5 Major Signs That You Have Cockroaches in Your Houston Home
Cockroaches are good at sneaking into any place that offers food, water, and shelter, and they are good at staying hidden once they do. Here is how to tell they are in your Houston home before the problem gets large.
Roaches hide well. The evidence does not.
Cockroaches are unsightly and unsanitary. They walk through drains and garbage and then across the surfaces where you prepare food, carrying bacteria with them, and their droppings and shed skins are a common trigger for asthma and allergies, particularly in children. An infestation is worth addressing as soon as you notice it.
The trouble is that you rarely see the roaches themselves. Below are the five signs that give them away, what the three Houston species look like, and where to look first.
The three cockroaches common in Houston
Knowing which species you have changes how it is treated. German roaches live indoors and need the kitchen worked; American and Oriental roaches usually come in from outside and need the entry points found.
American cockroach
Up to 53 mm (about 2 inches)
The largest of the common roaches. Reddish-brown with a yellow band behind the head. American cockroaches have wings and can fly, but usually only glide short distances. In Houston they come up from storm drains, sewers, and damp crawl spaces.
German cockroach
13 to 16 mm (about half an inch)
The most common cockroach in homes anywhere, and the one behind nearly every kitchen infestation. Light brown or tan with two parallel dark stripes behind the head. A German roach lives about a year but reproduces faster than any other species, which is why a small sighting becomes a large problem so quickly.
Oriental cockroach
25 to 32 mm (about an inch)
Glossy black or very dark brown, and the only one of the three that cannot fly. Oriental roaches live about six months and gather around decaying organic matter, so they turn up near drains, under leaf litter, and in damp basements and garages.
Five signs roaches have moved in
Any one of these is worth a closer look. Two or more together means you have an infestation, not a stray.
1. Egg casings (oothecae)
Cockroaches lay their eggs in a group inside a casing called an ootheca. It is made of protein and hardens into a small, dark, purse-shaped capsule that protects the eggs. After the eggs hatch, the empty casing stays behind, so finding one means roaches have been breeding nearby. Depending on the species a case holds roughly 15 to 50 eggs. If you find one that is still intact, bag it and throw it out so it cannot hatch.
2. Droppings
Cockroach droppings look like ground coffee or coarse black pepper. Larger species leave dark cylinders with ridged sides. Look around feeding sites: kitchen counters, the backs of drawers, bathrooms, and around trash cans. Roaches eat almost anything, from plants and crumbs to garbage and even feces. Their droppings also carry pheromones that tell other roaches where food was found, so a dropping trail tends to grow.
3. A musky smell
A large infestation gives off a lingering oily or musky odor. It comes from the roaches themselves, their droppings, and the dead ones you have not found yet, and it can get into food left out in the open. If a room or a cabinet smells musty with no obvious cause, open the cabinet doors and check the corners.
4. Neighbors with roaches
If a neighbor has cockroaches, your odds go up, especially in townhomes, duplexes, and apartments that share walls and plumbing. Roaches travel along pipes and through wall voids. A clean home and sealed entry points are your defense when the problem starts next door.
5. Live cockroaches
Cockroaches are nocturnal, and you will rarely see them out during the day. Flip the kitchen light on in the middle of the night and you may catch them searching for food and water. A roach out in daylight is a bad sign on its own: it usually means the harborage is crowded enough to push some into the open.
Where cockroaches hide in a Houston home
If you see roaches in a common area, their entry point and harborage are probably close by. Roaches want warmth, water, and food within a short walk, so that is where they congregate. Check these spots first:
- Around and inside garbage bins
- Along floor-wall junctions and under baseboards
- The base of the toilet and the sealant around the bathtub
- Behind and under cabinets, doors, and storage boxes
- Inside, behind, and under kitchen appliances, especially the refrigerator and stove
In a Houston kitchen the German roach harborage is almost always the warm, damp strip behind the refrigerator, the gap under the dishwasher, or the cabinet under the sink. Our guide to German roaches in a Houston kitchen walks through that room cabinet by cabinet.
What to do once you have found the signs
To keep more roaches from getting in, caulk and seal every crack and gap you can find, especially where pipes and wires enter the house. Cut off water by fixing leaky pipes and dripping fixtures and by wiping down sinks and tubs at night. Clean up food mess as it happens, keep leftovers in sealed containers, and make sure your trash cans have lids that close. Empty bins often and keep the kitchen as clean as you reasonably can.
Those steps slow an infestation but rarely end one. German roaches in particular breed faster than sanitation alone can keep up with, and retail sprays tend to scatter them into new hiding places. A licensed technician can identify the species, find the harborage, and treat it directly with products applied according to the label. If you already have a treatment scheduled, our article on what to do after pest control sprays for roaches covers how to prepare and what to expect in the weeks after.
Find out what you have before it spreads
Our Houston technicians can confirm the species, locate the harborage, and put together a treatment plan for your home. Egg casings and droppings mean the population is already growing, so sooner is better.
Keep reading
The German Cockroach
The most common indoor roach in Texas. Why German cockroaches are so hard to eliminate and how the pros do it.
Read articleCockroachesWhat To Do After Pest Control Sprays For Roaches
Why you see more roaches in the first two weeks, how long to wait before cleaning, and where the holdouts survive a first treatment.
Read articleCockroachesPreventing Common Cockroaches in Austin Homes: All the Steps You Should Take
The three cockroach species common in Austin, the problems they cause, how they get in, and every prevention step that keeps them out.
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