Cockroaches

[julesbob0303]

Has anyone else had a problem with cockroaches in their apartment[?]

When we arrived at the end of May, we were mortified to find about 15-20 cockroaches in our apartment.  Most of them were dead, but there were some that were still alive, and they were VERY FAST when we tried to spray them with Raid (luckily, our neighbours had some Raid that they had brought over from the UK with them   ).

After we had killed and disposed of them all, we didn't see another one for the remainder of the holiday.    (I hate spiders, so you can only imagine what I was like on seeing these enormous crawlies, that not only run extremely fast, but fly as well - Yuck!   )

When we arrived early hours on 2nd August, we unlocked the apartment to find about 300 cockroaches!!!   :( :(

They were disgusting!  Again, most of them were dead, but they were everywhere.  Our apartment is a duplex and there were dozens in every room.  Two cans of Raid and two hours later, we (read that as "hubby"!) had managed to get rid of them all and again never saw another one for the whole four week holiday.

We have been told that they are probably coming up the toilet when it dries out from the heat.  We switch the water off each time we come home.  Or maybe the overflow bit of the shower (I'm not very technical as you can see!   )

Before coming home on Monday, we put Raid all around both toilets, and clingfilmed the rim of each loo!  We have gaffa taped all the plugs and anywhere else where they may be able to get in.  The bathroom doors are firmly shut and again taped along the bottom.  A bit extreme I know, but I really can't face squillions of the blighters next time we holiday (in October).  At least they should be contained in these areas, though I'm dreading if they get in again, as we'll need to find out exactly where they're coming in.

Has anyone else had any problems with them, and what can be done?  If there is still a problem in October, we will need to get a management company in so that the apartment is checked regularly over the winter.

Interestingly, when I searched "cockroaches" above, there were some comments about a year or so ago, and it appears that cockroaches may have been coming up from the septic tank beneath the apartment.  We are in a block of 8, and the only one with this problem.   [!]

We have a septic tank which hasn't yet been emptied (our apartment is almost 4 years old).

Any advice will be greatly received!  

[Karennina]

Sorry to hear this Julie must have been awful for you. I arrived once and had about six indoors my cousin recokons they are attracted to water and this particular time we had left a pan soaking in water some had died but some were on their backs still alive.Another time I had left the sunbed cushions in the lounge they were a little wet as we had a lunch time pick up and had been swimming and laid on the cushions before getting ready for the airport, when I had gone back a few months later I was about to take a cushion outside and noticed a dead cockroach fell out of the cushion, on closer inspection to the cushion I noticed these tiny tiny cockroaches on the cushion so was not sure whether the large dead one has laid eggs in the cushion and they had hatched, dont know how long they take to hatch and then grow to full size! Since then we dont leave anything wet indoors at all.Good luck in that you dont get the same problem again.

[Jacqui Harvey]

Get a bag of mothballs and leave a few in the plug holes and around the drain gratings in the bathrooms.  We were told to do this years ago by the Company who did our house maintenance. There are always mothballs for sale in the local supermarkets and they seem to be used extensively to stop creepy crawlies coming into the house via plug holes and drains.   We always have the mothball routine before we leave the house to come back to the U.K.

[puma]

i hate,hate,hate them i have had hubbie fill every hole in the villa and i have bought teastrainer plugs for every plug hole, plugged the overflows on the back of the sinks,i cover all the vents etc
and when we leave i spray the house from top to bottom with  cockie spray.
i probably use 2 cans and when the neighbours  come to check the house they find it hard to breathe,
we still find one or two but they are dead

[screamlead]

There are some tablets that are given out by the local beledye? (council) that seem to kill everything off in septic tanks. We all got issued with them this year, i will try to find out what they are. They are just chucked down the toilet and flushed into the cess pit.
There are other things to deter and kill cockroaches too like the flat trap things that poison them.
Also the tea strainer things for the sink outlets and dont forget the floor drains in all the bathrooms - most stick an upturned small saucer on those, also make sure the drains actually have U-bends and are kept full of water or bleach. If using a management company you should task them to make sure things like the above are carried out.
PS dont stand on them or you will spread the eggs all over the place too.

[busybee]

You poor things, this would be my worst nightmare, hope with all the above advice it doesnt happen again

[Harmless]

Boracic acid works and does not harm humans.  I read this on fethiyetimes online and they usually are accurate with their advice

[mercury]

We had a slight cockroach problem last year but we had our tank emptied and no further problems. Our tank was also 4 years old. I t5hink that after the first time of emptying the tank needs doing every 2 years after that. Well thats what we were told by the belediye.
We used to go to Tenerife but the cockroaches amongst other things are the reason we would never go again. Eugh Hate hate them.

[julesbob0303]

Thanks for all your comments.  Will definitely try ALL of the above!  I also hate them with a passion.  

I have always associated cockroaches with dirty smelly places (they always show them on the TV when filming dirty hotels etc).  Our apartment is always kept clean (except when our 16 year old is with us - and the mess is usually contained in her bedroom!   )

Hopefully we wont have any more - though I wont be happy until our next visit confirms this!  

[kizkucuk]

You will get cockraoches anywhere warm and moist.  There are all sorts of sprays,  Make sure there is no food left out and bleach down all the drain holes in the bathroom etc.........  I've only ever had one in my apartment and I was terrified - they are really strong - I ended up hitting it over the head with a mop until it was stunned and then tossing it over the balcony - you are very brave if I had been faced with 300 I would have booked into a hotel and put the apartment on the market  :-)