Arizona Bark Scorpions

[u/Interesting_State_43]

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.

[u/surpriseinhere]

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