Have you recently found innocent-looking brown spots scattered across your kitchen floor? I know that when I saw them, they made my heart jump out.
Being unaware of the markings left by cockroaches can cause a small infestation to grow out of control. These stubborn creatures are great survivors so it’s always easier to fight them off at the beginning.
One of the telltale signs that you have a big colony of roaches hiding somewhere in your home is finding cockroach poop in corners and on the floor.
How Roach Poop Looks Like?
It’s sometimes difficult to tell that you have a roach infestation around the house. Roaches are nocturnal creatures so they’re likely to hide all day until you’re asleep and the house is quiet. They also hide in corners and crevices that you can’t easily see.
However, one of the signs that helped me know that I needed to act promptly to get rid of these filthy creatures was finding roach poop. Finding droppings of any creature in the house is usually sad and depressing. Nevertheless, you should be able to identify what this is so you can act accordingly. So what does roach poop look like?
Regardless of their species, all roaches will have the same color of roach droppings. All roach feces are deep brown but the size differs according to the type and size of the roach.
Here is how they usually look like.
Smaller roaches like the German cockroach leave small markings that look like ground coffee or pepper. Some feces will look like stains. The babies of these roaches are very small and their droppings are usually very difficult to see. It’s quite easy to confuse them with something else.
Bigger species like the American cockroach or palmetto bug will leave bigger droppings. The palmetto bug poop is solid and looks like brown crystals. Droppings could be the size of a grain of rice and will have round ends.
It’s easy to spot the difference between the droppings of roaches and mice or rats if you look at roach poop pictures. Mice droppings have pointed ends, unlike roach poop that has rounded ends. Moreover, the sides on roach shit have some ridges that can’t be found on mouse droppings.
I understand that it can be quite difficult to identify these differences at home, so in case of suspicion, you might want to pick your protective gloves and a magnifying glass to make sure of what you’re dealing with. It’s always better to act based on real information.
What Harm Cockroach Poop Cause?
Unfortunately, there are more issues associated with cockroach feces than how disgusting they look like. Roach droppings can cause serious health issues that can affect you, your pets or anyone in the family.
- Roach droppings contain special proteins or allergens that can trigger an allergic reaction. Touching them accidentally is utterly disgusting but it can also cause a skin allergy.
- The allergens found in their fecal matter can trigger asthma.
- Cockroaches don’t produce any poison, but they’re hosts to pathogens like salmonella. If these pathogens get in touch with your food or drinks, they will cause severe contamination that leads to serious illness.
- Because they’re not sanitary creatures, everything associated with roaches is usually filled with bacteria and germs. If a cockroach poops on your bed or chair, you might suffer from skin infections caused by these bacteria.
Getting rid of cockroach droppings and trying to fight them off is the best thing that you can do for yourself and your family. This will help you put the infestation under control as these creatures know how to survive in extreme conditions.
Here are a few things that you should do if you find roach droppings in your house.
- Make sure that you’re wearing protective gloves and a mask before you come close to the feces.
- Don’t attempt to touch them with your hands.
- Hold the droppings, if possible, and examine them to make sure that they’re roach poop and nothing else.
- Get rid of them and disinfect the area as promptly as possible because roaches can eat their feces if no food is to be found.
Where to Look for Roach Poop?
Cockroaches are very shy creatures so you won’t be seeing them roaming around the house unless you have a very serious infestation. Their cautiousness is the reason they were able to survive for millions of years when most animals went extinct.
Now that you’re done with the cockroach droppings identification phase, it’s important to know where to look for them. If you’ve found a suspicious piece of dropping and have already compared it to an online roach droppings pictures, then you need to start searching the house for more signs.
Roach droppings can be found in great numbers near their food or their nest. When roaches eat they will naturally produce droppings. Unfortunately for us, their food is our food and this means that the food you and your family are eating has probably been infected.
If you found any suspicious brown spots, knowing what does roach droppings look like, then you should discard all the food immediately. Eating this food can subject your family to serious illness.
You can also find lots of roach feces scattered around a corner. This is probably where they’ve built their nest. Roaches will be roaming around their nest when they’re not looking for food. If you find this telltale sign, then you probably know where these stubborn creatures are hiding.
You’ll probably find more cockroach feces if you keep on looking. Check all the closed cabinets, behind large pieces of furniture, under the beds, on ignored shelves, and inside drawers that no one opens regularly.
Roaches prefer these places to roam and scatter their droppings because they’re too shy of humans and pets. If you find rounded crystals in these hidden areas, it’s probably palmetto bug poop. If you find brown stains or smears, this is probably the poop of the German cockroach.
Why it is Important to Find Roach Feces?
If you take a look at some of the online cockroach poop pictures, you’ll understand why I and almost all homeowners panic when we find them around the house. They look extremely disgusting and can easily be associated with having an unclean and unhealthy home. But this is not the only reason why you should get rid of roach feces.
- Roach feces are filled with pathogens that can cause allergies and other health problems.
- The chemicals found in roach droppings produce an extremely unpleasant odor.
- These chemicals can trigger respiratory allergies and can make asthma get worse.
- The smell of the cockroach feces attracts other cockroaches. This means that if you don’t get rid of this fecal matter promptly, you’ll be inviting other cockroaches to come and join the colony in your house.
Getting rid of the feces isn’t only a necessity because of aesthetic reasons. It’s one of the most important solutions to get rid and fight off cockroaches and put their infestation under control.
How to Clean Roach Droppings?
Just because you’re seeing the occasional feces every now and then, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a serious infestation. It could be a small colony that you can easily get rid of if you act promptly. However, if you’re seeing lots of droppings then you need to act promptly.
Cockroaches can crawl and fly so they’re likely to leave their droppings anywhere. Here is how to clean these marks off different parts of your furniture.
Mattresses
Seeing some cockroach feces on the mattresses is common if you leave your house for a long time. Changing the sheets isn’t enough because the allergens found in the fecal matter can trigger asthma and skin infections.
Cockroaches might also hide in the seams and corners of the mattress so you should check all the folds to make sure that no bugs are hiding. There’s nothing worse than finding a cockroach crawling over your body at night. Here’s how to clean cockroach feces off the mattress. If you’re not sure, check some cockroach poop pictures so you can act accordingly.
- Scrape any big pieces using a knife or a wall scraper.
- Use disinfectant soap and a rough sponge to scrub the mattress clean. Use water to rinse the place after you’ve cleaned the mattress completely.
- Use a blow dryer or a fan to dry the mattress.
- If possible, put the mattress outside to dry in the sun. The sun will kill any bacteria or germs to guarantee the cleanliness of your mattress before it’s ready for use.
Closets and Clothing
Roaches prefer the dark undisturbed spots so they will love to roam around your closet. Check the corners and the floors of your closet for any roach droppings. They’ll probably be in the part where you’re keeping clothes for the next season and not the ones you use every day.
If there are cockroach droppings inside the closet, then there might be some of them on your clothes too. Putting on these clothes can cause severe allergic reactions. They will probably smell bad, too.
- Try to scrape off any stains or droppings.
- If the stains are too stubborn to remove, soak your clothes in an enzyme product. This is the only solution that can break the proteins to help you get rid of the feces.
- Put your clothes in the washing machine. If you don’t remove the stains, they’ll be harder to get rid of after you’ve washed your clothes.
- Use disinfectant detergent to make sure your clothes are squeaky clean.
- Let your clothes air dry in the sun. The heat of the dryer can also disinfect your clothes.
Carpets
Roach droppings can be difficult to spot, especially on dark carpets. If you have a thick rug, the feces might be hidden and you won’t be able to see them easily. This is why it’s extremely important to inspect your rugs thoroughly if you’re suspicious that you have a roach infestation.
- Vacuum your rug to get rid of all the droppings, especially the big ones.
- Use carpet shampoo to remove all the stains. Most of the shampoos contain enzymes that break proteins. Use a rough brush or sponge to scrub the carpet.
- Let your rug dry completely before vacuuming it one more time.
- Use a home-made cleaning solution made of vinegar and water. You can also mix vinegar with soap to prepare a cleaning solution that will remove all stains.
Final Words
There’s no doubt that the best thing that you can do to remove roach poop is to prevent it. However, sometimes things can get out of control and you’ll find roach droppings even if you clean your house regularly.
Knowing what does roach poop look like will help you act promptly. You shouldn’t ignore the signs and you can check roach poop pictures to make sure.
After getting rid of cockroach feces, you should inspect your house to find the core of the problem. Make sure that you remove all food residues and close all the holes that might tempt cockroaches to crawl inside the house.