Can cockroaches travel from house to house?

Seeing a cockroach in your home is never pleasant – spotting one in a house you have just moved into can be even worse. Did you move into a roach-infested home? Or did you inadvertently carry them over with your stuff? Or, maybe they’re visiting from next door?

In this article, we will explore the ways cockroaches can get in your house and how they might migrate from home to home.

How do roaches get in your house?

So, how do roaches get in your house? These sneaky creatures can find their way in through a variety of ways, including:

• Carried over in furniture, appliances or packed articles when moving your belongings from your old home.
• Migrating from an infested drain or a neighbour’s house through gaps under your doors, ventilation holes in window tracks, gaps around garage doors and along drains.
• Hitchhiking in items you bring into the house such as cardboard boxes and packaging materials, in amongst bundles of letters brought in from the letter box, in open grocery bags, luggage or with some second hand item you just bought.
• Hitching a ride in your car after it was parked near an infested spot, and then driven home in style into your garage.

When you are moving to a new house, make sure to inspect all furniture, appliances and packaging closely for stowaways and be ready with a can of Mortein Kill & Protect Crawling Insect Surface Spray  for unexpected surprises. It’s a fast-acting crawling insect killer that kills in one spray, helping you get rid of your cockroach problem before it becomes a problem. Simply shake the can and spray directly at the insect. Handily, it’s also a surface spray, which means it will keep killing crawling insects for up to six months when sprayed on undisturbed surfaces.

If you have a suspicion that the place you are moving into might already have a resident population of cockroaches, it is a good idea to treat the house with a Mortein Kill & Protect Crawling Insect Control Bomb a few days before you move in. It’s an efficient solution that contains insecticide to kill cockroaches and other insects quickly and effectively. Make sure to read the instructions carefully before use.

Be mindful that items you bring into your home may be harbouring unwanted pests. If there is such a possibility, check the item thoroughly before transporting it or bringing it inside. And, avoid parking next to garbage or recycling bins, waste disposal areas, wet drains or wherever your own sense of smell warns you of the likelihood of cockroach havens.

Read our article to find out how to keep cockroaches away from your home, no matter which method they use to try to gain entry.

How long do roaches live in your house?

As you go about ridding your home of roaches, you might well wonder how resilient cockroaches might be and long they tend to live for. Unfortunately, these disturbing creatures are survival specialists. The life span of a cockroach will depend on the species, its gender, its diet and the environment in which it lives. On average a German cockroach will live for about 10 months after hatching while an American cockroach female can live for more than 2 years. Cockroaches are so resilient that that they can survive under water for half an hour, without water for a week and without food for one month!

All this means that making sure you’ve eliminated roaches completely before you move is your best bet to be free of roaches in your new home.