I am thinking about moving out of my home for a month or two……I want to know that if I leave my home with the windows open, water and gas turned off, cleaned very well, and with the windows open (It has been in the teens at night here), and unplugging everything for about a month or two will that get rid of the roaches. Will they die off?
No. If you read through our ROACH CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn they’re very tolerant of temperature extremes. In fact, most insects will slow up and go “dormant” as it gets cold. But this doesn’t kill them. Considered “cold blooded”, insects merely go into a state of suspended animation. This is when their molecular processes slow and require very little food or nutrients. It’s this state that enables them to endure long periods of time with no food, water or even what we consider to be “warm” temps. Now how long can they do this? No one really knows for sure but based on observations both afield and in the lab, it’s thought at least one species (the German Roach) can last a year if not longer in this state. If anything, the cold would actually help them endure the same environment longer because it will slow their internal processes.
I also think that freezing the home could present a host of other problems that would prove costly. My first concern would be freezing pipes. Water supply lines, toilets, hot water heaters – all of these would be at risk not to mention the prospect of unwanted entry. And what unwanted entry am I thinking of? The first would be people but don’t forget the local wildlife. Birds, squirrels, rats, mice just to name a few would no doubt wander inside. Some would come and go but I’m certain others would nest, chew and destroy things so I don’t think this approach would be a smart undertaking.
But if you are willing to leave the home for an extended period of time and do a thorough cleaning prior to leaving, I am certain you could achieve good success by baiting with ROACH GEL. However, I would also suggest you leave the home heated during this time. In fact, keeping it extra warm would get the roaches really active. And if there was no food inside except the Gel, they would no doubt eat it. This of course would kill them all off and I would expect that after 2 months of time, most if not all should be dead. Remember, roaches are cannibalistic and will readily eat their own kind. As roaches die from the Gel, others will feed on them which in turn will kill them too. So if you do in fact remove everything edible in the home, a complete treatment of Gel throughout the home would be one of the best ways to control the problem.
Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:
Roach Control Article: http://www.germanroaches.com/roach-control
Roach Gel: http://www.bugspray.com/item/magnum-roach-gel.html
