If you are moving to a new apartment and you want to see if there is a cockroach infestation, how would you go about it?

Signs of Cockroach Infestation

You might be thinking why I need these signs? I can easily spot cockroaches crawling around in the house.

Well, cockroaches are most active in the dark, you won’t see Cockroach creeping in the apartment at your inspection time. Therefore, it is necessary to collect evidence of roach infestation in day timings.

Your real estate broker would always schedule your visit during day timings.

Funny enough, Food inspector from food won’t come to count cockroaches in your restaurant. They’d just look for obvious signs and investigate further. There are so many reasons you should learn about cockroach infestation signs.

In this article, You’ll learn how to spot cockroach infestation in just 5 minutes looking at a few obvious signs that others might not even notice.

You don’t need scientific tools for signs of cockroach infestations, you can see it with open eyes and by doing some research and paying close attention.

Here are the most obvious signs you should look for cockroach infestation.

1. Cockroach Poop

Cockroach droppings are one of the easiest to spot cockroach infestation sign. If you see something like this in your kitchen or anywhere else, there might be cockroach infestation problem.

A substance that looks like,

  • Coffee grain
  • Brown or black Fecal Stains
  • Small Cylinder shaped substance

If you spot any of the above stuff, investigate further to confirm roach infestation. Now where you should look for cockroach poop? Here are few most common places you should look for.

  • In the corner of the room and kitchen
  • Inside kitchen cabinets and under the kitchen sink.
  • Underneath fridge, dishwasher and other equipment.

Moving to an old empty house with these signs is very strong evidence of severe cockroach infestation.

Also check for home safe, roaches tend to hide behind these safes and lay eggs.

The more cockroaches you have, the more cockroach poop you’d witness.

2. Unpleasant Odors

Cockroaches produce a musty, oily, pungent odour you can easily feel. The odour is produced by dead roaches, poop and chemical cockroaches use to communicate with each other like so many other insect species.

If you have good sensing smell, you can easily spot areas with an unpleasant odor. Check other signs of infestation, don’t make a conclusion of roach infestation from just the odor, one sign might lead to another so make sure you check all signs and collect non-refutable evidence.

Different cockroach species has a different odor. Oriental cockroaches are said to have the worst smell. American and German cockroaches have a less strong smell.

Note

I can’t feel cockroach odor myself it might be a personal thing. So if you can’t smell anything unpleasant, check for other infestation signs.

You have to pay close attention to an unpleasant odor and make sure you aren’t confusing it with any other smell.

3. Cockroach Eggs

Female Cockroach lay eggs in cases. There are 15-20 eggs inside each case (depending on the type of roach species) Mother deposit egg cases once they ready to hatch.

The German cockroach is the most common species we find in united states. They like to lay eggs in a warm area of the house. That’s why you should look for warm and humid areas.

There is a small window of 24 hours to see deposited eggs. In case of a large infestation, you’d be able to spot cockroach eggs pretty easily just by using a torchlight or your cell phone light.

Eggs are white colored and are about ¼ inches long. You’ll be able to see it if there are hundreds of eggs. Check baseboard, bathrooms and kitchen cabinets and cracks in kitchen cabinets.

White type substance in crack and crevice and under the kitchen cabinet is very strong evidence of cockroach infestation. Even if there is less cockroach population, such a large number of eggs can lead to a severe infestation in the future.

4. Smear Marks

Depending on the water source, if the water is abundant, roaches will produce brown shaped smear marks. These marks are very easy to spot.

Check to see if you can see smear marks on wall surfaces, floor and near a water source.

Final Thoughts

Signs I listed above aren’t difficult to spot. Few minutes of research can save you from a huge cockroach problem in the future.

Show these signs as evidence to the homeowner if you are a pest control professional.

As a tenant, show it to your landlord if they aren’t believing you. As I said above, roaches are only active through the night, so you won’t be able to show any roach infestation in day time but you can show the signs in day timings.

Please post a comment if you have anything in mind to discuss, I’d be happy to connect and i am willing to read every comment and respond personally.