I worked in pest control for about 5 years, and I figured someone here might need some advice on how to deal with bugs and mice. So if you've ever wanted to know, now's your chance.
My biggest recommendation, right from the start: Never pay for pest control. You can do a better, more ethical job than any business ever will.
I want to edit to say, my inbox is always open for questions too.
Any tips for these? My apartment is old as hell and the windows don't seal well and they just climb right in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_marmorated_stink_bug
Ok, so stink bugs are hard. The best way to deal with them is to prevent them from entering the structure. But that's not really an option. So honestly, a shop vac. Just suck them up when you see them.
They are too hardy for pesticides to really do much. And do not reproduce inside so they are only there because it's warm. Typically, they will go back outside once it warms up, and will stop being a problem until it gets cold again.
Cool. They're not too much of a bother since they're big and slow... and they don't seem interested in getting into food and stuff like that at least which is nice.
Yeah they really are just big dorks looking for the warmth. They don't reproduce inside, and they eat vegetation. Just do not squish them if you can avoid it.
I was going to ask if I had to be worried about them laying eggs indoors but it grossed me out thinking about it. Thanks lol very good to know.
I knew stink bugs would come up. Hold on, I'm typing, I'll edit this in a sec.
Oooof yeah that's sucks. But that pest guy gave you the best advice anyone could have. I've given that advice a few times and it absolutely sucks for everyone. There is no realistic way to control them in an apartment building without doing the entire structure. And no landlord would ever fork that much cash over.
The worst thing I ever dealt with was bird mites though. That was a nightmare. I was legitimately concerned for the safety of their pets because they saw what I was using, bought their own, and were spraying alarming amounts of pesticides. We dropped them when I found that out, but it still didn't kill the bugs.
I saw a pest control listing on Craigslist. What are the reqs to get a job like that? What was your work and schedule like? And what about any health issues?
Also...bed bugs???
What the work day is like will depend on the company more than anything. For me, I worked at a small business and set my own schedule. You're going to go and poke around in nasty places. Dusty dirty buggy places.
Also, there is a license that you will have to acquire from whatever state you want to work in. It doesn't require any type of school or classes. Just study and take the test. You're employer will usually cover this cost.
Also, how ethical each company will determine how you approach each job. Some places want you to spray everything, fuck the consequences. Where I worked, I had a lot of control how I handled each situation.
There isn't much danger from the chemicals as long as you're safe and follow the ppe. Most of them have been used for decades and studied to death without much to speak of. I do occasionally worry about it, but honestly every job I've ever had had exposed me to some kind of potentially life alternating danger.
Are you asking how to deal with bed bugs? Or if I was worried about them? Lol
Are you asking how to deal with bed bugs? Or if I was worried about them?
Both
Dealing with them is exactly like dealing with cockroachs, except you also have to steam clean and wash literally everything in the house. But, I never brought them home with while I was at work.
So follow the recs I made on the post about Germanroaches. I use a residual pesticide like suspend, and an IGR like tekko. Along with steam cleaning and washing.
I dealt with a bad infestation of them a few years back in my previous apt. It seemed like the pesticides available were largely ineffective. I still have PTSD from that time and get extremely paranoid if I feel an itch somewhere. What pesticide would you recommend, if any at all
Apartments are the hardest. It's impossible to contain something like that to one unit, no matter how well built the building is. And the buildings are never well built.
Steam cleaning, heat, and a good IGR are the best things I've used. Big glue traps on the feet of the bedframe can help, once the mattress has been bagged, and the bedding cleaned.
Well, at least with my company, we would never deal with anything larger than a mouse. So I'm not sure what the right terminology is for something like leshen extermination.
Lots of little white bugs falling from the sky right now in my region. They leak fluid when you touch them. Advice?
Go play with them. They're very friendly. Until they aren't.
Pill bugs are pretty easy actually. So, yeah, them being indoors isn't normal and means that there is some sort of structural issues. However, a pesticide like this will kill them. Follow the lable. Apply this in just the areas that they are an issue, as far out of the way as possible. Basically, try to put it places that just the bugs will get it on them. Also, spray the foundation on the exterior with the same mixture, but avoid any areas where pollenators might accidentally come in contact. This is a residual pesticide and continues to work for months after you apply it. So keep that in mind. Don't go ham and spray the whole neighborhood. The bees will thank you
Also, that bottle will last for years.
Oh man. Well we might have to open that bad boy up and go in there.
I have a large very cute and shy huntsman who sneaks in and decides to live in the spa filterpipe in my shower.
Happy to have a huntsman around but it's not a comfortable morning shower for either of us until I catch him and remove him outside. And then a month later he is back.
Is there any way of luring him out or making sure the bathroom is less appealing?
It sounds like it like you. Have you tried talking to it? Eviction doesn't seem to be working.
We have. We keep telling it the Kitchen is a much better place for a spider but he's set on his morning constitutionals walking around the bathtub.
Well it might be time for it to take a trip far far away.
We get mice in our house on and off, especially in the winter. What can I do to keep them from getting in from the get go?
I don't like having to deal with them once they're in, I'm tempted to just let them be but that's not clean or really a possibility
So, mice can't teleport. What they do is they roam around outside along your foundation looking for any small hole. The best way to keep them out is to go along your foundation and start looking for any kind of small hole. Usually, I find holes under bay windows and around air conditioner hoses.
Mice don't want to freeze to death any more than anything else. So think like that. You should also go and look at your foundation from the inside if you can. If your basement is unfinished, look for drafts and cold areas along where your house meets your foundation. I liked to use spray foam to fill small holes and cracks. Anything bigger than small hole will require an actual fix by an actual handy man.
Once they get inside, the best option is to trap them. Either with live traps, if you want to just relocate them. Or good old-fashioned snap traps. If you can eliminate their entrance, you will stop them until they find some other way in.
Making your house hard to get into is the only ethical way to deal with them.
Mice/rats baits from the hardware store didn’t seem to work but what ever the professionals have access to seems to have done the trick how do I get access to them please and thank you
Hahaha so how much of your house can you get access to? Mice don't teleport, so there is a problem somewhere that is letting them in. I'm morally against the use of poison on an ethical level, so I never used and won't recommend poison.
Currently they are under control and only outside I have fruit trees and back on to a park full of them. I guess I can get access to the whole house it doesn’t share any walls with other buildings.
If they're outside and under control, let them be. @Dirt_Owl needs something to eat. Just make sure your house is sealed up really well. Don't leave your doors open, especially in the fall.
If you find them inside, start looking along your foundation for any kind of hole in your walls/foundation. Mice roam along looking for the warmth, so think like that. Once you find it, spray foam it if it's small enough.
There under control due to the professional baits atm. Is there a way to remove them ethically?
Not with poison, in my opinion. Dead mice are still poisonous. Dying mice are slow, easy for animals to catch and eat. The poisons found in mouse bait boxes has been found upstream in the food chain. Removing the food source is the only way to move them along ethically. But that might be a challenge if your neighbors have fruit trees
We had a bad ant problem at our last apartment.
We moved and now it’s been like 6 months and i am seeing 2 or 3 ants a day on the floor of our bedroom. I think they are coming out from our box spring. I sprayed Raid ant killer on the inside of the box spring from the bottom and they stopped for a few days (though the smell kind of made us sick for a couple nights sleeping on it, yuck) but they are coming back now. How do i made sure these ants don’t infest our new apartment??
I doubt they are coming from your box spring. Most types of ants will only form a colony outdoors in the dirt. Beyond that, follow the advice in this post .
No. Just clean your shower and rinse the drain out with some drain cleaner.
Spray the dark damp areas in your house with a residual pesticide like this. Follow the lable and focus on the darkest dampest areas like behind washers and under sinks. Try to only spray areas that's bugs can get to but not other things.
Yeah cats present their own issues. Some pesticides can be toxic before they dry. Suspend is supposedly safe, but keep that in mind if you apply it.
There’s little flies buzzing around my apartment almost alway. What do you do about fruit flies? My garbage is sealed and I vacuum and sweep my floors regularly.
So I had a problem in a house I used to rent where we would get flies from our drains. Little black fuzzy fruit fly looking things. Being in an apartment also presents its own issues because your neighbor could have a banana farm going in their kitchen.
I would first try to identify that they are fruit flies, since it sounds like you've taken care of their food source. Once you're sure where there coming from, you can spray the areas with a residual pesticide .
IDK about just water, but nothing will survive a nice round of drain cleaner. Of course don't just go dumping random chems in the sink, but drain cleaners are usually some kind of horrible acid or intensely strong base. So that'll kill anything down there.
