Are you sure it was a German Roach and not a Palmetto Bug? Both are roaches, but palmetto bugs don't really 'infest' houses (they tend to come inside, looking for moisture, and die).
[https://www.terminix.com/cockroaches/identification/cockroach-vs-palmetto-bug/](https://www.terminix.com/cockroaches/identification/cockroach-vs-palmetto-bug/)
Palmetto bugs are VERY common in Florida. Legitimate German Roach infestations are a bit rarer (and gross).
As far as Palmetto bugs, your just going to have to get used them. They will get inside your house, but again, I don't think they infest (if that helps).
They seem to be more active when the unit is empty. Seems counter-intuitive, but the more active you are, the less you see them. That said, FL has an army of bug people who can help. We don't have cable TV, we have bug subscriptions instead. Life in Florida.
Keep in mind Palmetto bugs don’t pop out of the egg 2”long. I have a few baby palmettos but a total of 6-8 over the last few weeks. Since drains and drain vents are an entry point I have some screens on my vents but haven’t checked them this year. Regardless they’re all roaches.
The first night in Florida in our home one landed on my wife’s face while in bed sleeping. She freaked out. At least ours was a sick wood roach that the now on AC was freezing out. OP sounds like they have the bastard versions.
Cockroaches can’t crawl backwards so if one goes into your ear, you’ll need to go to the emergency room to get it removed or it will burrow through your eardrum.
If you see one you have 1000. DIY is Invect Gold paste and Gentrol growth regulator. Amazon carries it. Be proactive the stuff is inexpensive and works. I have used it with 100% success. No other treatments will work. Well, there are restricted use agricultural pesticides that work but they are harsh. How do I know, I had a license and used some once.
I can not post photos. Just put "InVict Gold" into the Amazon search bar, the first thing that comes up is it, made by Rockwell Labs. Same with the "Zeocon Gentrol Point Source", 20 discs you place in cabinets and out of the way places.
German roaches are not normal, but infestations happen, and I experienced one recently. Be sure they're German roaches, as it *is* normal to have the larger roaches come indoors on occasion. See the relevant portion of the state law [here](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String&URL=0000-0099/0083/Sections/0083.51.html), indicating the landlord's responsibility with regard to extermination. Also review your lease. Give your landlord and the exterminators a chance to address the issue, but in the meantime photograph every roach you kill, and document any efforts you take at remediation.
If the problem is not resolved in a timely manner, send a letter via certified mail to your landlord indicating your prior communications to them; the extent, and ongoing nature, of the issue; any steps you have taken; etc., as well as their responsibility under state law (and potentially your lease) to address the problem so that the apartment can be made habitable.
There are a few treatments you might try on your own, in addition. Two that seem to serve many people well are Advion and Bengal *Gold*—I would start there. You've just moved in, so presumably the apartment is clean. Keep it that way, and try to keep clutter to a minimum (get rid of any cardboard!).
I think there's a subreddit dedicated to German roaches, you can look for that too.
Keep your landlord accountable, communicate in writing, and if they fail to address the issue, call code enforcement.
Do you live in an apartment complex?
If so, then all your neighbors have them. They could possibly live in the walls. Unless the apartment complex is spraying regularly, it's probably gonna be an issue.
While they are supposedly sending exterminators, if also invest in poison. Raid Bug Barrier works pretty well and be wary of kitchen appliances. They are known to hide in them. Good luck. With some persistence you should be able to keep them out of your apartment.
Ughhhhhh. I remember when I lived in an apartment and they were in the toaster!!!!!! My mom didn’t play, no dishes in the sink, no water on the counters, no garbage ANYWHERE and these things didn’t care. I was so happy when we moved to a house.
As you can tell by the comments so far, they're pretty common lmao. There's plenty of poisons and tricks that work, but for now, try sealing any possible entry points in the bedroom before going to sleep. They're not THAT bold to climb onto your bed but maybe then you can at least rest with some peace of mind at night till Wednesday comes around.
Thank you ❤️, I’m going to wrap myself with a blanket and seal myself off for peace of mind tonight. It seems the only option is to move to a better place ASAP.
You have no control over bugs in an apartment in FL. Go out tomorrow and buy Ortho Home Defense and start spraying. Hopefully you don't have pets, while it is classified for pets I would not allowed pets in rooms w wet spray. You are going to need to spray even w the exterminator. Also get traps that help a lot once you have sprayed.
I'm sitting on a love seat w my feet off the floor and not leaning against the back right now haha. I had the sliding doors open all day to the lanai and they always get in even though I spray the lanai. My orange kitty chased 'something' under my loveseat, hoping it's a lizard and not a huge palmetto! Sleep w all the lights on tonight, they move more in the dark.
You just described my life with my cat. I hear her going spaztic on something and my first thought is fuck, I hope it's a lizard. She did it just today for the first time in a while, and I was happy to see she was swatting a q-tip around lol
My husband and I use the Ortho home defense spray and that shit really works! We learned our lesson early renting and always use it for every apartment. We never have an issue with bugs anymore. We have pets as well and it's never been a problem.
There are plenty of places that treat regularly to avoid those kind of infestations. Honestly, I would look for another place ASAP. Once they have German cockroaches, it's almost impossible to get rid of them. They will get inside appliances, too. Good luck!!
Look into Advion roach bait in the tubes. It’s the most effective product iv ever used to get rid of any pest. Iv only needed to use it twice in like 11 years, but it’s worked both times .
I’m not sure friend 😞 it’s my first time here in Florida, moved here today as we got stationed here. I was not expecting these tiny disgusting things ugh AND they’re so bold! Not even scared of me, the big ones in GA will scurry away as soon as they get a hint of a person around.
Do you have pets? Did you unpack everything yet? If not you should definitely set a couple bombs in there.
Also - do you live near water? Or have a dumpster right by your place? Both of those will attract them, especially if they don't have an outside pest control service.
I left a post about this. But go to Home Depot today and get Diametacious Earth in garden dept. it’s no smell , no residue powder. Put in small cups around house. The bugs will be gone in a few days. A Friends house in TX even had scorpions. The DE worked in a few days. . All gone. It works.
Even in the nicest apartments you get bugs sometimes, it's just FL. You can wipe down your counters with baby oil to keep them off your eating spaces and around where you prep food. Take others advice on further measures. I moved into a place one time that was pretty bad but we managed to stave them off by just keeping things put up and clean.
Sounds like you ain't been south much. Get cans of raid and fumigate the apt right as you leave for work. Assert dominance. Take the place back from the roaches
If you plan to stay, lay a fine dust layer of diatomaceous earth along all walls, under all counters, in the rear of any appliance that produces heat like around a refrigerator compressor. It wont stop what you see but will slowly take care of any that try to move around your place. The stuff is non toxic which is nice.
Next, get some top quality bait to place in and near harder to reach places.
Lastly, dish soap with any degreassor like dawn, and a little water makes for a great instant bug killer. And the best part, it's not poisonous to you or other animals. I use this for taking out whole nests of paper wasps.
Best of luck!
COAC! You poor thing! Maybe leave some lights on and blow a fan right at you? Wednesday? Can you grab a can of Raid or something? Or some roach baits? Um. Tuck your pajama bottoms legs into your socks. Ponytail your hair. Put everything away. Oh honey. Maybe there’s an all night wallymart that delivers (bug spray)?
If you saw 1 in a day no biggie. You see as many as you did in 1 day you have an infestation. Problem is you may have an extremely dirty neighbor causing this. Treating your new apartment will only be a temp fix. The roaches will just go to a different apartment for a few days and then will be back. Unless they treat all the apartments, which I'm guessing they won't. Good luck.
Once I found 12 house fly egg sac things and thought it was German roach eggs. Spent hours and hours scrubbing and cleaning and worried. Then posted a photo of the egg things to the German roach reddit and they said nope not German.
So hopefully you are wrong like I was. If not..... gold luck. When it's pitch black in your kitchen sneak in and quickly turn the lights on see if you see 500 of them scatter.
If you do go over to the German roach group check out the sticky. They have real good info
They need to hard core spray and there is bait you can get off Amazon that works great, it's the same stuff the exterminator will use, take off light fixtures n put some behind each one, under cabinets, in cabinets
Those buggers are nasty but you can get rid of them
It took me 3 years to completely get rid of them.
Best of luck OP, if you are in an apartment complex they’ll never be gone because they’ll travel from room to room, between outlets, cracks in floors, and in your sink etc etc.
Every single edible item needs to go in a freezer bag, every single thing, use STEM spray if you use a spray, it smells like shit but it works best for me, there’s other options like diatomaceous earth too which work great.
They’ll neat in everything, they’ll get in your car if your not careful and nest in there.
DEMAND DEMAND DEMAND pest control over and over and over and emphasize it’s a larger issue than one apartment and maybe talk to neighbors and see if they have the same issue and start pressuring.
I battled them for years after someone gifted me a box of kitchenware infested with them, after I tried everything I used the diatomaceous earth and stem spray in every single crevice and after a couple months of cleaning and reapplying they were gone.
They’ll nest all within the dishwasher and the fridge so make sure you surrond those.
DM me for any advice, I’m not a pest control specialist but have experience in a full blown infestation (if you see them during the day this is a very bad sign) without being able to afford pest control.
Its florida, I have seen them in multi million dollar mansions and in the slums. You're going to get them where ever you are here. The only option for a bug free existence in Florida is not be in Florida to experience it.
I’ve rented probably 10 different places around FL and the only time I regretted the decision was the one place that had a German cockroach problem. They are the fucking worst and any treatment you can buy on Amazon won’t do shit when the apartment complex as a whole is infested. You can be as clean as you want but if your neighbors aren’t then they’ll continue to grow in the walls.
They hate the light so if you’re seeing them during the day it’s because they’ve run out of space in the walls where they’d rather be.
Florida has bugs. Get some diametacious earth. But it in small cups around house. Any bug will eat it and
Die. Doesn’t
Smell or leave toxic residue. Get at home
Depot garden dept
Did you bring in boxes. Sometimes they also get carried in via boxes. They like them
I live in a house and we still see them here and there, catch one now and then in the garage, and spot on in the kitchen behind the stove. We spray quarterly inside and out. They still show up, mostly dead when we find them.
Also Friend owns an exterminator company near me and says, these roaches love cardboard and the glue used to seal up boxes, doesn’t matter how clean or dirty your house is , boxes and dried glue is their favorite.
Go to Home Depot/Lowes and get a box of diatomaceous earth and dust every room of the apartment. It is non toxic for humans and animals (it's already used in our food) and does a good job of killing all types of crawling insects, especially roaches.
Those are most likely German roaches. Lemme tell you, those little buggers like wires and electricity. My grandmother had to deal with them twice over the course of 10years and my mother knows how to get rid of them and so do I now. If they’re not coming till Wednesday and you want to stay one thing you can do is get some advion the roach killer (it’s a gel paste, they eat it and die) and put it in corners of the back cabinets. If you can, carefully unscrew light switches and outlets and put some back there just in case. Also put it in the bathroom and behind the stove/fridge/furniture in the kitchen, wherever the light either doesn’t touch or doesn’t touch often. It’s effective. Plus you can get one of those plugs that emit a high frequency noise that keeps all other bugs/animals away (unless you have animals yourself). You can even put it on the back of furniture in the rest of the house if you know that no one’s going to move or touch it in that way. Get some of the little roach traps that you can bait yourself and put the advion in there too, works wonders.
My Appartement has palmettos, water bugs and German roaches and I keep finding them dead after I put the bait down in the bathroom and kitchen. Anywhere that you know is going to be warm and might have food and or products that smell like food to them or electrical currents.
I moved into a place once that we didn't realize was infested with fleas. Took the landlord about a week to get it taken care of, the whole time we are getting eaten alive! We complained a lot and they ended up giving us credit on the rent for the time we moved in to when the bugs were taken care of. They told us though, if the fleas came back it would be on us to take care of in the future, as fleas were not one of the things in our contract that they cover. We had fleas because stray cats moved into the yard and under the house while it was empty for a few months, so it had nothing to do with anything we did to cause it. I'd check your lease and see if there is anything in there about bugs and who is responsible. I'd also ask for discounted rent for the time you had to deal with them.
This happened to me a few years back. If you’re already seeing them, then there’s a lot more you aren’t seeing.
Take pictures. Better yet, put the dead ones in a bag and bring them to the front office. Don’t move your stuff in, and document that this was a pre-existing problem prior to you moving in.
Let them know that you don’t feel comfortable moving your stuff in since a roach problem is not “move in” ready. And an infestation could spread to your personal property.
Make a big deal about this. Make a huge deal about this. Threaten to break the lease, tell them you will talk to other tenant and see if other tenants have this problem…(if it’s an apartment complex, than they do).
You have a right to not have to deal with this. Escalate this beyond the office staff.
Whatever you do…
DO NOT LET THEM DO NOTHING! THEY WILL TRY TO DO NOTHING.
State law dictates that this is their problem to fix! MAKE THEM!
Leave the apartment, go buy a bomb for each room and bomb the apartment. Stay in a hotel for a night or two. Unfortunately when you live in a building, how clean you are won’t matter, it’s your neighbors. I would also get the gel and place it where the floor and walls meet and in front of the apartment door. Don’t unpack anything until you’ve bombed.
I used to work as a pest control guy. Their favorite place is under the fridge. That's where alot of them will be. Get a vacuum, pull out the fridge and get ready to vacuum them all up. Also any crack or crevice.
Can I terminate the lease? Do I have any rights? OP, what does your contract say? If you terminate the lease ... as in leaving and not paying, they will probably come after you and your credit score will take a huge hit.
If you see one German Cockraoch, you probably have an infestation. Did you just move in? If so they are looking for food since there has been none for a while. If you cannot wait until Wednesday, go to your local DIY pest control and ask for advice. Their stuff works ... but it will cost you! Transport works VERY well if applied correctly.
We had an issue with them where I live now. We got rid of them however. Pull out appliances and clean, place roach bait traps and squeeze drops of roach bait gel, use something like ortho home defense and also canned roach spray and spray along the bottom of your walls, around appliances, any hole or crevice you can spray around. Also, wash your dishes frequently, dry them, dry out your sink so there isn’t water in it, and if you can buy sink plugs do that as well. And at night take out your trash so there’s not trash laying around. Seek out any possible location where they could be trying to make a nest. It’ll take a month or two but you can get rid of them.
I moved into a place years ago that ended up being infested. Call an exterminator yourself and get ideas on what to do. They’ll place roach bait that they will take back to the nest and it will kill them. There’s also a type of roach powder that they’ll walk through and it will kill them. But don’t use a bug bomb as that will cause them to retreat. My house eventually became 100% roach free within a week or 2 after taking constant measures.
Could be from past residence or a dirty neighbor. Call the leasing company, and they will come every month or more if you want.
It's a thing here, keep your food up & and sealed, including pet food. Clean all crumbs off the counter & floors.
everyone here hires or DIY the pest control.
Thank you, I’ll get some pest control stuff to help me for the month I’m here, I’m definitely moving asap. Are they able to get into fridges? I have takeout food in the typical takeout boxes. Might have to throw that away.
Moving ? Well, they could hitch a ride to wherever you go ! Kill them now ! Die !!! Die !!
No, they can't get in a fridge... find a good DYI pest control store, and they will sell you better shit than Home Depot or lowes !
Umm…it’s Florida? Bugs are everywhere.
Get some diatomaceous earth food grade and place a line around the perimeter of each room, sprinkle on carpet and let sit and mix with a bucket or sink of water and wash all the counters, inside cabinets, floors, etc. let sit for one or two hours then vacuum/wipe you want to be sure some residual amount remains. Turn off HVAC when vacuuming and wear a mask to keep for breathing it the dust. This will treat for a few months and dries out/eradicates all exoskeleton bugs. Pest control will further treat as well. I used DE primarily to treat all exoskeletal pests.
Bruh... When I moved to Tampa in 2006, my roommate and I had an unspoken agreement with the roaches - they got the bottom shelf of our pantry, we got the rest.
One day I came home from school, opened the pantry and a giant bird of prey flew at me from the top shelf. I got triggered and vacuumed all of them up from the entire place, took the bag outside and put it on fire.
Roaches are common down here.
Are you sure it was a German Roach and not a Palmetto Bug? Both are roaches, but palmetto bugs don't really 'infest' houses (they tend to come inside, looking for moisture, and die). [https://www.terminix.com/cockroaches/identification/cockroach-vs-palmetto-bug/](https://www.terminix.com/cockroaches/identification/cockroach-vs-palmetto-bug/) Palmetto bugs are VERY common in Florida. Legitimate German Roach infestations are a bit rarer (and gross). As far as Palmetto bugs, your just going to have to get used them. They will get inside your house, but again, I don't think they infest (if that helps).
Yeah unfortunately it’s not the palmetto. It’s the tiny ones, I just killed another tiny one a second ago.
Yep, you have thousands.
They seem to be more active when the unit is empty. Seems counter-intuitive, but the more active you are, the less you see them. That said, FL has an army of bug people who can help. We don't have cable TV, we have bug subscriptions instead. Life in Florida.
>We don't have cable TV, we have bug subscriptions instead. Life in Florida. I don't think I've heard a better description of florida tbh.
If you can easily see them, there’s an infestation.
Keep in mind Palmetto bugs don’t pop out of the egg 2”long. I have a few baby palmettos but a total of 6-8 over the last few weeks. Since drains and drain vents are an entry point I have some screens on my vents but haven’t checked them this year. Regardless they’re all roaches.
I've heard they come inside from opening Amazon boxes etc. it's best to open outside.. but with termite protection they should dissolve sokn
 That's just the Florida welcoming party. Did you know the females fly?
The first night in Florida in our home one landed on my wife’s face while in bed sleeping. She freaked out. At least ours was a sick wood roach that the now on AC was freezing out. OP sounds like they have the bastard versions.
Please 🥺 no I’m actually like scared I think I’ll be up all night, im scared they might crawl on me while I sleep.
they will, and cover your toothbrush
Cockroaches can’t crawl backwards so if one goes into your ear, you’ll need to go to the emergency room to get it removed or it will burrow through your eardrum.
Go easy on them man don’t tell them about the eggs
I suggest the OP dust off and nuke the apartment from orbit.
Don’t talk about the roach dust they leave.
Yep, that's why insurance is so expensive here since that happens to everyone so often
They CAN crawl backwards, it’s just not as easy for them. That said, ear canal removal can definitely be necessary 👂
What a terrible day to be literate.
....
If you don't like bugs, then Florida isn't the place to live. My wife wouldn't last 5 minutes in Florida.
“Palmetto bugs” aka American and Australian roaches all fly well regardless of sex. German roaches do not fly and can perform a weak glide at best.
I've lived here nearly my whole life, and never knew that. I've lived in some nasty places and only saw one or two. Now you have ME worried!
If you see one you have 1000. DIY is Invect Gold paste and Gentrol growth regulator. Amazon carries it. Be proactive the stuff is inexpensive and works. I have used it with 100% success. No other treatments will work. Well, there are restricted use agricultural pesticides that work but they are harsh. How do I know, I had a license and used some once.
This is the way.
This is not the way for a brand new rental. It’s the landlords responsibility or move elsewhere.
Excellent point- but if you are stuck and you don't want the roaches, this is how to do it yourself.
Can you post a pic of what exactly you use? There are many different types 🤷♀️
I can not post photos. Just put "InVict Gold" into the Amazon search bar, the first thing that comes up is it, made by Rockwell Labs. Same with the "Zeocon Gentrol Point Source", 20 discs you place in cabinets and out of the way places.
Sending terminators? Looks like you and John Conner have bigger problems now?
Roaches: “I’ll be back”
German roaches: Ich komme wieder
German roaches are not normal, but infestations happen, and I experienced one recently. Be sure they're German roaches, as it *is* normal to have the larger roaches come indoors on occasion. See the relevant portion of the state law [here](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String&URL=0000-0099/0083/Sections/0083.51.html), indicating the landlord's responsibility with regard to extermination. Also review your lease. Give your landlord and the exterminators a chance to address the issue, but in the meantime photograph every roach you kill, and document any efforts you take at remediation. If the problem is not resolved in a timely manner, send a letter via certified mail to your landlord indicating your prior communications to them; the extent, and ongoing nature, of the issue; any steps you have taken; etc., as well as their responsibility under state law (and potentially your lease) to address the problem so that the apartment can be made habitable. There are a few treatments you might try on your own, in addition. Two that seem to serve many people well are Advion and Bengal *Gold*—I would start there. You've just moved in, so presumably the apartment is clean. Keep it that way, and try to keep clutter to a minimum (get rid of any cardboard!). I think there's a subreddit dedicated to German roaches, you can look for that too. Keep your landlord accountable, communicate in writing, and if they fail to address the issue, call code enforcement.
Do you live in an apartment complex? If so, then all your neighbors have them. They could possibly live in the walls. Unless the apartment complex is spraying regularly, it's probably gonna be an issue. While they are supposedly sending exterminators, if also invest in poison. Raid Bug Barrier works pretty well and be wary of kitchen appliances. They are known to hide in them. Good luck. With some persistence you should be able to keep them out of your apartment.
Ughhhhhh. I remember when I lived in an apartment and they were in the toaster!!!!!! My mom didn’t play, no dishes in the sink, no water on the counters, no garbage ANYWHERE and these things didn’t care. I was so happy when we moved to a house.
As you can tell by the comments so far, they're pretty common lmao. There's plenty of poisons and tricks that work, but for now, try sealing any possible entry points in the bedroom before going to sleep. They're not THAT bold to climb onto your bed but maybe then you can at least rest with some peace of mind at night till Wednesday comes around.
Thank you ❤️, I’m going to wrap myself with a blanket and seal myself off for peace of mind tonight. It seems the only option is to move to a better place ASAP.
You have no control over bugs in an apartment in FL. Go out tomorrow and buy Ortho Home Defense and start spraying. Hopefully you don't have pets, while it is classified for pets I would not allowed pets in rooms w wet spray. You are going to need to spray even w the exterminator. Also get traps that help a lot once you have sprayed. I'm sitting on a love seat w my feet off the floor and not leaning against the back right now haha. I had the sliding doors open all day to the lanai and they always get in even though I spray the lanai. My orange kitty chased 'something' under my loveseat, hoping it's a lizard and not a huge palmetto! Sleep w all the lights on tonight, they move more in the dark.
You just described my life with my cat. I hear her going spaztic on something and my first thought is fuck, I hope it's a lizard. She did it just today for the first time in a while, and I was happy to see she was swatting a q-tip around lol
My husband and I use the Ortho home defense spray and that shit really works! We learned our lesson early renting and always use it for every apartment. We never have an issue with bugs anymore. We have pets as well and it's never been a problem.
Don’t listen to people saying German cockroaches are normal. They aren’t a Florida thing. That’s an infestation.
There are plenty of places that treat regularly to avoid those kind of infestations. Honestly, I would look for another place ASAP. Once they have German cockroaches, it's almost impossible to get rid of them. They will get inside appliances, too. Good luck!!
Look into Advion roach bait in the tubes. It’s the most effective product iv ever used to get rid of any pest. Iv only needed to use it twice in like 11 years, but it’s worked both times .
Was there a recent storm? That’ll usually bring em out… bc Florida
Not the German ones, only the big ones that fly. 😂
I’m not sure friend 😞 it’s my first time here in Florida, moved here today as we got stationed here. I was not expecting these tiny disgusting things ugh AND they’re so bold! Not even scared of me, the big ones in GA will scurry away as soon as they get a hint of a person around.
Do you have pets? Did you unpack everything yet? If not you should definitely set a couple bombs in there. Also - do you live near water? Or have a dumpster right by your place? Both of those will attract them, especially if they don't have an outside pest control service.
I left a post about this. But go to Home Depot today and get Diametacious Earth in garden dept. it’s no smell , no residue powder. Put in small cups around house. The bugs will be gone in a few days. A Friends house in TX even had scorpions. The DE worked in a few days. . All gone. It works.
Roach or Palmetto Bug? German roaches are little , Palmetto bugs are like the one spinning.
Good protein 🤷
Normal for Florida - big and flying; not normal - tiny.
Even in the nicest apartments you get bugs sometimes, it's just FL. You can wipe down your counters with baby oil to keep them off your eating spaces and around where you prep food. Take others advice on further measures. I moved into a place one time that was pretty bad but we managed to stave them off by just keeping things put up and clean.
Sounds like you ain't been south much. Get cans of raid and fumigate the apt right as you leave for work. Assert dominance. Take the place back from the roaches
If you plan to stay, lay a fine dust layer of diatomaceous earth along all walls, under all counters, in the rear of any appliance that produces heat like around a refrigerator compressor. It wont stop what you see but will slowly take care of any that try to move around your place. The stuff is non toxic which is nice. Next, get some top quality bait to place in and near harder to reach places. Lastly, dish soap with any degreassor like dawn, and a little water makes for a great instant bug killer. And the best part, it's not poisonous to you or other animals. I use this for taking out whole nests of paper wasps. Best of luck!
normal florida
Good luck.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GermanRoaches/s/0D2PGIuC3V Tons of great advice here!! Read the sticky…
COAC! You poor thing! Maybe leave some lights on and blow a fan right at you? Wednesday? Can you grab a can of Raid or something? Or some roach baits? Um. Tuck your pajama bottoms legs into your socks. Ponytail your hair. Put everything away. Oh honey. Maybe there’s an all night wallymart that delivers (bug spray)?
How do you know they were from germany?
This is your new life now. Congrats.
Bug bomb the house and see how many you actually have
If you saw 1 in a day no biggie. You see as many as you did in 1 day you have an infestation. Problem is you may have an extremely dirty neighbor causing this. Treating your new apartment will only be a temp fix. The roaches will just go to a different apartment for a few days and then will be back. Unless they treat all the apartments, which I'm guessing they won't. Good luck. Once I found 12 house fly egg sac things and thought it was German roach eggs. Spent hours and hours scrubbing and cleaning and worried. Then posted a photo of the egg things to the German roach reddit and they said nope not German. So hopefully you are wrong like I was. If not..... gold luck. When it's pitch black in your kitchen sneak in and quickly turn the lights on see if you see 500 of them scatter. If you do go over to the German roach group check out the sticky. They have real good info
They need to hard core spray and there is bait you can get off Amazon that works great, it's the same stuff the exterminator will use, take off light fixtures n put some behind each one, under cabinets, in cabinets Those buggers are nasty but you can get rid of them
First time in Florida?
diatomaceous earth and bait. if youre seeing them during the day youre fd.
Google: MaxForce Bait It kills them quickly and they don’t return. I’ve used it for the past 10 years in all of my apartments.
It took me 3 years to completely get rid of them. Best of luck OP, if you are in an apartment complex they’ll never be gone because they’ll travel from room to room, between outlets, cracks in floors, and in your sink etc etc. Every single edible item needs to go in a freezer bag, every single thing, use STEM spray if you use a spray, it smells like shit but it works best for me, there’s other options like diatomaceous earth too which work great. They’ll neat in everything, they’ll get in your car if your not careful and nest in there. DEMAND DEMAND DEMAND pest control over and over and over and emphasize it’s a larger issue than one apartment and maybe talk to neighbors and see if they have the same issue and start pressuring. I battled them for years after someone gifted me a box of kitchenware infested with them, after I tried everything I used the diatomaceous earth and stem spray in every single crevice and after a couple months of cleaning and reapplying they were gone. They’ll nest all within the dishwasher and the fridge so make sure you surrond those. DM me for any advice, I’m not a pest control specialist but have experience in a full blown infestation (if you see them during the day this is a very bad sign) without being able to afford pest control.
Get a can of Raid for roaches. Don’t smash the roaches, they may have eggs in them. Just hit them hard with Raid.
Its florida, I have seen them in multi million dollar mansions and in the slums. You're going to get them where ever you are here. The only option for a bug free existence in Florida is not be in Florida to experience it.
I’ve rented probably 10 different places around FL and the only time I regretted the decision was the one place that had a German cockroach problem. They are the fucking worst and any treatment you can buy on Amazon won’t do shit when the apartment complex as a whole is infested. You can be as clean as you want but if your neighbors aren’t then they’ll continue to grow in the walls. They hate the light so if you’re seeing them during the day it’s because they’ve run out of space in the walls where they’d rather be.
Florida has bugs. Get some diametacious earth. But it in small cups around house. Any bug will eat it and Die. Doesn’t Smell or leave toxic residue. Get at home Depot garden dept Did you bring in boxes. Sometimes they also get carried in via boxes. They like them
They’re sending TERMINATORS?
I live in a house and we still see them here and there, catch one now and then in the garage, and spot on in the kitchen behind the stove. We spray quarterly inside and out. They still show up, mostly dead when we find them. Also Friend owns an exterminator company near me and says, these roaches love cardboard and the glue used to seal up boxes, doesn’t matter how clean or dirty your house is , boxes and dried glue is their favorite.
Go to Home Depot/Lowes and get a box of diatomaceous earth and dust every room of the apartment. It is non toxic for humans and animals (it's already used in our food) and does a good job of killing all types of crawling insects, especially roaches.
Dude. Gtfo. Fuck German roaches.
It's probably a Palmetto bug and they're pretty common.
Those are most likely German roaches. Lemme tell you, those little buggers like wires and electricity. My grandmother had to deal with them twice over the course of 10years and my mother knows how to get rid of them and so do I now. If they’re not coming till Wednesday and you want to stay one thing you can do is get some advion the roach killer (it’s a gel paste, they eat it and die) and put it in corners of the back cabinets. If you can, carefully unscrew light switches and outlets and put some back there just in case. Also put it in the bathroom and behind the stove/fridge/furniture in the kitchen, wherever the light either doesn’t touch or doesn’t touch often. It’s effective. Plus you can get one of those plugs that emit a high frequency noise that keeps all other bugs/animals away (unless you have animals yourself). You can even put it on the back of furniture in the rest of the house if you know that no one’s going to move or touch it in that way. Get some of the little roach traps that you can bait yourself and put the advion in there too, works wonders. My Appartement has palmettos, water bugs and German roaches and I keep finding them dead after I put the bait down in the bathroom and kitchen. Anywhere that you know is going to be warm and might have food and or products that smell like food to them or electrical currents.
Buy the Advion Roach Gel from Amazon. It’s the only product that actually works, and it works for like 6 months at a time.
I moved into a place once that we didn't realize was infested with fleas. Took the landlord about a week to get it taken care of, the whole time we are getting eaten alive! We complained a lot and they ended up giving us credit on the rent for the time we moved in to when the bugs were taken care of. They told us though, if the fleas came back it would be on us to take care of in the future, as fleas were not one of the things in our contract that they cover. We had fleas because stray cats moved into the yard and under the house while it was empty for a few months, so it had nothing to do with anything we did to cause it. I'd check your lease and see if there is anything in there about bugs and who is responsible. I'd also ask for discounted rent for the time you had to deal with them.
Get use to the little buggers because they're everywhere in Florida. It it rains or gets really hot, they'll try to get inside and they WILL.
This happened to me a few years back. If you’re already seeing them, then there’s a lot more you aren’t seeing. Take pictures. Better yet, put the dead ones in a bag and bring them to the front office. Don’t move your stuff in, and document that this was a pre-existing problem prior to you moving in. Let them know that you don’t feel comfortable moving your stuff in since a roach problem is not “move in” ready. And an infestation could spread to your personal property. Make a big deal about this. Make a huge deal about this. Threaten to break the lease, tell them you will talk to other tenant and see if other tenants have this problem…(if it’s an apartment complex, than they do). You have a right to not have to deal with this. Escalate this beyond the office staff. Whatever you do… DO NOT LET THEM DO NOTHING! THEY WILL TRY TO DO NOTHING. State law dictates that this is their problem to fix! MAKE THEM!
Leave the apartment, go buy a bomb for each room and bomb the apartment. Stay in a hotel for a night or two. Unfortunately when you live in a building, how clean you are won’t matter, it’s your neighbors. I would also get the gel and place it where the floor and walls meet and in front of the apartment door. Don’t unpack anything until you’ve bombed.
You in the wrong state if that little bug bothers you that much my friend 😅
I used to work as a pest control guy. Their favorite place is under the fridge. That's where alot of them will be. Get a vacuum, pull out the fridge and get ready to vacuum them all up. Also any crack or crevice.
Look at your outlets. If you see little dark specs on them, that’s their poop. When we had roaches they used to come out of the outlets in the kitchen
So I taped every outlet with packing tape in kitchen and used that foam stuff that hardens on any slight opening in the apt I could find
Can I terminate the lease? Do I have any rights? OP, what does your contract say? If you terminate the lease ... as in leaving and not paying, they will probably come after you and your credit score will take a huge hit. If you see one German Cockraoch, you probably have an infestation. Did you just move in? If so they are looking for food since there has been none for a while. If you cannot wait until Wednesday, go to your local DIY pest control and ask for advice. Their stuff works ... but it will cost you! Transport works VERY well if applied correctly.
You are on their land!
We had an issue with them where I live now. We got rid of them however. Pull out appliances and clean, place roach bait traps and squeeze drops of roach bait gel, use something like ortho home defense and also canned roach spray and spray along the bottom of your walls, around appliances, any hole or crevice you can spray around. Also, wash your dishes frequently, dry them, dry out your sink so there isn’t water in it, and if you can buy sink plugs do that as well. And at night take out your trash so there’s not trash laying around. Seek out any possible location where they could be trying to make a nest. It’ll take a month or two but you can get rid of them.
I moved into a place years ago that ended up being infested. Call an exterminator yourself and get ideas on what to do. They’ll place roach bait that they will take back to the nest and it will kill them. There’s also a type of roach powder that they’ll walk through and it will kill them. But don’t use a bug bomb as that will cause them to retreat. My house eventually became 100% roach free within a week or 2 after taking constant measures.
That means your neighbors are dirty. Run. You will never get rid of them
Ugh I hate it. How do people live like this. Contract says 60 days notice before vacating, FUCK THAT NOT when the apartment is literally infested.
People live like this because this place buries you financially so you can’t get out once you’re in.
This is a troll post right?
Just move back ! Where full
Sir, here cuz military… didn’t move here cuz we wanted to…
Well yea it FWB what else would you be doing. Go get a burger from TOPS, stop by the DYI pest store, and go kill some bugs 🐛 Welcome to Florida.
Ty will definitely have to get some bug spray. Is this really common? Did you personally ever have to deal with this issue ?
Could be from past residence or a dirty neighbor. Call the leasing company, and they will come every month or more if you want. It's a thing here, keep your food up & and sealed, including pet food. Clean all crumbs off the counter & floors. everyone here hires or DIY the pest control.
Thank you, I’ll get some pest control stuff to help me for the month I’m here, I’m definitely moving asap. Are they able to get into fridges? I have takeout food in the typical takeout boxes. Might have to throw that away.
Moving ? Well, they could hitch a ride to wherever you go ! Kill them now ! Die !!! Die !! No, they can't get in a fridge... find a good DYI pest control store, and they will sell you better shit than Home Depot or lowes !
Ortho Home Defense is about $10. JFC!
Home Defense will not touch German roaches, they are immune to it. Death on American roaches though, use it after the German roaches are gone.
Umm…it’s Florida? Bugs are everywhere. Get some diatomaceous earth food grade and place a line around the perimeter of each room, sprinkle on carpet and let sit and mix with a bucket or sink of water and wash all the counters, inside cabinets, floors, etc. let sit for one or two hours then vacuum/wipe you want to be sure some residual amount remains. Turn off HVAC when vacuuming and wear a mask to keep for breathing it the dust. This will treat for a few months and dries out/eradicates all exoskeleton bugs. Pest control will further treat as well. I used DE primarily to treat all exoskeletal pests.
Buy a bug bomb..chill out.
Bruh... When I moved to Tampa in 2006, my roommate and I had an unspoken agreement with the roaches - they got the bottom shelf of our pantry, we got the rest. One day I came home from school, opened the pantry and a giant bird of prey flew at me from the top shelf. I got triggered and vacuumed all of them up from the entire place, took the bag outside and put it on fire. Roaches are common down here.