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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Or are cockroaches nothing much to worry about?

51 replies

judypoovey26 · 02/04/2015 19:37

I am currently visiting my parents who live abroad in a warm climate. They have always been messy, but relatively clean, but currently their house is a bit of a tip if I'm honest. Every available surface is crammed with clutter, trinkets, general stuff and their kitchen is grubby. I discreetly set about cleaning it after I was making a cup of tea and had two cockroaches fight me at the sugar bowl. As I cleaned further I must have disturbed their general equilibrium and now they are all over the place. In the toaster (!!) on walls - basically they are popping up everywhere. They make my skin crawl, and they are massive.

Here's the thing. I don't want to hurt my parents' feelings as there are many contributing factors to the state of things for them (need a whole other thread for that) but I am inclined to think cockroaches are partly caused by poor hygiene and not just warm weather. It's also a case of one step at a time with them, and cockroaches seem as good a place as any to start.

And I being anal or over-reacting? It just makes my stomach turn to see them and I don't feel that comfortable eating food prepared in this kitchen because short of emptying every single cupboard - of which there are many - I have no idea what other horrors lurk.

WIBU to insist my parents get in exterminators or should I just turn a blind eye and clean furiously when nobody's looking?

OP posts:

corgiology · 02/04/2015 19:42

Remove all food sources and that should help solve it.

So clip everything that is open, put the sugar in a sealed container and close the cupboards.

Onelittlepiglet · 02/04/2015 19:43

Er....cockroaches are disgusting and do spread disease! They live in the sewers and feed on whatever they can find including excrement....

I live in a warmer climate and we get the house sprayed once and month to stop them. We still get the odd one but they normally die quickly. We are really careful about not leaving food out, keeping things in the fridge/airtight containers etc.

It sounds like your parents have got a problem with them. I'd try and get them to get the house sprayed and cleaned up ASAP.

Good luck!

ragged · 02/04/2015 19:56

What's the point of exterminators if your parents bad habits will just bring the blighters back in as soon as you leave?

I'd concentrate on surface cleanliness for now & be relieved to go home soon.

tumbletumble · 02/04/2015 19:58

YANBU. I'm fine with most creepy crawlies but that sounds horrid!

championnibbler · 02/04/2015 20:01

oh god, there must be a nest of them somewhere.
seal all food sources.
toothbrushes and toothpaste should also be kept sealed, roaches love them.
put down roach traps.
consider having the house sprayed.

easterlywinds · 02/04/2015 20:08

I don't think it's necessarily a sign of dirtiness. We had a brand new rental in Oz, we kept it very clean because we didn't want ants. Food was always kept in sealed containers. I opened the dishwasher one morning to find a few cockroaches in there. I solved the problem by getting a man in to spray - this also dealt with the spiders. In our previous rental, the agent had told me that huntsmen spiders were good to have in your garden because they ate cockroaches.

bonzo77 · 02/04/2015 20:10

Are they in a house or flat? They're impossible to get rid of unless the whole building is treated, but even if it isn't they do congregate in the dirtiest places

All food needs to be stored in air tight containers. They love electrical appliances and will live inside the toaster, microwave and the base of the cordless kettle. Throw them away and do without until the infestation is dealt with.

You can get baits which are reasonably effective, and I found having a cat (!) kept them under control.

Once you've got them you've got them. You can keep them at bay, but not without really thorough hygiene measures.

thenightsky · 02/04/2015 20:16

Get the expert exterminators in. Roaches carry disease.

Original poster

judypoovey26 · 02/04/2015 20:19

Oh ragged that's pretty much what I am thinking. My DF killed one earlier with his bare hands. Then proceeded to spray all
Over tea bags, sugar, kettle and toaster with cockroach killer and then put the kettle on and make a cuppa. Without even washing his hands. I dread to think of what chemicals went all over tea bags etc. DF is pretty old school and definitely the type who thinks dirt won't harm anyone.

But cockroaches?! There is tons of food all over he surfaces because they have run out of space. I just killed another one and left it where it was - on the kitchen countertop - to make a point, even though every fiber in my body wanted to put the bloody thing in the bin.

It's a big house. I dread to think how many of them are lurking. I've cleaned the room I'm staying in from top to bottom and hoping it's a roach free zone.

OP posts:

TheHappinessTrap · 02/04/2015 20:19

Do your patents have air conditioning and live in a wooden house? cockroaches like air con and will come in through the cracks. I have lived in those climates with those creatures and I'm a fastidious house keeper. We had the exterminator out twice a year also. Damned things. I still have flash backs from my time. A messy house doesn't help, but some climes ams forms of construction are major set backs!

ChaiseLounger · 02/04/2015 20:37

I lived in Egypt in three different places , that all had them. They were enormous. Once you get them, they are so incredibly hard to get rid of.

Please don't under estimate this.

gamerchick · 02/04/2015 20:40

You do know that what you've seen are the mere tip of the iceberg and when you go to bed they'll come out in their numbers all over the place don't you? Are you ok with them crawling around the bed when you're asleep because i certainly wouldn't be.

MissYamabuki · 02/04/2015 20:50

Not much to do with the climate IME - I've lived in Spain (no roaches) and Russia (lots of the buggers). They are absolutely revolting, do carry disease and get in and out of everywhere (beds, appliances, your hair ...).

I'd throw all opened food away, do a massive clean-up, call the exterminators and then bring food in again - all sealed etc. It's so hard to get rid of them but you have to try... you can't just live with them feel like vomming now re-reading your op

KurriKurri · 02/04/2015 20:52

I think your parents really need to keep on top of them otherwise they will get totally out of hand. Warm climate does play a big part. I recently stayed in a motel in a very warm part of the world and the room was absolutely crawling with roaches - I woke in the night and the floor was moving - they were in the bed everywhere. When I mentioned it I was told it was a hazard of hot places you just have to put up with. But I don't agree - they can be got rid of but you have to be really vigilant.

They are horrible little buggers - they creeped me out and I'm pretty Ok with beasties generally.

KurriKurri · 02/04/2015 20:54

Actually now that you mention it MissYamabuki I've stayed in a flat in Earl;s Court which was also alive with the bastards -so maybe climate is just used an excuse !

alteredimages · 02/04/2015 21:00

Also in Egypt and have seen them before but only the odd one coming up through the drain in the bathroom. Never seen one in a kitchen before . They need to be nipped in the bud and it sounds like this has been going on a while. Depending where you are you can almost guarantee they have ants too which are total buggers.

If you got exterminators in would they be 1. Reliable and know their stuff? And 2. Be able to do anything for the clutter?

If the answer to either of these is no then there isn't much you can do except impress on your parents that this isn't normal and needs to be dealt with.

expatinscotland · 02/04/2015 21:03

They carry disease. You need to tell them to get an exterminator.

Original poster

judypoovey26 · 02/04/2015 21:06

Oh God I'm feeling even more queasy now after some of these posts.
The room I'm sleeping in is about 30 - 40 metres from the kitchen, and so far I haven't seen any roaches in it. How do I keep them away? Or is it just a matter of time before I wake up to one on my pillow?

I'm actually really angry about this all. I planned this trip with my DS ages ago, he's only little and was completely freaked out when one just crawled over his feet while he was watching TV in the family room. I had to clean our bedroom before I felt comfortable with letting him play on the floor, but I can't confine a small child to one room of the house, it simply isn't fair.

My parents seem unbothered by it, and have made no effort to lay traps or call an exterminator since I raised my concerns yesterday with them. I think I'm going to risk offending them anyway and just get the pest control people in asap.

It's grim and I'm finding it a bit depressing, if I'm honest.

OP posts:

DrankSangriaInThePark · 02/04/2015 21:08

When I lived in Spain our flat was alive with them....now this was a student flat and not the cleanest...but I then went to au pair in the north with a very well off family in a posh pad, and that was riddled with them as well.
My 6th form area in Nottingham had them too.
Am now in the south of Italy and have never seen one.

DrankSangriaInThePark · 02/04/2015 21:10

To be honest, when we spoke to the flat owners about exterminators they just laughed and said 'this is Spain, get used to it'.

cozietoesie · 02/04/2015 21:20

I almost hate to mention it OP - as you have so much on your plate - but have you checked for bedbugs as well? (I seem to recall that they're often a midnight snack for cockroaches.)

worridmum · 02/04/2015 22:29

I hope none of you go to the caranary islands they have HUGE wild coackroaches that dont live in sewers and spread dieseases (but they are huge oh and the hiss and for the love of god i warn you not to step on them or your shoe / feet will stink forever )

Slightly off topic and yes coakroaches outside the caranary islands are a massive problem as mentioned eariler

ChaiseLounger · 03/04/2015 05:48

Why haven't you left op? Moved into a hotel? Sod the upsetting your parents!!

The smell of cockroaches is strong. They eat anything, food, paper. And then they eat droppings of either other animals, or their parents droppings, in order to digest the paper and food they have eaten.

They are so disgusting that they make most people, me included want to seriously vomit.

What are you planning on doing?

Effendi · 03/04/2015 06:04

I'm in Cyprus and we get them occasionally, it's a new build. In previous, older properties we had more. We have a lot of cats these days so much less cockroaches than in the other houses we lived. I can probably count on one hand how many I saw in the house last summer. I don't remember ever seeing one in the day time in the 11 years we have lived here.
I think you need an exterminator to do the house and also the cess pit if they have one.
Clean out all cupboards, seal gaps where they could be coming in, get the bug guy in.

Capricorn76 · 03/04/2015 07:39

Grab your son and move into a hotel. You shouldn't have to suffer because your parents can't be bothered.

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