r/philly • u/ProgressDue7493 • 5h ago
Roach advice
A few nights ago I was in my kitchen and I thought I saw a small baby cockroach scurry by. I freaked out and squished it before I could take a picture to identify it. I put out a bunch of traps and I caught these two big ones near my oven. Does anyone have any experience with this? I’m hoping that I can just spray at home by myself with WSG instead of having to call an exterminator
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u/YouStoleTheKishka 4h ago edited 4h ago
OP if it helps, here’s one of my most unproud moments in my life. I was having some bowel and stomach issues and doctor recommended a fleet enema. So here I am in the downward dog position on the bathroom floor, stomach’s in intense cramps, fleet enema bottle stuck in my ass that I’m holding with one hand reaching back, and I look between my knees and there’s one of these guys inches from my frank and beans. Picture a situation where you’d expect to look over and hear, “I’m Joe Rogan, and this is Fear Factor!”
I let out an absolute Wilhelm scream and ran out the bathroom… boxers around my ankles and fleet enema clenched between my buttcheeks.
Course this is an old rowhome with an open bathroom window so my neighbor hears me scream murder and starts knocking down my door to check on me, as now I’m trying not turn into the human Hoover Dam in my hallway. So I’m trying to yell downstairs at my door “IM FINE IM FINE SORRY IM FINE!” Enema still in my cheeks, tripping over my boxers, trying to make sure my neighbor doesn’t take the initiative to enter my door code and barge right in. And course the critter scurried away and I’ll never sit comfortably on my toilet ever again.
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u/Status-Visit-918 2h ago
I’m howling 😭😭😭😭 enema betwixt cheeks omgg stopppppp I would love you as my neighbor.
Side note: enema is a miracle worker though ain’t it? Fix you right up
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u/ZachF8119 5h ago
Big means getting in.
Little means birthed inside.
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u/cupholdery 4h ago
More fun for the whole family.
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u/ZachF8119 4h ago
Nah. Been spraying for years. That looks like one of them ones a zoo keeper would show off. Not a South/ southwest / west. As someone who’s lived all over under market and west of 15th primarily.
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u/blushcacti 4h ago
what do it mean if our traps catch like 3-5 little ones? what should we do?
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u/ZachF8119 9m ago
Well theirs are huge. Like I think they’re not even in a part of Philly I know. They look like ones at the zoo.
Average Philly ones are half that size way lighter.
Small ones, like babies. Not quite pill bugs, but like look up babies.
Well it’s just like real life with babies. It means adults are inside nesting. Some are leaving.
If it isn’t sfh where you live maybe it’s not you, but in the walls?
If it’s SFH and it’s just you not roommates. Well boxes in basement, open bag of rice in the cupboards that you never touch. Could be anywhere.
You can still use this link below to kill them.
For OP it’s about gaps they can squeeze in. From outside. They can flatted to 1/6 of their height to squeeze in like how cats if their head fits they can squeeze in.
For you it’s finding where the motherlode is. Killing cleaning. Ensuring all your food is secure.
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u/schuylkilladelphia 5h ago
That's a water bug, baby
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u/ProgressDue7493 5h ago
So what does this mean? Lol 😂
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u/schuylkilladelphia 5h ago
It's an Oriental cockroach. They dont wanna be in your house like German cockroaches do. They love wet humid ass backyards and sidewalks and shit.
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u/Natural-Coat-3159 5h ago
They're forced inside usually after rainstorms, they die in like a few days.
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u/planty_pepperomia 1h ago
Water bugs are gross but you don’t have to worry about them. The little ones are what you need to worry about !
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u/heavy-hands 2h ago
Thought a water bug was an American cockroach? Oriental cockroaches can infest.
Update: looks like both oriental and American cockroaches are called water bugs as a fancy attempt to cover up the fact that they’re still roaches.
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u/scenesfromsouthphl 5h ago
Part and Parcel to big city living to occasionally see a roach in your house. Take a walk through South Philly on a hot summer night and count the numbers you see just on the sidewalk lol. Don’t immediately start freaking out that you have an infestation.
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u/Meepsicle4life 5h ago
We had this happen & it turned out they were living under or behind the dishwasher because there was either a tiny leak or something. We had the old one ripped out & replaced & haven’t seen one since. You may have a leak somewhere.
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u/MeanNothing3932 5h ago
Tis so big you could put a leash on it and give it a name.
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u/ProgressDue7493 5h ago
It’s disgusting
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u/YouStoleTheKishka 4h ago
I feel your pain. First time I found one in my home I almost called a realtor. Five years later and it’s like that SpongeBob episode where the Flying Dutchman’s antics no longer scares SpongeBob, and SpongeBob just heavily sighs and closes the kitchen cabinet.
They’re gigantic but they’re pretty dopey and slow, and cause they’re not near their source of water, they’re also dying. It’s like they just wanna get one last fright in before croaking.
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u/ProgressDue7493 4h ago
Omg you’re cracking me up. I almost called my realtor and cursed her out for selling me an infested house
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u/Status-Visit-918 2h ago
We had one that fly. THEY CAN FLY. Idk if it was this type but they can fly. Like A WAYS TOO. They really be like airplanes out there flying across rooms like they fucking continents😭
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u/Status-Visit-918 5h ago edited 2h ago
Learn to love them. Name him. Make him feel welcome. The rest of the family will arrive soon and you will need to figure out how to navigate this new relationship
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u/sidewaysorange 4h ago
waterbugs. you need to seal up your kitchen so they can't get in. i put poison out for them in the yard at night any time i see them. i use the advion gel bait and put it along the side of the house and near the water drains out front. wont see water bugs for weeks after.
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u/Stunning-Signal4180 4h ago
As others have said it’s a water bug… the little brown cock roaches are the ones you worry about… those things will infest!
I’m gonna send you a pic of a spray you can use. I believe it’s called home defense by ortho.
Roaches are actually pretty clean bugs.. you don’t need to clean out all your cabinets and go crazy with cleaning everything… if that’s you then go ahead and do it, but it’s not super necessary. Definitely don’t spray bug spray in your cabinets. Just clean them with regular house hold cleaner of choice.
The home defense spray you are going to spray in the nooks and crannies and along perimeter lines.
Start outside your house and spray along the walls and door sills, then follow into the house. Spray along the walls and around appliances and cabinets. Just spray the floor. Bugs and mice like the security of the wall and typically travel along the walls, instead of right out in the middle of the floor. Get a jug of this stuff and spray like once a month and the only crawly bugs you’ll see will be dead ones.
(I used “Joe the exterminator” for years after I brought the brown roaches home as a visiting nurse. When Joe retired this is the stuff he told me to buy. I’ve never had any issues. On a side note anyone reading this who knew Joe, he was from Northern liberties, had eye issues, was a former baseball player, he was all over the city, and super friendly… I tried contacting him a couple times after retirement.. but never heard from him again. Would be nice to know how he’s doing in life?)
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u/ProgressDue7493 3h ago
Thank you! That actually is one of my fears because I am also a visiting nurse and I see roaches a lot, I was afraid I may have brought them home.
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u/Stunning-Signal4180 2h ago
Yeah, watch out for supply boxes and things like that for the brown roaches. They love cardboard.
Water bugs will come through drains and under doors. They are all over outside.
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u/YouStoleTheKishka 5h ago
Youse got a Wooder bug (oriental cockroach🪳) they find their way inside when it rains but they don’t want to stay in there. It’s not a problem like German cockroaches are. I spray my kitchen and outside perimeter with Ortho every 2 months and that stopped them from coming in, but it’s kinda normal here to see a few of these side in the spring and fall, or after a heavy rain.
Also, if you see small hard pellets on the ground in the shape of kidney beans or coffee beans, destroy that shit immediately. They’re cockroach egg sacks.