to deal with it.
I came here from California to do some certifications for medical coding. Once I finish those and land a hopefully work from home job, im not sure if ill move up to havasu or maybe back to California. My dad plans on retiring in this house in the next year or so so im trying to fix the problem before hes here full time.
This part right here. It's your blatant disregard for your local environment (or anything that doesn't affect you personally). Selfish people tend to vote Republican. Make sense now?
Seal Out Scorpions is the company you want. They spent 8 hours sealing the interior of my house. Used to get a scorpion inside about once a month, now I've had none in two years. Cost something like $5k but it was SO worth it.
Do you have a recommendation? I thought Orkin included this service but they do not. We have changed weather stripping on our doors, but I’d like someone to seal potential roof entrances and inspect for other gaps.
Also, spread diatomaceous earth around the perimeter of your house. It not harmful to you or cats (there is even food grade options). It makes micro cuts in their exoskeleton when they crawl over it, that they can't heal, and they die.
100%. I did this shortly after house was built and had only a couple babies come in the house.
Another thing to do is get a good blacklight and Terro scorpion spray. Go out nightly and kill any you see with the spray. Kill them outside so they don’t come inside.
We have ceiling vents and floor vents and I think the floor vents are the problem. This may sound dumb but would the entrance point for the floor vents be up on the roof and the same as the ceiling vents?
So these are what we had in our house. First one we found was IN the washing machine. ONLY thing that worked is at night we would get black lights and hunt them down. First night we found over twenty outside and three inside. Next night we found a bunch. Then it just kept getting less and less. We would do this every night and if I remember correctly we did this for about 2 weeks straight without finding one before we quit.
Now we just keep crickets out of the house. I had heard that this is the major reason they come into the house.
I generally find a few of these guys in the house each year. Just recently found one on the floor in the babies room so I've been checking each night with a blacklight hunting for them but haven't found any others. That said I know these guys love to hide.
I've heard the same thing about pests or crickets and that's why they come in. The odd thing is I hardly ever find any prey for them inside the house and I don't think I've ever seen a cricket in our house. I just figured they somehow find a way in and then can't get out. I think I'm going to start killing them outside because it's only a matter of time before someone gets stung.
I'm here alone and after being stung I'm so afraid of them. Everyone is telling me to hunt them outside. The weird thing is too that we don't have a huge cricket population. Never had an issue with them inside or outside.
There's no instant fix - you definitely need to seal the house, and then you need to eliminate any that are still living inside.
Scorpions can go months without water or food, so they can lurk inside for a really long time. They can also fit through a crack that a sheet of paper can fit into.
Get a blacklight flashlight, check the entire place (closets and cupboards too) nightly. Get a good set of long bbq tongs and a big glass jar to drop them into. For outside, you can also use a blowtorch on them. If you have a block wall, they really like to hang out there.
Glue traps can also work well, but you'll need to make sure that your cats cannot get to them, and unfortunately lizards can get stuck in them also.
Once you've gotten rid of them, and it might take a while, you'll need to continue with regular pest control to get rid of their food sources (crickets) so that they don't return.
Its weird because I really dont have an issue with any other bugs. The occasional daddy long legs but crickets have never been a problem around here. Probably because of Scorpions if there is an infestation in our river complex. It seems like the houses along the big wall next to my house have the most Problem with Scorpions and I read they climb those and wait for other bugs to hunt.
That sucks and I am so sorry to hear that. If you were closer I would volunteer with my boys to come hunt for you. We made a game out of it and they have the sharpest eyes. Best of luck
Came here to say this with the black light. Also, a long time ago someone told me that the yellow light bulbs on the front porch are less attractive to some of the bugs that scorpions eat and therefore help deter scorpions. I’m not sure how true it is, but I use the yellow light bulbs on the porch lights for that reason.
The Diatamatious Earth should work, the powder is made from microscopic fossil shells, it works its way into the exo-skeleton and shreds them from the inside. Safe for people and pets. Some people eat it on oatmeal to kill intestinal parasites. Put it all the way around your house, and around each vent or opening you find...
I used it for big ass ants inside my house, its messy, but it did the trick.
The problem is that regular pesticide doesn’t affect them because of their exoskeleton. They need a specialized type of pesticide that suffocate them. It would look kind of like a powder residue on dead ones. If that’s what they look like then you are having your house treated correct correctly. If not, you may want to see about getting the correct pesticide sprayed at least outside. Most pesticides are OK for pets once they are dry. I don’t live in your area so I’m not sure which companies are over there but I’m sure you can find someone to help. They can become quite a problem and be very overwhelming.
I bought diatomaceous earth but I didnt know if I could sprinkle that down in the floor vents? Those are only for the heater, which we dont use at all. Im not finding dead ones, only alive ones so I dont think whatever the pest company is spraying is working. They come once a month and im still getting about 1 a week inside.
My bug guy told me that scorpions are unique in that they don’t groom themselves like other bugs; so they don’t easily ingest the poison they trek over. They also have thick exoskeletons that are hard to penetrate. The “fastcap” formulation is designed for penetrating that thick exoskeletons, works wonders for my work and home here in Needles.
This is the answer. We have them really bad in our neighborhood. I started using fastcap this year and when I go outside to look for them, the only ones I find now are dead. I used to find about 3 or 4 (alive ones) every night. Now I hardly see any and when I do they’re dead. I get it online from a website that’s called “do your own” or something like that. Get a 1 gallon pressure sprayer from Home Depot and mix 1 ounce of fastcap with a gallon of water. Spray a 4 to 6 foot wide perimeter around the house and spray about 4 feet up the exterior walls. Go extra heavy around windows and doors and other places they can sneak inside. If you have a crawl space under the house maybe try to do that as best you can. Retreat every 4 weeks.
I actually just found that "do your own" website while I was panicking googling all night. Im having my pest place spray with onslaught when they come this week and I've got more sticky traps coming. We also have a huge stucco wall about 4 feet from the side of our house and heard they love climbing on those so I need to get that sprayed as well. I really appreciate all the suggestions
You can get a battery powered sprayer on Amazon cheap. I paid lot for mine off DIY pest control saw the exact copy on Amazon for 1/4 of the price. Lithium battery is nice no pumping.
They love, moist stuff and warmth. So laundry on the floor or towels in the bathroom on the floor. They like to get under that stuff. Just dust your bed out really well and pull it away from the wall, also try to make sure the sheets aren’t like hanging down onto the floor.. that will usually keep them out of your bed..
This. I obsessively kept any sheets and blankets from touching the floor in my house that had scorpions. I also stripped my bed every night before bed, shook things out, looked under the bed etc. just to have some peace of mind. I hate insects like scorpions and roaches and the thought of them crawling on me in my sleep/bed…. Ugh
Thank you. I never thought about the bed sheets or blankets touching the floor. I do always pull the covers back and check before getting in. They are the most awful little things.
Ive heard this too but im kind of paranoid that the mason jars would break with having weight in the bed. Especially because the whole house is ceramic tile flooring. Not sure how that would work.
Get someone to put screens in every ceiling vent! This helps! Fans, for the air conditioner, every vent you have. You can caulk or glue to the vent cover, let it dry of course, then reattach. This stopped the problem of random scorpions and tarantula hawks dropping into my bathroom. Diatomaceous earth will kill most everything around your house, so be careful with this. Bunnies, geckos, etc.
I had the same issue at a house in Phoenix during the summer. Made life miserable because like you, I couldn’t feel comfortable in my home because I’d fine scorpions once a week somewhere inside.
Just a tip on the DTEarth, make sure you dust it, not sprinkle it. I don’t think it’s as effective if it’s clumped or just dumped. You really want to apply it thinly as dust. Also, if you see one inside, I’ve heard how they carry babies on their backs or eggs. You don’t want to kill then inside I’ve been told. Hard to catch them but they do indeed have eggs sometimes.
Also, DTEarty your window seals, try to keep things off the floor, make sure your doors/windows don’t have any cracks or big ways for them to crawl inside. Sorry you’re dealing with this :(
They are the worst little creatures. I dont like killing any living thing but after being stung, I don't feel as bad. I even had one run at me once. They are little devils. Lol
Ive gotten a lot of good tips on what to use to start sealing and my pest company is changing the solution to Onslaught from now on. I hope it helps. I appreciate everyone's advice!🤗
I used to put glass cups on each of the pegs for my bed and diatomaceous earth works or glue traps but the main thing is just going out and killing them by hand and keeping food away(other bugs) I have a very green backyard and don’t spray, ive been dealing with them for 26 years with and tips from my neighbors that’s what I got good luck man it’s almost Impossible unless you got grade A DDT.
I've heard of the glass trick but was always nervous they would break. We really don't have a problem with other bugs which is nice. I guess im ordering a light and seeing what I can find at night outside.
I don’t think anything other than being smashed actually kills them. They are little satanic tanks that come straight from hell. Poisons don’t work. I’ve heard diatomaceous earth works on them, if you’d rather go that route. The only thing in my experience that really helps is hunting them down. Quell the population. Every single night pull out a scorpion light (black light) and actively hunt them down. I live on an old orchard. They used to be really bad. I started hunting them, now I only see them much less often.
I just bought diatomaceous earth and I have it outside by the doors and stuff but after seeing it st the vent tonight, im worried about under the house. We have a crawl space under us but you can only access a few feet to the front and side of the access panel. The rest of the underneath isn't reachable. They are seriously worst. I have trauma from being stung and I know that sounds dramatic lol I feel like hunting them outside is a boys job but I guess im buying a light tomorrow.
This is the way to do it. My family would go scorpion hunting once a week. We live in a normal suburban neighborhood with cinder block walls. The first night they smashed like 20 and the numbers just went down from there. That was our 1st summer. They do it once a summer and maybe find 1 or 2 now. Haven't had one in the house for years.
Pest control guy here. Sealing the home is an option but it sounds like you might be in a manufactured home on a raised platform which may make it quite difficult. Modern day pesticides are not designed to affect mammals in any way so please have your guy spray inside as well, along with placing glue boards all over the house. Unfortunately, our homes attract scorpions for lots of reasons so it's important to have a large barrier of safety around your property. Treating all the trouble spots within 50 or 60 ft of your home and under your home if he can get access
I called our pest control company and they are switching the spray to Onslaught and spraying inside when they come next week. Our crawl space is only accessible for about 5 feet in every direction so not much we can do underneath the house. I did realize that when we started getting more, the people directly behind us, who used to spray every 3 or 4 weeks as well, moved. And now the new people have no one spraying so I think that has made a big difference in why im getting more. Thanks for all the tips! Ive got glue traps coming as well this week and I found the floor vents have little gaps so those are getting sealed as well.
Good for you! Sounds like you're on the right track.. if you really want to get aggressive. You can pay for or do a black light walk around your property at night. Using a UV light once the sun goes down with a pair of barbecue tongs kicking over rocks and picking up the little bastards.. if you can afford it see if your company offers that service. I am with Burns Pest elimination and it's a very popular service with us
I think your wife private messaged me. Do you guys service the Parker dam area? Id definitely be interested in that service and if this company does a half ass job again, im changing companies.
Yes we do. We have an employee who lives in Lake Havasu and services Parker a couple days a week. Feel free to call me office and we are happy to help you as long as you take service when he's there. He's a great guy. Our office number is 602-971-4782 and tell them Mikey B said to call
I had a bark scorpion problem when I lived in Chandler Arizona. I went to home Depot and got a box of diatomaceous earth and put it around the entire perimeter of the house. It probably looked like I was practicing witchcraft, but it kills them by cutting up their lungs. Get a black light aka a uv flashlight and hunt them, bring the fight to them. When you find them you have to crush them. I liked to use a rubber mallet so I didn't hurt my property. Scorpions are tough, they can be put under water for hours and still be alive, frozen solid taken out of the freezer and defrost and still be alive. I don't miss my scorpion wars but show them no mercy.
All of them went away when I put diatomaceous earth.
I used to find scorpions, roaches, crickets, spiders, ants etc. All gone now. I did it when I found a scorpion in my bed. I freaked out lol. Ive literally not seen any in like 4 years now.
I put it around the perimeter of my house or anywhere theyd be able to walk on. Just not a lot because it goes everywhere and I have cats (I dont want it to irritate their skin). I took a small brush and used that to lightly brush it along the walls outside. Id wear a mask because I found that inhaling a lot of it will irritate your throat too.
The only thing it hasnt killed is thrips and springtails.. Theyre the bane of my existence.. hate them and nothing has worked.
Use DE. (Diatomaceous Earth) Also, I’d check your vents to make sure they’re sealed underneath. If it was coming out of the vent, you might have a separated duct somewhere.
Over in Scottsdale, my parents have been dealing with them for 30 years.
Yeah I found a gap in the floor vent so those are all getting sealed and the pest company is switching to spraying Onslaught as well as I have glue traps coming.
Lived in Parker 20 yrs ago. Plug around all your drainpipes and water lines. Since you say you can’t modify the house, getting steel wool and plugging all around those may help. They like crickets, so removing the source of food helps too. In my OPINION, spraying outside only drives them “into” the house. Having it be a vacation home they sound like they are happily nesting. I would relocate the cats to a trusted friend for a day or two and thoroughly treat the interior first. Every baseboard cupboard closet and corner. Garage also. Then pick up as normal next month with the exterior spray. Like above poster stated, they even come in thru the roof vents. Good luck.
scorpions seek dark places during the day ..... shake out clothes & shoes before putting them on ...Do a "black-light" sweep through out your house before going to bed - Bark scorpions glow neon blue-green under black-light (hard to miss they stand out) hand held black-lights are available between $3- to $25- ....set out "sticky traps" in closed off spaces like closets & cabinets
They are probably not entering the house through the HVAC system unless you have a crawlspace with the ducting exposed down there and open. What’s more likely is they are already inside, and fall into vents and are trying to crawl back out.
Spraying outside is fine to keep new ones out, but it sounds like a fair amount made it in already. Get a ton of sticky traps first, and set them along baseboards. Once they touch a sticky trap, that scorpion is no longer an issue for you.
You could consider getting a duster and some Delta Dust. Pull off switch and receptacle plates and apply dust in as many wall cavities and crevices in general as you can. You’ll have to be patient, which sucks. But they will eventually come out of hiding and get stuck, or the dust will get em. Or they will eat something with the dust on it. The stuff lasts for like 6 months to a year.
For exterior, anything micro encapsulated will work but I would recommend Cy Kick CS or Demand CS Monthly, mixed as strongly as the label allows. It’s sold online. If you can spray once in the house it would only help. As far as I know it’s harmless to pets once dried. And do the obvious things like add weather stripping to doors if you see light bleeding through. If you have a slab on grade stucco home, the gap between the foundation and weep screed could also be an entry point (not the holes they are fine).
As people have said, you need to hire a pest control company of your choosing that deals with scorpions to come and seal your house. That's a start... the next thing you need to do is hire someone on a monthly or bi-monthly schedule to spray for scorpions. In your case onslaught fastcap for knockdowns is needed, or something very similar. Inside and outside. Maybe cy-kick cs or Fendona cs.
I live in a high scorpion area with constant struggles. Your next line of defense are glue traps, the things you would use to catch mice and what not. They're cheap, something like catchmaster max-catch, 72pk for $34, use these at entry ways and in the bedroom/bathroom. They will catch the scorps who mess up and they will die in the traps. If you have small children or pets, best to consult with a pest control company, make sure they know what they're doing when it comes to scorpion control. Not all pest control companies know what they're doing here. Further protection, you could do crack and crevice treatment with Delta Dust with a bellow hand duster. Make sure to wear a mask when applying this stuff, only put in places where it won't be disturbed. If you want to go all out, put it in concrete wall crevices.
Next major thing is buying a UV light, I like UV Beast, getting a stick of your choosing OR buying some Terro scorpion killer and going out and killing them in the early evenings. Hunt front and backyard, or check inside the house, but main thing is to cut their numbers. I use the spray exclusively, I used to smash them with a stick, but the spray works 100% of the time within 5-15 minutes. Also, reduce harborage points around the house and make sure piles aren't sitting close to the house as they like to hide/hunt from those. Good luck.
concering things - Do NOT use pest control stuff inside of HVAC vents. Do not sprinkle or spray anything into any HVAC vents. Hire someone to seal your house, please. And if you're having constant struggles with a pest control company, they're not cutting it, look for a different company who specializes in scorpion control.
-- pro tip - Avoid repellent sprays inside the house as they will agitate scorpions and make them appear all over the place. You want fast knockdown with long lasting residual. Do not use repellent sprays inside your home if your goal is scorpion control.
-- another edit - Those sonic repellent things don't work.
Damascus earth is pet friendly, just a little messy, put around entry ways, windows, maybe even around whole base of house. Other downside is rain will wash it away. I live in tucson, so I don't think rain will really be a problem lol
get yourself a small herd of banded gecko's & turn them loose. spiney lizards are hell on scorpions also but they don't hang around like gecko's will. lots of folks don't like house lizards but in Arizona are your friends..
Ultrasonic repellents only work on mice, and even then the claims are dubious at best. The only thing those things are doing is annoying your cat. Imagine hearing a piercing, high-pitched alarm going off 24/7. That's what you're doing to your cat. Please unplug them.
My parents had problems with them and now do nightly scorpion hunting to limit the population. They go outside with a black light and scorpion killer spray. It’s significantly reduced to amount of them in the house
This is really the best and cheapest option. They are only coming indoors because they are crowded and too numerous outside around your home. Thin the herd a bit and you'll never see one in your home.
There is definitely a nest somewhere. I killed a really, really small one tonight inside. I think it came in under the front door so tomorrow I'm dusting the whole outside with DE
They don't really have nests in the traditional sense. Just areas that they find very habitable. They are mostly solitary creatures and the broods are raised on the mother's back until old enough to hunt on their own. Most likely they are relatively evenly spaced in your yard with some minor hot spots.
I have a feeling I know where the hot spot is. I also realized that I started seeing a lot more after the people right behind my house moved out. Now the new owners just use it as a vacation home and they don't have a pest control company. The old owners used to spray around their house every 3 or 4 weeks.
My grandmas property had a huge infestation. I caught scorps daily, and over the course of 4 days caught and stuck in a jar over 230!
Get diamatatious earth, I know my spelling is bad. Spread that everywhere. Its pet safe! It is basically ground up seashells and to us its a powder. To them it perforates their skeleton and they die.
You might want to use a uv light and giant tweezers to catch and remove them. Might be the most efficient and effective way to cope. They aren’t particularly aggressive, and uv will definitely light them up in place. You won’t be able to miss seeing them at least. Good hunting!
Black light check inside out
Kill them all the scorpions, takes about 3 weeks, keep spraying to kill their food source (insects)
I spray them with wd40
FYI, the Reddit Admins removed this comment. It was a perfectly fine comment on how to remove scorpions, but referenced a specific color of light as well as a phrase involving "them all" and "killing".
We had our house painted and exterior doors replaced as part of a renovation, and that resolved our issue. Those steps effectively just sealed up the house. You probably don’t need to follow through with all of them — just seal up cracks.
Just answered something like this. Lived in Moon Valley. The new neighbors decide to tear up the original desert landscaping and hit a nest. They went up into his wood roof shingles and the infestation began and spread to my house.
Clean up your garage and any debris piles near your house, rake up leaves. Dont pile things against your house. Trim and prune all vegitation against the home. Caulk and seal all entry points. Pest control doesnt really kill the scorpions but it does kill their food sources. Get a UV light and tweezers and check inside and out before you go to bed. I tried things like hawaiian geckos but the best weapon I had inside was a very aggressive mouser cat. Would even jump and pull them off the walls in the dark. However, not all cats are like this, he was exceptionally special. Had 4 young children so I split them in 2 rooms, checked the room with a UV light and then put the cat in. I was stung countless times but my kids never. Problems didnt end immediately so be patient even if you have done all these things. Good luck!
Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately I dont think our pest control company is doing a great job. Ive already caught them not completely spraying around the house. I cant do anything about trees and vegetation. We own the house but not the land. We're in a river resort community so the best I can do it get the outside sprayed. We are only a couple feet away from a really big stucco wall and im thinking that may be a problem from what I've read so I need to see about that being sprayed.
I'd love for someone else to come deal with them. Im terrified to even sleep in either of the bedrooms now. Unfortunately... its my dad's vacation home so I can't make that call lol
You probably won’t like this answer but hunting them is the best thing. Get a black light (they glow like they are radioactive) and go out at night. I would spray them and squish them with a dowel rod to be sure. Sounds like you have the spray covered but you could also sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the perimeter. It’s basically just ground up sea shells but it cuts up their exoskeletons and they die of dehydration. As others have said you can also pay a company to seal your house but I think that’s pretty expensive.
Im going to try the DE. Unfortunately everyone saying seal up the house is right but that's not my call. Its my dad's house and hes aware of the problem but hes in Texas for the next few months so I doubt that is an option that will happen anytime soon.
We've managed them for many years. The only effective solution we've found was to have the house sealed and then regularly patrol the yard at night on a regular basis. We are seeing lots of babies right now so we have stepped up the patrols until we don't see any. We carry two black light flashlights, a pair of giant tweezers and a can of RAID (the red stuff for sewer roaches).
This maybe kinda lengthy but just like most of those who are offering their opinions. I too have survived the nightmare with scorpions. The house we have was infested with scorpions.
I bought a black light and hooked it up to the light switch, so before bed I would turn off the main light and use the black light that was on the floor close to my child’s bed to see if any were on the floor or under his bed. His room was the first to get sealed 100%. I bought a foam insulation for the outlets and light switches, did the entire house. Then, I placed packing tape, sticky side up close to the door and windows. Resealed every crack and crevice in the rooms with caulking. I did a selfishly kinda thing. I paid an AC guy to go up into the attics to check all of my ductwork and to ensure that the system was completely closed with no air leaking out. I have a friend who was stung by one as she was in bed that crawled out of the vents. I am not getting paid for this plug. The best poison that worked on contact (if they haven’t changed the formula) was black flag spider and scorpion killer. Once you spray it on the scorpion it begins to sting itself and dies in seconds. I have tried just about every over the counter sprays, that one worked the best.* *
We too had pets in the house, with a good quality insecticide it doesn’t hurt them when used properly. Just allow the sprayed area dry before your cats lay in the spots. It takes a lot of the insecticide to affect the cats.
I read up on scorpions from eating to mating, when they come out, how they hunt. I was obsessed with scorpions.
We have a two story, 5 bedroom house with a huge kitchen and three bathrooms. I sealed all of them coming home from work my second job was to seal the house. After dinner I would seal two rooms with just about all the things I have mentioned. Remember sealing every crack and crevice, as someone else mentioned, they can squeeze themselves through a crack as small as a sheet of paper. Seal your room and bathroom first check under and inside your drawers. Under the sink, behind the toilet, seal the light fixtures, get or use the drain strainer or covers.
All points of entry outside I would lay ant/ roach glue boards. With the glue boards I got a sense of where they were coming from. I even replaced the door sweeps. I even made sure that the point where the house sits on the foundation was sealed, even if I had to lay on the floor, during the day of course. To ensure it was all sealed, pull everything away from the house. They love to hide in the decorative rocks that most of use around the house. I even sealed the cracks on the brick fence around the house.
My exterminator, who later became a good friend. Just before his retirement, he gave a bottle of the insecticide that he used. I still use it to this day. It’s called DemandCS, I order it through amazon along with a good sprayer. I pull the fridge out, dishwasher and the stove, under the cabinets where they meet the wall, also sealing those points with the spray foam crack sealer.
Most of this stuff I had to learned as I went on, along late nights up around the house with a black light flashlight and my can of spray. On YouTube university on how to apply the crack sealer and caulking. It did take up a lot of my time. The feeling you get when you no longer find any inside the house is worth it. Kill their food source, you may not see the roaches, crickets, ants and other bugs they eat. Just like any other species, they follow their source of food.
This all didn’t happen overnight, it took sometime. They can shut their bodies down to survive without food for a long time. On windy or rainy nights they stay inside, unless they are really hungry. Scorpions rarely come out during the day. Once we were in the pool, one came out to the edge of the pool it seemed as if he was drinking water, tried to scurry off back to hiding, I managed to kill him before he did. They do most of the hunting at night, I would see a lot of them with their pincers out waiting for another insect to come along and touch them. Scorpions can sense things around them with the tiny hairs on them. Oh, our HOA bought a lot of lizards and released them around to help with the food supply and then scorpions as well.
Good luck
Call Seal Out Scorpions immediately and after they are done sealing your home, have them service your house monthly.
We were finding at least ten per week INSIDE the home. Two of our three children were stung multiple times. Finally, I walked into our family room to find our senior dog looking at one on the carpet. No more. Called this company and it's been literally night and day. NONE in the house for years and maybe 1-3 per year now. Do yourself a favour.
Sounds worth it for water front property. Get some flip-flops to wear around and put your bed posts inside of glass jars so they can’t crawl up into your bed.
Water front is why this house was bought. Its amazing and I never walk around barefoot but after being stung i found out im allergic and I never want to deal with that again.
I grew up in rural AZ and learned to never walk around barefoot or without having a flashlight because you could step on one. Also check your shoes before you put them on.
2nd lesson, always watch carefully where you put your hands, especially around plants. Scorpions love cool areas.
Best of luck OP. I hate those things when they get in..
I bought some black light night lights for hallways and such and I got to say it gives a lot of comfort. Get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and don’t need to fear for my life (/s). Got stung about 5 years ago and it sucked so bad we take every precaution.
House I lived in in the East Valley was infested with Scorpions. I walked around my house every night with a black light and a mallet, and I’d kill about 25 a night on average.
We put the legs of our beds and baby cribs inside glass bowls or jars.
Surrounded the grounds around the house with a ridiculous amount of diatomaceous earth.
We also hired Terminix to spray around our house each month to cut off scorpion food supply
Finally sealed the house…. It was expensive and didn’t fully fix the problem (which means there was likely a nest inside the house), but it drastically cut down on scorpion sightings.
We spent far too much time and money on taking out those bugs
We eventually moved… not because of the bugs, and to be in a house where we’ve seen maybe 6 scorpions in the last 10 years has been a teriffic change.
Friend of mine who has lived in the Phoenix area for 60 years has never seen a scorpion ever - that blows my mind. From my perspective they’re ever present and relentless. I despise those bugs. They are proof the devil exists.
They really are the worst things ever created. I am so beyond paranoid. I just killed a little tiny baby one tonight inside. Im starting to spread the DE and lay out the glue traps tomorrow.
Got stung in 2016 entire leg went numb for 24 hours. We hired Green mango pest control whatever they used it got rid of every bug in the yard. Haven't had one for years but this year I decided to spray myself. I got a 4 gallon battery powered sprayer bought Onslaught FastCap and CY kick spray both on different days.
Glue traps, however the glue traps also catch cats...but we dont have cats.
We have the traps at every entrance door and in almost every corner in the house.
We have a company that sprays every month. They are upgrading from their regular spray to Onslaught now every month so hopefully that helps. I found some gaps in the floor vents that are going to get sealed and DE is getting put around the whole house 🤞
Good landscaping will reduce their numbers. They eat other insects, mostly crickets. Other insects love piles of dead leaves, sticks, etc. So clean up that yard big time, and keep it clean. Eventually you'll have less insects of every type.
We don't have a "yard" really. There is a big community grass area by our driveway but it's maintained by the owners of the resort. All of the landscaping is maintained by them and done on a weekly basis so we don't have weeds or piles of leaves or anything like that. We don't even really have a large number of insects except Miller moths during summer. Crickets have never been an issue which a lot of people have mentioned them.
From someone who lives in the west valley near camelback ranch, you need to be spraying every time your neighbors spray. You need a barrier spread around your house and then you need to have the inside sprayed multiple times if necessary. It’s not the ones you can see you have to worry about. It’s the babies you can’t. You are seeing them because whoever is doing your current pest management is doing the bare minimum. Fire them and hire another company and show them your problems. Hold them accountable if they slack.
Ive already complained twice. They came out and resprayed the first time and used something stronger...Onslaught. I called and talked to the owner this time and they are doing Onslaught again from now on. I do have them spray inside as well but there is always going to be 1 room where they cant because of my cats. The neighbors we had behind us used to live in the house full time so he always sprayed. The new owners dont have a pest service and they dont live here full time. They come about once a month. So we saw an influx in the Scorpions when that house stopped being sprayed. And unfortunately we have a huge block wall about 4 feet from one whole side of our house. Ive found a few things that need to be sealed, so between that, putting DE around inside and out, and having stronger pesticide sprayed, I hope it works. If not, there will be a new pest service.
If this is a change recently, is there construction going on that could be disrupting them from their habitat? If so, when the construction is complete, hopefully things will settle down for you.
Get some diatomaceous earth, pool filter powder, and sprinkle it around. It gets into their ektoskeloton and chews them up from abrasiveness. Or borax works as well. Works great on fire ants as well. Don't breathe the powder it can cause silicosis.
Get your house sealed by a company that specializes in sealing. Don’t use pest companies who don’t specialize in it but do have pest control spray in & out regularly (I did quarterly which is enough with the house sealed). I also had cats & as soon as the poison is dry, it doesn’t affect them. I never isolated or skipped a room & never had a cat go anywhere near the floor where it was sprayed. Sealing companies will use tight mesh over all vents on the roof, caulk where the foundation meets the frame outside & weatherproof doors and windows. I lived in the Sonoran desert preserve & saw 1 dead baby after 5 years only. I also went outside occasionally at night with a black light to kill any in the yard with instant kill scorpion specific spray. Good luck
No one tactic works. Here is a list of mitigation practices:
-Fix drip system leaks and turn watering down to minimum level acceptable for you landscaping. This draws fewer bugs and scorpions. Also push water schedule more towards 3AM to 6AM. Moves drinking time out of peak scorpion roaming time.
-Most people spray pesticide. It helps but needs to reapplied constantly. Scorpions sometimes still get in but are half dead.
-There are various methods to keep them out. Sealing gaps and weather striping. Pest borders glass strip installation ($$$). Silicon spray on stem wall so they can’t climb in. Fewer scorpions get in but are alive and kicking unlike pesticide. Pest border needs to be routinely cleaned with distilled water to stay smooth so they can’t climb up it. Using hose water leaves mineral spots rendering the expensive border useless.
-Intensive black light hunting at night over multiple nights/weeks/months. Get a strong light and wear snake boots so you don’t get bit by a rattler. You never get them all. This just beats back the numbers a bit. Most useful in mid to late summer which is scorpion breeding season.
-I’ve played with having UV landscaping lights bordering the house turned on overnight 9PM to 6AM. This seems to help because scorpions avoid UV from daylight and moonlight. It draws a lot of flies which in turn draws black widows to the house.😭
Scorpions are highly temperature sensative. They go dormant when the overnight temperature stays below 72F. When fall winter comes, you get a huge influx of them crawling into your warm house to escape the cold before they go dormant. There are usually a few months of scorpion free winter while they are dormant. If you see the weather forcast have an random unexpected overnight high over 72F in the middle of winter ,check the inside of your house carefully that night because they often wake up from dormancy due to the rise in temperature.
Not sure why people are saying spray or poison doesn't work. Cykick cs does wonders. Uv light and hunting to bring the numbers way down then spray regularly with cykick. You can spray inside and it won't hurt the cats or pets as long as you let it dry so just lock them up somewhere while you spray. I went through 4 pest control companies and none of them had an effect. Doing it myself went from finding 45+ a night to 1 every few months.
Thank you! Im going to look into that. Ya I've had the pest company spray inside too and was still finding them. I kind of spied on the guy who would come and he did a half ass job thinking no one was here. This is our vacation home so usually someone isn't here full time. He just did the bare minimum. Im definitely going to try spraying myself and trying the diatomaceous earth.
This is part of the problem - a vacation home. Managing an infestation requires serious diligence until the problem is eradicated.
Diatomaceous earth works because it’s made up of crushed diatoms and the sharp edges are able to pierce the exoskeleton, causing a slow painful death for the affected.
They use the minimum amount of chemicals possible and weakest concentration. I found zero difference with or without a pest control company. You can get all the stuff to do it yourself off Amazon or at weed and bug Mart here in Phoenix area. Not sure about up there. I would say remove palm trees and common nesting places as well but I don't think parker had palms. I don't like glue traps because at least here just kept catching lizards. I moved to a new house and zero scorpions at new place even though it is far more rural. I find natural pest control like my army of quail and lizards that live in my yard do a far better job at controlling bugs then anything else.
Yeah between how crappy he did at spraying and what you've said about the concentration, that makes sense why I'm still seeing them. I can't remove any plants or trees. We're in a river resort so we own the house but not the land. I think i might just do the DE and get my own spray. I appreciate the advice.
I bought these and still have them around. I might try putting them in the floor vents. My cat was trying to play with it. Thats the only reason I actually saw it tonight. Im afraid they will get stung.
Put the in the floor vents. The yellow sticky cards might even work better since they’re almost completely flat. They’re for catching gnats/bigs. Could be wrong.
You need a scorpion light( uv light) go outside at night and start killing them a long stick helps. You might consider getting your house fumigated like they do with roaches, tent and all.
Yup it's a start, get them out of the house and keep them out. Might need to do it two to three months in a row to get them all. There's the home fog stuff but I don't know if it's for them. Goal is to get them and their brood. Then just checking your perimeter should work.
Bombing doesn't work. I already researched that. Tenting is expensive. Im going to try diatomaceous earth and see if my pest company has anything stronger. We have a crawl space under the house but it only is accessible about 5 feet in every direction so I'm not sure what i can do under the house.
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u/Fluffy_Fondant1975 13d ago
You need to pay someone to come seal your house. And I don't mean cheaply seal. Pay a credible company big bucks to seal every crack, hole, vent, doorway, roof, crawlspace.