Why Do You Find Dead Cockroaches In Your House?

Cockroaches can easily invade your home if you’re not careful.

They’re also be notorious for spreading various diseases. It’s essential to keep your house cockroach-free if you want it to remain safe and healthy.

So, why do you find dead cockroaches in your house?

It’s normal to find dead cockroaches in your house from time to time.

It happens because cockroaches eat other bugs that die in your home. Cockroaches also prey on other cockroaches that die in your home as well.

Finally, some cockroaches die in your home because they get trapped or drown in the sink or bathtub. Overall, dead cockroaches aren’t a big deal.

They’re just a sign that your house is healthy and clean.

Why Do You Find Dead Cockroaches In Your House?

Boric Acid Cockroach Bait

Boric acid cockroach bait will result in dead roaches in your home or business, but it won’t kill live ones unless you spray the boric acid on live roaches.

If the boric acid is sprayed on live roaches, they will die from dehydration very quickly because they can’t absorb water anymore after they’ve been poisoned by the boric acid. Therefore, you shouldn’t spray the boric acid on live roaches because it will only cause more harm than good.

Infestation Of Cockroaches

If you keep discovering dead cockroaches exclusively in one room of your home, you may have an infestation of a specific species of roach living in that room.

For example, you might have a German roach infestation if you have a lot of German Roaches in one room of your house only. On the other hand, if you have a diverse number of species in one infested room, you probably have a widespread infestation.

However, if there’s just one type of insect found dead in a specific room, you have localized infestations in your home.

Dehydration

When cockroaches are thirsty, they will come out at night and search for food and water sources.

However, they’ll only come out at night if they’re dehydrated from not finding any food sources during the day.

Hence, if you find a lot of dehydrated-looking or dying roaches in your home, it’s likely because the kitchen has been left uncleaned for a long time or the water supply has dried up completely because of a leak somewhere in the house.

You will only discover dead cockroaches if you keep the home dry and clean all the time.

While it might be tempting to leave the water running while you’re away at work all day, this will only attract more bugs and lead to more infestations.

Therefore, it’s essential to keep the home clean at all times if you want to eliminate all traces of pests from your property.

Dead Roaches May Indicate a Fire Ant Infestation

Cockroaches are no match for fire ants; however, when roaches come in contact with them, they will try to run away or hide from them until the danger has passed.

They will, in fact, feast on the carcasses of the ants that have died after they have killed the ant’s nest and taken its queen and larvae.

Fire ants will attack any crawling insects that they find in their path; hence, if you come across a fire ant mound in your yard and you see a dead cricket near the mound, this indicates that a fire ant has killed it because of its fast speed.

Additionally, if you see a lot of dead crickets around a fire ant mound, there’s a good chance that the crickets were trying to escape the fire ants’ nest when they were attacked and killed by the ants.

House Lizards and Geckos Will Force You to Locate Dead Cockroaches.

Cockroaches are a favorite food of lizards and small rodents such as mice and rats; therefore, they’ll use up all the available food in your pantry when your house is infested with them.

If there’s no food left for them to eat in the house, they’ll venture out in search of more food and in the process may accidentally kill some adult and even baby roaches. As a result, you will locate more dead bodies of adult and even baby roaches when you search the cabinets or drawers for foodstuffs.

If you have a lot of lizards or small rodents in your house, you’ll eventually discover lots of dead bodies of adult and even baby roaches as a result.

Consequently, if you come across any dead body of a pest in a location where you haven’t placed any foodstuff recently, you should suspect the presence of lizards and small rodents in your pantry or even cupboards in the kitchen.

You should immediately get rid of the small rodents and the lizards in order to keep away the dead bodies of adult and even baby roaches that they carry with them.

A Rat Infestation Will Lead to the Discovery of Dead Roaches.

An rise in the number of dead roaches in a house is usually an indication of a rat infestation.

When rats eat other pests such as mice and squirrels, they often leave their bodies behind when they go back home to their nests after feeding on them.

Additionally, rats will often carry corpses of other pests such as slugs on their backs when they leave their nests to search for food during the night.

If the rat carries the corpse to a location where there’s a food source such as a compost pile or a garbage dump, the carcass will be devoured by the rat’s companions when the rat returns to its nest with it.

If you have rats in your home and they are leaving dead bodies behind them, there are a couple of things you can try to get rid of them.

Cockroaches Pretending to Be Dead

It’s fascinating that cockroaches can pretend to be dead even when they’re not really hurt at all.

They do this in order to get away from predators and hide in places where they can be safe.

For example, if a baby cockroach falls down from its hiding place on the ground and it lies there motionless, a predator will ignore it because it looks like a dead insect.

Then the baby cockroach will crawl back to its hiding place without being noticed by anyone.

Similarly, an adult female roach might fall down into a crack in the floor of a house and lie there motionless until it finds a safe place to hide.

When an adult roach gets surprised, it tries to hide by flattening itself to the ground so that it looks like a dead insect.

It will get back on its four legs after a few seconds and try to run away as fast as possible.

You may believe you are alone in your house when suddenly you see a black bug scurrying away.

What To Do If You See Dead Cockroaches In The House?

The first step is to determine why the cockroaches are dead in the first place.

Sometimes you may mistake them for some other insects such as flies or moths; therefore, it’s essential to check them for signs of life before killing them.

If a fly has just died and you want to get rid of it, simply swat it so that it dies instantly.

However, if you’re dealing with a living pest such as a cockroach, you’ll have to use a spray to kill it instantly. Cockroach baits and traps

Place the roach traps and baits where the roaches usually hide or crawl to such as the kitchen and bathrooms.

The deceased roaches are soon picked up by the ants and other insects and fed to their young.

This is accomplished by using a small plastic cup with bait that is laced with boric acid inside it. The cup is inverted and placed upside down in the infested area.

The entrance of the nest is also blocked up so that more adults won’t be able to enter and kill the bait.

Adult cockroaches don’t eat the bait because it is poisonous to them; however, they will carry the poisoned bait back to their nests and feed it to the larvae inside their colonies.

What to Do If You Keep Finding Dead Roaches in Your House?

If you constantly discovering dead roaches in your kitchen sink, your dishwasher or in your bathroom, then you may have a serious roach infestation problem on your hands.

• Drains should be adequately sealed to prevent roaches from gaining access into your home.
• Repair leaky water faucets and pipes.
• Masking tape should be used to seal the cracks around windows, doors and other entry points.
• To keep roaches at a safe distance from your indoor plants, make sure that they are well away from your home’s foundation.
• Ventilate your flat properly by using fans so that hot air can flow freely into the home.
• Clear the clutter around your home and keep surfaces clean and free of food crumbs.
• Keep countertops clean, and wipe down your sinks often to eliminate grease stains that may attract roaches.

Do Dead Cockroaches In House Pose Any Health Risks?

Cockroaches pose several health risks to you and your family.

They carry bacteria and viruses that cause diseases such as typhoid fever and gastroenteritis.

They also spread allergens such as feces and saliva that can trigger asthma attacks and other allergies.

Furthermore, cockroaches are known to carry parasitic worms that can cause intestinal infections and dysentery.

Finally, cockroaches can trigger asthma attacks, leading to serious medical problems.

For these reasons, it’s important to get rid of cockroaches as soon as possible.

Also Read: Do Cockroaches Play Dead?

Conclusion

If you see more dead roaches than normal, there’s a good chance you have an infestation of house pests in your home.

The presence of live insects in the home should be checked as well; however, the presence of dead insects is a clear indication that there are live ones hiding somewhere in the house.

Contact a pest control company to handle the problem effectively before it gets out of hand.

Furthermore, keep your home secure by sealing cracks around the windows and door entries to prevent future infestations from occurring.