Cockroach advice....

I would recommend an exterminator, but you do not know how the people above and blow you live, so maybe they got them in masses and some are coming in your apartment, Some people are not clean.

Regular sprays work but you may not reach all the right places.

Hamelin Pest Control
(787) 539-7376
San Juan, Puerto Rico

Speak to Sammy... if they can't solve the problem... it can't be solved.... they are reasoable and come when you text them... they are the exterminator for Supermax  so you know they are good.
They have been my expterminator for 10 years and I am very pleased.

and yes, you do have to expect them sometimes...

We just started seeing cockroaches in the last month. We live in Condado near the beach. We use Miranda and sons for monthly extermination. Paid $90 for first visit then it's $45 per months for a 3 br/3 bath apt. He said the little ones come from the walls and the big ones come from outside.  And that I should expect to see them for a month or so after the first treatment. Good luck - I have teens and know when I hear a scream that it is one of those buggers!

Thank you very much to all for the replies. My classmate who lives a few blocks from me also started having them within the last week. Must be cockroach season?! $45/month sounds reasonable to me so I will have to fit this in my budget! (My brother in DC recently had an exterminator come for rats and paid him $300 and it didn't work- I was wary of a price tag like that.)

Has anyone tried borax or diatomaceous earth? I read online those can help - but I want to get this taken care of as quickly as possible so I want to get to what works ASAP!

Thanks again and I welcome more replies from anyone else reading!

Spray, spray and Spray again, I see them sometimes around the boxes I have from the move here while the house is being built those pesky heathens, it is an island so it's an ongoing battle,them and fire ants but I will prevail.

Close up all and any cracks in Windows doors ECT.....don't give them an entry,  silicone works great , also just got a cat, she hunts at night....

I had tons of roaches in my apartment in Denver, Colorado. I bombed a couple times and then poked a hole in a quart of antifreeeze with a bottle opener and put it the can in a kitchen cabinet. It worked great.

I hate those dam things!   We just started using an exterminator - our friends use him once a month; we are using him every other month.  We will see how it goes. 

We also get sand crabs and hermit crabs around the house, kinda cute & harmless..

We have had good success with bait.  You can buy the gel bait at Home Depot which is what some of the exterminators use or just use the "roach motels".

Try a product called TEMPO you can find it at the local farm supply place. I used on our house in Sabana Grande.

Spay around pipes, in condos/apartments that is how they mostly get in. There may be cracks and badly cut space around the pipes, spray the hell of any spaces like that same with bathrooms. That is the main problem with condos and apartments, if the other families are not good at a clean house, they will get them and so will you. Part of apartment living. In a house it is not as bad and you can control it easier. Lagartijos (the small lizards) will eat a lot of them also.

Rey, there is no lagartijos in condos, they dont like the hights!! Lol

But plenty in and around houses

I think it's completely reasonable to expect to live without cockroaches! My vacation rental last month had a few small ants but that was it..otherwise bug free. I wouldn't accept that it's just part of island life. Good luck getting rid of them!

Crumbs, dirty dishes, trash cans, people eating in rooms other than dining area provide them with food and since it is cooler inside than outside, it is a perfect place to raise a nice cockroach family.

If you live clean, then likely that some of the apartments/condos around you are the problem. You can get rid of yours but hard to reach the neiborg ones, so they keep coming back.

One more thing, the little ones like books and picture albums, check them from time to time. I think they like the glue.
The Comejen likes them also, so good idea to check them also for those.

The Demetrius earth I tried for the little ants and it didn't work. So it's hard for me to believe it work work on cockroaches

Thanks again to all. Tonight I covered (what I hope to be) every possible crack/crevice/pipes with boric acid, as well as all along the floorboards, and also applied some Raid brand paste to "likely" areas as well. The reviews of both were good online and I am hoping and praying it at least does something. If not, I only wasted about $10.

I tried contacting 2 exterminators today (one of which was recommended here) but have yet to hear back. A friend of mine told me today that he often sees ads in the paper that brings the cost down to $20-30 per treatment.

I do live cleanly, sweep often, no food left out, dog food put away at night time (sealed), and trash taken out every night. I have additionally started to dry all the sinks before bed as I read that can draw them in. Also tonight when I go to bed I am going to put the boric acid down all the drains to let it sit all night.

(Apparently the boric acid destroys the exoskeleton and kills them slowly, and once they die if others eat their body (gross), it will also kill those ones).

Thanks to all for your input. I will continue to try out all the advice and tips. I am also leaving for a week trip in about a week and a half and I plan to cover the floor with some sort of poison while I am away (don't want my dog ingesting it while we are here obviously). I barely slept last night because every noise I heard I got all creeped out. I also heard they can crawl in your ears while you sleep and get stuck... I bought some ear plugs today! Pray for me!!! LOL

Personally, I used the typical bombs from Home Depot once a year and have seen maybe two in that time. Btw, they get in your car too, (I'm generally a neat freak but I was leaving empty coke cans in the holder) had to bomb that as well. Sooo...don't leave anything in your car. When we first moved here I noticed my neighbor had an exterminator come out once and month and do his home AND car. At the time I thought it was over-kill but now I am a believer. I can deal with almost any other insect but if I see one roach I can't rest until I know they are all dead.

This is just a silly anecdote but my brother actually got a roach in his ear about 10 years ago. He understandably freaked out and went to his doctor. Doctor took a quick look, located suspect and then looked at my brother with a huge grin. My brother couldn't understand why he was so happy. The doctor left and came back with a box of shiny, brand-new medical tweezers of all shapes, angles and sizes, turned to my brother and said, "Do you know how long I have been waiting to use these?"  Lol, they were both so happy after that little ordeal.

He's the only person I have ever met in my life that had that problem though so I think you will be okay.

After you use the bomb, is there residue left that can harm people or pets? Or do you sweep it up right away before entering the house again? Maybe I will use the bomb right as I leave for my trip and clean up the residue right when I get back.... any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the tip about the car. Yuck! I can imagine driving 60mph and having a cockroach decide to crawl around the car... I would definitely crash. I don't leave food in the car but will maybe put some boric acid around the door frames and floor!

Oh my god that sounds AWFUL for your brother but funny story about the doctor! That is seriously what dreams are made of right there. A cockroach in your EAR!

Dusting with diotomateous earth in cabinets, etc.  Under a microscope it has razor sharp edges and as they walk through and clean themselves they get cut and die from dehydration or something like that. It is harmless to humans and animals. Some folks ingest it as part of a health regimen. It works with most crawling insects.

Mrkpytn wrote:

Dusting with diotomateous earth in cabinets, etc. It works with most crawling insects.

That is what I use in my pool filtration system, I buy it in 20 pound bags.

It is not just roaches in the car, but also spiders. I get spiders here in the states so not just a PR issue. The good thing with spiders is that you will know because you will find the cobwebs, so you know to treat the car.

The stuff for swimming pool pumps works. I do not think it works with spiders.
In NC there are black widow and brown recluse. No poisonous spiders here!  Yeh.

You can buy the "no-mess" bombs now, they don't leave an oily residue like they used to. I pack up any food (other than cans) in a plastic bin w/a lid and either leave it with my neighbor or put in my car. Afterwards, I wash all the dishes and wipe down all the surfaces with soapy water. Sounds like an ordeal but it takes me about an hour. Another hour to sweep/mop. Small price to pay for me personally. I work at home so it's no biggie, if you are pressed for time I would go with the professionals.

Karenqc hit is right on the head, thanks Karen.
Close up the place, set off the bombs and go out to lunch and do some shopping, come back clean up like Karen said, do that every few months.

For those in apartments / condos, they may come back from the other apartments.