I want a pet, but not like this one. Exterminators?

I just moved into my apartment today, and as I'm cleaning the kitchen, I see a new friend. I turn on the faucet, and I'm moving the nozzle around to spray out the sink. The nozzle falls off. I'm not sure if the little bastard came from the nozzle or the drain, but the fact is I have a cockroach and a sink thats not draining. The sink I can live with. The roach? Notsomuch. He's now in a jar, I heard you shouldn't crush them for some reason.

What do I do (aside from calling the apartment company, already did that--they're coming out tomorrow) about this? Anything? Let the bug guys come and do it?

Also, my girlfriend in the same building saw one and called them already. This concerns me that they already sprayed, and I still have them--unless they only sprayed the one apartment. This company is so cheap it wouldn't surprise me.

Any tips?

EDIT:

Also, how do I make sure that I don't bring them back home with me in a week?

if you see one....

apartments are bad for them too. It might not be your apartment that is causing the infestation.. but one dirty apartment in a building can infest everyone with the buggers.

I had a case of them two years ago.. brought them home from work. Casinos in AC are really really infested. Thankfully I caught it before it got out of hand

What really scares me is this is a little one--about the size of a quarter. I found one... How many eggs do they lay at once?

E36 M3.

Get a cat, solved my roommates and mine roach and mouse problem for quite a bit.

flountown wrote: Get a cat, solved my roommates and mine roach and mouse problem for quite a bit.

I would but am not allowed pets, and I'm pretty allergic to cats.

mtn wrote: What really scares me is this is a little one--about the size of a quarter. I found one... How many eggs do they lay at once? E36 M3.

more than you can count...

I rehabed an apartment when I worked for my uncle.. pulling down the wallpaper, the walls behind were COVERED in itty bitty roaches all eating the glue.

a quarter sized one is mostly grown.. they start a LOT smaller

Boric acid, aka Roach Prufe, is pretty effective. So is keeping your place clean.

Tactical Nuke.

On the coast where I am they are a constant battle. Particularly the "Palmetto Bugs" Up to two inches long. I have literally watched one carry off a potato chip. Luckily that one was outside. All you can really do is fight a holding action. After a visit from the exterminator you will usually see more of the things rather than less. That means they are pissed off and probably dieing. If they are the German roaches be very careful to not take them to your next place. One turns into thousands in short order. We got them from borrowing a friends cloths washer while ours was broken. They were a nightmare to get rid of. Three months of exterminator visits every two weeks. That was after I tried to get rid of them myself. For a time there I considered burning the house down.

The little ones are the ones you need to be scared of. The big palmetto bugs are cool with living outside and occasionally wander in your house to freak you out. The little German roaches want to take over every square inch of your house, reproduce faster than rabbits, and refuse to die. Seriously, In one of my old apartments you could throw the squashed ones in the garbage and the next morning half of them would be gone. Sometimes you would see the half flat bastards later running around the place. Moving out was fun-dump whatever item you wanted to pack in the middle of the room and spend the next minute squashing them as they run! Yuck!

I lived at my previous apartment for four years. The first week, I saw a few, but the one that said hi while I was in the shower was the last straw. I grabbed a towel, snapped it, and all that remained was a single leg stuck to the wall. I kept it there (yes, for almost four years) as a warning to all of its friends, and it seemed to work for me.

Keeping all of the food sealed up tight helps too.

They are easier to deterr then they are to get rid of once you are completely infested.

1 - Buy a few cans of roach spray and spread them around the house for suprise attacks.
2 - Spray the perimiter of your house, all corners, closets, windows all the way around, vents and especially doors.
3 - Repeat perimeter spray once a month if you continue to see them, cut back to once every two months and play it by ear.
4 - Unpack all of your stuff. Don't leave stuff laying around in boxes making it easy for them to hide.
5 - Yes, seal up all food and clean up any spills immediately.

May the force be with you.

When I was a poor student living in Toronto... someone told me to put my bed legs in cans of water, so they wouldn't climb up at night and eat my boogers.

During college (many years ago) I worked in the old school cafeteria. The guy that ran the place was an ex-Marine (good guy, didn't take E36 M3 from anyone). One time he had me go down to the storeroom with him to bring up boxes of food. I still have nightmares from when he turned on the lights. It looked like the walls were painted brown, but then suddenly they weren't. Shudder. At least the food was well sealed and they obviously weren't nuking the place with pesticides.

apartment complexes are difficult. Especially in the south. We usually see one about every month. It gets better when it is sprayed, but seems to fade...

I hate those buggers...

oh, and don't step on them, because the eggs will get stuck to the bottom of your shoe and you will track them into your house.

Platinum90 wrote: oh, and don't step on them, because the eggs will get stuck to the bottom of your shoe and you will track them into your house.

Yeah, thats what I've heard.

Thanks for all the advice everyone, and keep it coming if you have it. I'm hoping that the spray that they're doing tomorrow will take care of it, but I'm still getting some of my own cans. Good thing I've not had any food in here yet, at least none opened.

I dont miss them from our town house down in VA. Haven't seen one since we moved up here 14 years ago. Now we have a flee problem

I spoke too soon. I saw three monsters tonight, each about 2" long. If you hear news about a blattodea genocide, you know who's responsible. I need to get a kill jar just so I can see them writhe.

Apartment complexes usually manage to make it worse, by spraying one end of the building, so the little buggers go running to the other end. Hardly ever do they spray the entire building at the same time, actually killing them.

If they can't get into your apartment, you can eliminate them. The landlord will not do this. It involves you and several cans of caulk, and some spray foam. Pick a room, and start sealing every edge. And I mean every one of them. Foam seal the electrical sockets and the heater ducts and the water pipe inlets. It'll take you a weekend to do this job, but the results will be worthwhile.

Female roaches carry their egg sacks, but will drop them eventually, and will drop them if scared. Thats where the warnings about stepping on them comes from.

Fwiw, roaches have a nice sweet taste when eaten. Rather creamy.

foxtrapper wrote: Fwiw, roaches have a nice sweet taste when eaten. Rather creamy.

Seeing as they often come up from sewers, I really could have gone without that visual.

mtn wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: Fwiw, roaches have a nice sweet taste when eaten. Rather creamy.

Seeing as they often come up from sewers, I really could have gone without that visual.

I always got mine out of the ice machine or the soda machine. From the ice machine they are chilled and move slower, so their legs don't tickle your tongue and wiggle in your mouth as you chew.

foxtrapper wrote:

mtn wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: Fwiw, roaches have a nice sweet taste when eaten. Rather creamy.

Seeing as they often come up from sewers, I really could have gone without that visual.

I always got mine out of the ice machine or the soda machine. From the ice machine they are chilled and move slower, so their legs don't tickle your tongue and wiggle in your mouth as you chew.

There is not a Mrs. Foxtrapper, is there?

Boric Acid, lots of it. Also known as roach powder. Apply liberally to pretty much everywhere.

mtn wrote:

Platinum90 wrote: oh, and don't step on them, because the eggs will get stuck to the bottom of your shoe and you will track them into your house.

Yeah, thats what I've heard. Thanks for all the advice everyone, and keep it coming if you have it. I'm hoping that the spray that they're doing tomorrow will take care of it, but I'm still getting some of my own cans. Good thing I've not had any food in here yet, at least none opened.

That's how I brought mine home from work....

mtn wrote:

foxtrapper wrote:

mtn wrote:

foxtrapper wrote: Fwiw, roaches have a nice sweet taste when eaten. Rather creamy.

Seeing as they often come up from sewers, I really could have gone without that visual.

I always got mine out of the ice machine or the soda machine. From the ice machine they are chilled and move slower, so their legs don't tickle your tongue and wiggle in your mouth as you chew.

There is not a Mrs. Foxtrapper, is there?

Of course! She prefers deep fried crickets. Freeze a bunch of them in a baggie and shake, to knock the legs off. Then drop them in skillet and fry em up. MmmMMMM!