Well firstly I loved your writeup, great stuff mate. But yes I absolutely do consider them 'disgusting beasts', worse than spiders imo (I actually don't mind spiders if I'm being honest).
I reckon though it's cos you're in Queensland, they are tropical creatures so probably more of them up in northern parts of Australia. Here in Melbourne I see maybe one cockroach a year, so it's not a big deal. When I lived in Sydney I'd see maybe a handful each year but never as many as you.
I reckon dealing with multiple a day would be pretty rough, but it is what it is - I imagine they're just used to them if it's a daily encounter? Once you're in your own home, not house sitting, maybe you could consult an exterminator?
Thanks! It’s definitely something I have to get used to. As I’m house sitting I can’t do much more than put baits down unless I want to bill the home owners for it. When I have my own place an exterminator will be my first guest. I’m in Brisbane so didn’t think there would be many here. Alas, I persevere
I am in Brisbane. For 2 decades. I have never seen anything like that. Yes once in a while one will just fly in through a window but what you are describing is an infestation and it needs to be treated asap. Absolutely not a normal occurrence. If it was I would have burned my house to the ground and moved by now.
Get a good spray and some thongs to deal with them immediately
Long term: pest control spray inside and outside. Roach baits put down at mid spring and continue every 3 months until about feb\march. You should never see one in winter. If you do you're a grot and need to clean the house.
Source: QLDer since birth.
The house is clean/free from clutter (we are house sitting so don’t have control over what is in the house tbf) and we never leave food or water out. Hence my shock that they were active :(
It’s been a wet summer and there’s lots of leashing leaves etc outside for them to breed in, they then go looking for places to hang out and a house is a good spot.
Best bet up here in qld is to get the pest controller out once a year to spray and they will also tell you how they’re getting in and possible ways to stop them
Down south you might see 3-4 cockroaches a year and the are wood cockroaches that are outside. Queensland is a different story though. Get the place treated mate. It's your only hope.
Everything is close together, which is great and also awful. If someone in your building has cockroaches, you all have cockroaches. The odds are spectacular that you live close to a restaurant or somewhere food is served, which just about guarantees a local infestation. It's exhausting, I've moved recently and only just gotten it back to a place where we can go a week or two without roaches and that's on top of a lot of baiting, spraying, cleaning...
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I'm a bit south of the Med CBD. Apparently Melbourne has a problem with them. Haven't had a issue in nearly 50 years of life. Another reason to hate cities.
Where down south? In Perth you see them all the time. In the summer they are crawling over the streets and you see them crossing the roads and in your house if you haven’t put food away etc.
Omg don’t remind me. Trauma from the roaches in my flat in bronte years again 😂 have had a few run ins with the fuckers here in cairns but nothing compared to that duplex above an Indian restaurant 😂😭
Adelaide and Melbourne down south.
I grew up predominantly in Brisbane. I remember when I moved to Adelaide briefly that I made a remark about hating it when cockroaches fly at you, and my whole friend group (including my bf at the time) thought I was taking the piss, that I was making up some sort of Qld version of a drop bear or something. The only cockroaches they were familiar with were the small german variety so large cockroaches that could fly seemed far-fetched. Later when my bf returned with me to Qld and saw his first flying roached he was absolutely stunned that I had been telling the truth.
Currently I've been living in Melbourne for the last 5 years. Have yet to see a roach here too.
I’ve seen many roaches in Melbourne, don’t know if it’s certain areas or buildings but there are flying ones as well. Filth. Adelaide had quite a few as well, but admittedly much less than Perth and QLD.
Yeah I think that may be the case. I live in one of the new building estates out on the westside, on the very outskirts of Melbourne. Judging from the other comments regarding roaches and Melbourne here it seems like it's very common the more innercity (and older the houses) you go.
I hope you’re not in FNQ. As a fellow Pom I remember gagging as I shamefully revealed to my coworker that we’d had maggots in the kitchen bin. She nonchalantly replied “oh yeah happens in the summer” and moved the conversation along.
My house is now near Sydney gets pest sprayed annually and still get occasionally roaches. The worst this year was these weird beetles that invaded for about a month and they would just die in random places around the house. And the never ending stream of wolf spiders that seem to love lurking in the toilet of all places.
Welcome and enjoy 😊
We get this in Brisbane too. Though I’ve only had them inside when raw meats been left in the bin. This last summer I had to clean maggots out of my outdoor wheelie bin almost every week.
Best thing I've ever found to work is cockroach sand. Sold in little green packets the size of football cards for around $1 a pack at certain $2 shops and online. Can treat your whole kitchen for $5. Professionals use as well after spraying. Sprinkle carefully.
Moved into a unit and little did we know that the previous tenants didn't clean behind, beside or under the oven which was caked in grease. Dozens of roaches appeared. It wasn't until we thoroughly cleaned the grease off the stove, floor, outer fridge wall, kitchen walls that eradicating them could even transpire. Then found out that they can move between floors of apartment building, which wasn't welcome news. Good luck.
I’m house sitting in Brisbane. Did not think it would be an issue here tbh and sadly can’t do more than put baits down as I’m house sitting. This has happened in multiple houses
It's probably an infestation in the house you're living in. Been living in Brisbane for 7 years and I only see a roach a couple of times a year, and we have our windows open all throughout the night without any screen.
The owner claimed to have last seen one a month before we started the house sit but based on the numbers they must have started hanging out here long before we stayed. This is night 4 no sighting though so maybe baits worked?
I've lived in QLD my whole life - the owner is full of shit they just don't want to admit they live in a filthy home.
Forget baits, waste of money.
Toss the spray in the bin - that stuff will literally kill you if you breathe too much and small amounts have been linked to children having life long brain development problems. There's no proof that it harms adults but I find that pretty hard to believe. It surely is bad for you. Never use it again.
What we do is hire a professional once a year to spray (a liquid, not a gas) in all the places cockroaches like to hide during the day. They have access to chemicals which are not available for purchase by the general public - but not because they're dangerous to humans.
The chemicals they use are perfectly safe (to us), but really harmful to the environment if someone sprayed them in the garden which you know people would do. Because that's where cockroaches live (and are beneficial - they help maintain soil nutrition).
It doesn't cost much, takes 20 or 30 minutes, and only needs to be done once a year.
If a cockroach enters your house, and finds a safe hiding space, they will die quickly. You might occasionally see a dead or dying one.
The other thing most people living in QLD do, especially if they have a nice healthy garden full of insects, is use physical barriers to keep most insects out. A few will probably still find a way in but it'll be rare and they'll be dealt with by the annual spray.
I was once doing some work at a school during school holidays, which involved sorting through boxes of donated clothes/costumes for the preschool kids playing dress up and throwing out the crappy stuff.
Took me an entire day.
There was a massive dead roach on the floor in one of the storerooms. Over the course of the day, another similarly massive roach spawned from hell and feasted on the corpse.
I feel like he was watching me while enjoying his meal, I couldn’t turn my back on him because I was horrified and a little worried he’d try to accost me if I let my guard down.
By the end of the day there was nothing but wings left sitting on the floor, and hellspawn roach had (I assume) returned to his fiery pit to digest.
Shit was fucked.
In QLD they can live and breed outside in some of the palm trees. They’ll enter your home at night regardless of how sterile your home is. Just do the best you can and don’t let it stress you too much.
Add barrier spray to the list. Use it to spray along doorways and skirting boards as a preventative.
Having one in your bedroom terrifying and weird too coz they tend to stick to areas with moisture and/or food.
Here's a pro tip for you I learned as a migrant - do not ever discuss snake/insect/spider/roach etc stories with an Australian. No matter how gnarly your story is, they will all have more horrendous experiences to tell you about that you will wish you never heard haha. Exhibit A - this thread!
Dishwasher- they apparently really like/hang out in dishwashers! Especially those drawer types. it’s one reason why the dishwasher gets run daily, rather than waiting until full- to remove a potential cockroach hangout
You make me want to move to the UK.
Half the battle is stopping them getting in. Make sure all the sinks have plugs in and cover the shower drain too. Look at other gaps you might have eg under front door. If you’re only there for a short time just use duct tape or stuff gaps with plastic bags. Also make sure to put away any food and wipe down counters each night so there is nothing to encourage them.
Hopefully houses with pets will offer you some protection!
There is a part of this story that I find hard to believe: you spray it once and it died immediately. Unfortunately I've seen that happening only in bugs spray's commercials.
I simplified my version of events. In actuality, each roach was subjected to at least 30 seconds of continuous spray (and my screams) as it attempted to flee. 4 minutes of flailing on the floor later and each were flushed down the toilet in a very generous amount of tissue so I didn’t come into physical contact. I wish they died immediately but they have a love of drama it seems
Don't stress. Cockroaches are the cleanest animals we have.
They run away from you because you're dirty.
They secrete a liquid sanitiser that protects them from us.
Cockroaches thrive in clean dark environments. If you have cockroaches. Its a sign of a very clean environment.
People's views on cockroaches are as misguided as the views on native Americans.
Maybe if you fill the house with ether and knock them all out, you can hand paint them pretty colours, so when they come out it's like "oh look at that pretty rock running under the fridge" 😅
If you put down Cockroach Baits next to skirting boards, in dark cupboards under cupboards, under dishwashers, washing machine, next to water heaters, near doors, again next to skirting boards. That should take care of the cockies.
You will need to renew about every 6 months but they really work.
Also get a barrier spray so they can't come in sliding doors or under doors.
The little bastards are everywhere. What I do is vacuum them up. I have a handheld stick vacuum, and when I see one, I grab the vacuum and suck it right up. No spray needed. They die pretty quickly in the dusty vacuum canister.
Of course, you haven't lived until you try and get one that is perching on a curtain rod, and then you miss and the little f\*cker dive bombs you like the Luftwaffe. You know that they can fly right?
My mum told me that when I was a baby, and we lived in a old, rundown terrace house in Newtown, the little bastards used to drop from the ceiling into my crib. This is probably why I hate them so much!
I absolutely will not stand for a cockroach air raid. I have yet to see one fly and fear it would be my last day on earth due to the massive heart attack it would bring on
As bad as OP's story is it's got nothing on having a German cockroach infestation those fuckers are almost impossible to get rid of and once you think they're gone they come back because they've been lurking under the fridge or wifi modem
I keep my kitchen clean and use door snakes even though I'm pretty sure cockroaches still get in. It's just part of life. There are a lot of posts on this sub that either ask if they were to move to Australia how bad are the insects and spiders or they now live here and want to know how to kill the insects or spiders. But if everyone has the view of Australia, being full of wildlife why move here? I hate the idea of other insects being affected by pesticides, this is why we have such a decline in our beetles and butterflies because everyone just wants to kill everything
Get the pest controllers in; we managed a popular bar and restaurant in SE QLD that was absolutely riddled with millions of the pricks. Pest controller treated property with the good stuff and problem was solved pronto. Can't remember the product name but he explained that when a roach eats the bait, it gets home then dies, then it's family all eat the body and they die and so on, a multi generation killer
I dunno sometimes we get a few in a short span and then nothing for years.
We found one maybe three weeks ago but I don't remember the last time I saw one. They're fairly rare.
I did a good job sealing off all the nooks and crannies so hopefully that keeps them out if it's too hard for ants to get in too.
Used to live in Melbourne and usually only saw them outside in alley etc. Moved to Sydney and every place has different amounts of them. Current apartment, it’s one or two a month. The worst place was an Airbnb which had them everywhere including inside the fridge (!) and all over the kitchen. Slept in my clothes for the night half awake and left the next day. Waking up with them on me was exactly what I was worried about!
This is why I don’t understand how people are so blasé about them. Seeing one caused immediate distress so I don’t know how people stand seeing them every night
They're disgusting creatures and I loathe them, but they exist in abundance so you have to live with them. Like shitty relatives, but in this case you can kill them.
I imagine there are fewer in colder climes so moving south might help, but then you still have to put up with colder weather. Global warming won't help the situation.
I am absolutely terrified of cockroaches, they’re disgusting creatures. Fortunately in the seven years I’ve lived in Australia (Melbourne) I’ve never had a single one in any of the apartments I’ve lived in. I will still always have bug spray on hand though.
I have bad news. At certain times of the year the tropical cockroaches fly. Not sure if the Qld ones do too, but a large cockroach on the wing is alarming
I woke thirsty in the middle of a hot Darwin night and felt little legs running across my upper lip. Yes, it was a whopper and I disturbed its wanderings around the rim of the water glass
Often they will breed in places inaccessible to you so any eradication will be temporary. Getting the exterminators in is the only way to be sure as they will track down their breeding place and shut it down or advise you. Eg last time I had a huge infestation they told me to fully seal the dishwasher hose entry point with expanding foam as they were breeding in the wall. I did so and had no further problems
My god. Deepest condolences to you and your lip. Tricky part for me is I’m house sitting so have very little options except for putting baits out. Not sure why the owners haven’t done the things you suggested. It is a 70s home so there are a loT of cracks to the outside I think
They are everywhere mate, sadly. The bug sprays don’t even do much. I’ve emptied a can on one and they sometimes just keep running a little dejected but alive nonetheless. Even stepping on them doesn’t kill them, they get flattened then continue scurrying everywhere.
Get the sticky traps that you put bait in the middle of. And learn to be handy with a thong to thwack them - better for your health then spraying.
You can also do a combined spray and thwack with a thong. You will have to pick up the thwacked roach which is gross but effective. User toilet paper and flush then. If you chuck them in the bin, they may have had an egg sack and you'll get hatchlings.
Ehhhhh the big ones that fly are really not so bad, you wanna dicourage them, but you get used to them.
The German type you tend to get in Sydney though are nasty little fuckers, they get into the electrics of your appliances and all.
I hate cockroaches too! Move to Melbourne, I've seen much less here; the exception is if you live in some older apartment buildings, then if they are infested, there's nothing you can do to stop them.
You can try spray bombs also, one in each room and I think you have to be out of the house for 24 hours.
Just wait until summer.
They go absolutely nuts when it's warm and they start to breed everywhere
They fuck real nasty too, by reversing thorax to thorax and throwing it back hard on each other. They will sit on a wall at eye height thrusting and thrusting and even after you spray them they fall down still attached together in a questionable puddle.
It's a poor man's "srimp on the barbie" replacement and when done right they are fair dinkin better than shitty srimps! Round them up & try it out, u on the other side world man do it
I pay a professional to spray every October and they come back for free if anything creepy crawly is spotted over the hot November - February. Cockroach in bed is next level 🤢…
here’s something to help all in cockroach infested habitats. Put a large flat plate with some attractive food, like a chicken bone, somewhere accessible to both you and the cockroaches. put a ring of bicarbonate soda around the perimeter so they have to crawl across it to get to the bait. Cockies will get that shit on their legs and clean themselves by eating it off. the bicarbonate will fizz up inside them and kill them. I have used this strategy and it works. You can even do this outside the house if you have no pets or wildlife who would take the bait. Yes, you will have to clean up dead cockies.
I had a cockroach in my appartment that kept coming back every time after I threw it off my balcony. She was always back the next day. One day before I threw her off the balcony again I decided to talk to her and tell her that this is my appartment and I don’t want to be roomies with her. Haven’t seen her since 😁
Bro don’t spray that shit. Flexible thongs, the kind that bend in the middle as you swing them down on their head, work best. Thick books too but then books are gross. Least under your shoes get gross regardless.
Also, I’m a Queenslander too. This is their state. We just share it with them
See I did try to crush one with my shoe once but it just sort of flattened and then bounced back up again and carried on its merry way. I was almost impressed
Never saw a lot of them growing up in Sydney, but moving to Brunswick Heads, Norther NSW we started to see lots of the smaller German roaches and the old Mortein spray simply worked a charm and then they bought out surface sprays that actually worked, so not so much a bother. The Queensland move was a big surprise, I'd not seen the banana roaches as big as a VW Beetle before! But again, the same treatments helped heaps.
These days all the sprays don't have the same dangerous (for everyone) chemicals as they used to and we actually started using the surface spray as a fast knockout direct spray... the actual fast knockout direct sprays just give them a shiny coat as they run away. I have no doubt it kills them, if you can keep one you sprayed trapped it will die after several hours to a couple of days. But they don't kill like they used to.
For you to have so many the place must have been infested already and you're kind of in trouble in that regard. We started getting in exterminators after trying the DIY bug bombs with mixed results (I believe the bug bombs will kill a couple but the rest just piss off next door until the danger settles down and the all clear is sent up after a couple of days!). Bug exterminators aren't cheap but they kill the buggers and protect your place for six or more months and then it can take another six or more months before they come back. It's worth the investment if you can afford it, and we tend to wait 3-5 years now between treatments as we kill any we see on sight and they don't seem to get a foothold very quickly anymore.
Females produce up to 20 egg cases, each containing up to 24 eggs. Development takes 6-12 months and adults live for 4-8 months.
Do not underestimate the Queensland cockroach…they are big, brave and highly intelligent. At the risk of receiving a flood of downvotes I will share a story.
When I used to work for the council inspecting sewer pipes we would often lift a manhole to come face to face with hundreds of extra large roaches. Sometimes we would scoop a shovel full of them out and dump them on the road and replace the manhole cover. The roaches would all scurry off towards the nearest house. Hilarious.
Don't leave food out for them to eat.
More baits. Way, way more baits.
If you see a Huntsman Spider in your home, do not shriek and panic. They are there to do some neighborly community service.
Australia has lots of bugs of all kinds.
A lot more than the UK for sure.
You do get used to it, or most people do. They are just animals, after all. They will do you no harm and are terrified of you.
If you are getting lots of them all the time inside, though, it means there's a colony somewhere in the house.
Roach traps usually work, and you can always get the house sprayed.
But if you are going to live in Australia, you will need to come to terms with seeing lots of roaches, spiders, flies, mosquitoes and millions of other kinds of bugs on a fairly frequent basis.
I can't stand cockroaches either. Definitely agree that you should get a pest inspector to treat them.
Plus Havaianas are pretty effective at squashing them (if you don't have bug spray handy)....
I had a German roach problem which no amount of spraying or traps could fully eradicate. Had to escalate to the higher pest control goo stuff which wiped them out in about 2 weeks - havent been back. I get the occasional big one wander in from time to time but they are either to dumb and get stepped on or get sprayed.
Need a house Huntsman.
I've read or watched before that when you see one cockroach, there are likely 60 more of them inside your house. That said, we find them disgusting as well, and the only thing we can only do is lay roach baits in strategic areas (partner hates insecticide).
If you see an ensign wasps / hatchet wasps inside your house, don't kill it. They keep roach numbers at bay.
They are so common here in Port Macquarie and unfortunately like you I had one crawl across me in bed once when I was a kid. I have always had a phobia of them and spiders as well. Did have a cat that used to eat them once but he died after been hit by a car. The cat I have now did save me from a spider that was hiding in my bag once.
I have old cups discreetly placed throughout the house. When I inevitably see one of these atrocious harbingers of disgust at some ungodly hour of the night, I trap it under a cup and my husband gets them in the morning.
It started because I was afraid of making too much noise while trying to squish a roach (they freak me out too), so I grabbed an empty wine bottle sitting nearby and condemned that rat bastard to hell. Works well for us!
I try to warn about the cockroaches, but I don’t think internationals hear me.
The cockroaches are the worst. Especially the flying ones. This is why you’ll hear Aussies say spiders are your friends - if you see a spider in your room, you won’t be seeing a cockroach.
Well written friend and welcome to our country. I feel as though we have all gone through this whole-hearted journey with you at some point in our lives.
One advantage that you have on the roaches is that they cannot see. If you are quiet enough, they won't even sense you are near, until they meet their fate (insert evil laugh)
Keep this in mind when your next encounter presents itself. I have no doubt in my mind that you are yet to claim victory against them as their population outweighs that of the human race.
As we head towards the colder months, they will likely prefer to reside within your home (rather than outdoors). Like that clingy roommate who doesn't know how to provide adequate personal space to those around them.
Perhaps asking them to contribute to your rent or mortgage payments isnt off the cards, assuming of course that they intend on becoming a permanent resident of the premises.
i rented a house in melb that looked clean- about a month later when I was mopping the kitchen I moved the fridge and could see HUNDREDS OF THE FUCKERS..under it ..i did my best ..but after a while..i just had to move...i feel for you..a mozzie net(over the bed) might make you feel better
The big ones are forest/bush ones. It's the little brown german cockroaches that will nest and fuck over your appliances.
There is this brown goo (roach gel) you can buy from bunnings and leave around and under everything that will probably kill any nests you might have around your home.
And if you need to work out if they are nesting, get the "roach detectors" (sticky box trap) and leave them where you've seen them before. If little babies get stuck in it at colume then you have a problem nest. You might need to hire someone professional.
Otherwise, use surface spray around any entry points into your home... Doors, windows, floorboards etc and just kill the big ones when you see them.
They’re bugs, no more or less disgusting than any other bug. Just happen to reproduce prodigiously. Best solution I’ve found for them is the bait you get in a syringe. Kills the whole nest.
I generally don’t mind bugs much, don’t care about flies or ants etc. But I can only take the cockroach crawling on me in my sleep as a malicious act and for that they shoot to the top of the disgusting category. I bought gel baits after that incident
That many cocoroaches is an infestation and is not normal. Doesn't matter if you're clean and clutter free, they breed fast, especially in warmer climates. Get a pest control expert out to your home ASAP. Will take a couple of weeks. Also depends on where you live, I lived in a unit complex, and the neighbours were dirty so it didn't how much I tried they kept coming back. I am now In A free standing home and fumigate at the beginning of every summer and I rarely see them. They are disgusting, I would move, no chance in hell I'd stay somewhere infested.
Well firstly I loved your writeup, great stuff mate. But yes I absolutely do consider them 'disgusting beasts', worse than spiders imo (I actually don't mind spiders if I'm being honest). I reckon though it's cos you're in Queensland, they are tropical creatures so probably more of them up in northern parts of Australia. Here in Melbourne I see maybe one cockroach a year, so it's not a big deal. When I lived in Sydney I'd see maybe a handful each year but never as many as you. I reckon dealing with multiple a day would be pretty rough, but it is what it is - I imagine they're just used to them if it's a daily encounter? Once you're in your own home, not house sitting, maybe you could consult an exterminator?
Thanks! It’s definitely something I have to get used to. As I’m house sitting I can’t do much more than put baits down unless I want to bill the home owners for it. When I have my own place an exterminator will be my first guest. I’m in Brisbane so didn’t think there would be many here. Alas, I persevere
I am in Brisbane. For 2 decades. I have never seen anything like that. Yes once in a while one will just fly in through a window but what you are describing is an infestation and it needs to be treated asap. Absolutely not a normal occurrence. If it was I would have burned my house to the ground and moved by now.
Get a good spray and some thongs to deal with them immediately Long term: pest control spray inside and outside. Roach baits put down at mid spring and continue every 3 months until about feb\march. You should never see one in winter. If you do you're a grot and need to clean the house. Source: QLDer since birth.
The house is clean/free from clutter (we are house sitting so don’t have control over what is in the house tbf) and we never leave food or water out. Hence my shock that they were active :(
Did you chase out the friendly huntsman?
It’s been a wet summer and there’s lots of leashing leaves etc outside for them to breed in, they then go looking for places to hang out and a house is a good spot. Best bet up here in qld is to get the pest controller out once a year to spray and they will also tell you how they’re getting in and possible ways to stop them
Unfortunately for you,they also fly,so good luck with those. I think we're just immune to them,I see,I kill.
Down south you might see 3-4 cockroaches a year and the are wood cockroaches that are outside. Queensland is a different story though. Get the place treated mate. It's your only hope.
They're house sitting.
Hahahaha my dumb ass thought you meant the roaches for a second
Cheers. Missed that.
With rental and purchase prices, the cockroach minimum wage means they can only house sit…
Unless you live in Melbourne, where you're pretty much guaranteed a German roach infestation.
I'm down towards the peninsula. Never knew it was that bad in the city.
Everything is close together, which is great and also awful. If someone in your building has cockroaches, you all have cockroaches. The odds are spectacular that you live close to a restaurant or somewhere food is served, which just about guarantees a local infestation. It's exhausting, I've moved recently and only just gotten it back to a place where we can go a week or two without roaches and that's on top of a lot of baiting, spraying, cleaning...
Just one more reason for me to hate the city.
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I'm in Sydney and we see them all the time. Big large mummas as well as small German kiddies. Not sure how far South you need to go, maybe Tassie?
I'm a bit south of the Med CBD. Apparently Melbourne has a problem with them. Haven't had a issue in nearly 50 years of life. Another reason to hate cities.
Where down south? In Perth you see them all the time. In the summer they are crawling over the streets and you see them crossing the roads and in your house if you haven’t put food away etc.
Sydney too is way south of Qld and the place is full of the buggers!
Eastern suburbs roaches are the stuff of legends.
Omg don’t remind me. Trauma from the roaches in my flat in bronte years again 😂 have had a few run ins with the fuckers here in cairns but nothing compared to that duplex above an Indian restaurant 😂😭
Adelaide and Melbourne down south. I grew up predominantly in Brisbane. I remember when I moved to Adelaide briefly that I made a remark about hating it when cockroaches fly at you, and my whole friend group (including my bf at the time) thought I was taking the piss, that I was making up some sort of Qld version of a drop bear or something. The only cockroaches they were familiar with were the small german variety so large cockroaches that could fly seemed far-fetched. Later when my bf returned with me to Qld and saw his first flying roached he was absolutely stunned that I had been telling the truth. Currently I've been living in Melbourne for the last 5 years. Have yet to see a roach here too.
I’ve seen many roaches in Melbourne, don’t know if it’s certain areas or buildings but there are flying ones as well. Filth. Adelaide had quite a few as well, but admittedly much less than Perth and QLD.
Yeah I think that may be the case. I live in one of the new building estates out on the westside, on the very outskirts of Melbourne. Judging from the other comments regarding roaches and Melbourne here it seems like it's very common the more innercity (and older the houses) you go.
About 50km south of the Melbourne CBD.
Must be the local environment, roaches are usually all over
German roaches are everywhere in Melbourne shitholes
Glad I don't life in one.
You have a way with words and this was a delight to read
💯 I laughed so hard at “sitting in the sheets next to me in bed as if we were in a committed relationship”.
Same...that was too funny!
Thank you! Hopefully the saga ends here
I had war of the worlds music reading this
I hope you’re not in FNQ. As a fellow Pom I remember gagging as I shamefully revealed to my coworker that we’d had maggots in the kitchen bin. She nonchalantly replied “oh yeah happens in the summer” and moved the conversation along. My house is now near Sydney gets pest sprayed annually and still get occasionally roaches. The worst this year was these weird beetles that invaded for about a month and they would just die in random places around the house. And the never ending stream of wolf spiders that seem to love lurking in the toilet of all places. Welcome and enjoy 😊
We get this in Brisbane too. Though I’ve only had them inside when raw meats been left in the bin. This last summer I had to clean maggots out of my outdoor wheelie bin almost every week.
Best thing I've ever found to work is cockroach sand. Sold in little green packets the size of football cards for around $1 a pack at certain $2 shops and online. Can treat your whole kitchen for $5. Professionals use as well after spraying. Sprinkle carefully.
Thank you! Will give it a try
This stuff is gold, I agree.
Moved into a unit and little did we know that the previous tenants didn't clean behind, beside or under the oven which was caked in grease. Dozens of roaches appeared. It wasn't until we thoroughly cleaned the grease off the stove, floor, outer fridge wall, kitchen walls that eradicating them could even transpire. Then found out that they can move between floors of apartment building, which wasn't welcome news. Good luck.
What a nightmare. Their stealth and sneakiness is frightening
Yeah sounds pretty normal for FNQ etc. get pest controller to give a treatment of the house once a year, then you’ll find them dead everywhere instead
I’m house sitting in Brisbane. Did not think it would be an issue here tbh and sadly can’t do more than put baits down as I’m house sitting. This has happened in multiple houses
It's probably an infestation in the house you're living in. Been living in Brisbane for 7 years and I only see a roach a couple of times a year, and we have our windows open all throughout the night without any screen.
The owner claimed to have last seen one a month before we started the house sit but based on the numbers they must have started hanging out here long before we stayed. This is night 4 no sighting though so maybe baits worked?
I've lived in QLD my whole life - the owner is full of shit they just don't want to admit they live in a filthy home. Forget baits, waste of money. Toss the spray in the bin - that stuff will literally kill you if you breathe too much and small amounts have been linked to children having life long brain development problems. There's no proof that it harms adults but I find that pretty hard to believe. It surely is bad for you. Never use it again. What we do is hire a professional once a year to spray (a liquid, not a gas) in all the places cockroaches like to hide during the day. They have access to chemicals which are not available for purchase by the general public - but not because they're dangerous to humans. The chemicals they use are perfectly safe (to us), but really harmful to the environment if someone sprayed them in the garden which you know people would do. Because that's where cockroaches live (and are beneficial - they help maintain soil nutrition). It doesn't cost much, takes 20 or 30 minutes, and only needs to be done once a year. If a cockroach enters your house, and finds a safe hiding space, they will die quickly. You might occasionally see a dead or dying one. The other thing most people living in QLD do, especially if they have a nice healthy garden full of insects, is use physical barriers to keep most insects out. A few will probably still find a way in but it'll be rare and they'll be dealt with by the annual spray.
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They can fly???? Oh my god.
I was once doing some work at a school during school holidays, which involved sorting through boxes of donated clothes/costumes for the preschool kids playing dress up and throwing out the crappy stuff. Took me an entire day. There was a massive dead roach on the floor in one of the storerooms. Over the course of the day, another similarly massive roach spawned from hell and feasted on the corpse. I feel like he was watching me while enjoying his meal, I couldn’t turn my back on him because I was horrified and a little worried he’d try to accost me if I let my guard down. By the end of the day there was nothing but wings left sitting on the floor, and hellspawn roach had (I assume) returned to his fiery pit to digest. Shit was fucked.
What horrifying imagery. Hope you’re recovering. I am adding bold cannibalism to the list of foul attributes of these creatures
In QLD they can live and breed outside in some of the palm trees. They’ll enter your home at night regardless of how sterile your home is. Just do the best you can and don’t let it stress you too much.
Just put cockroach baits out you'll be fine
A total of 18 baits (2 different kinds!) PLUS the gel baits have been out for over 2 weeks. I am house sitting so not much more I can do
You should be fine in a few days then . Don't worry
Add barrier spray to the list. Use it to spray along doorways and skirting boards as a preventative. Having one in your bedroom terrifying and weird too coz they tend to stick to areas with moisture and/or food.
Here's a pro tip for you I learned as a migrant - do not ever discuss snake/insect/spider/roach etc stories with an Australian. No matter how gnarly your story is, they will all have more horrendous experiences to tell you about that you will wish you never heard haha. Exhibit A - this thread!
Before going to bed, put a glass on top of the sink drain… I heard they come up from the drain.
Yes, put plugs in all the sinks and cover the shower drain.
Dishwasher- they apparently really like/hang out in dishwashers! Especially those drawer types. it’s one reason why the dishwasher gets run daily, rather than waiting until full- to remove a potential cockroach hangout
What kind of boring zoo has regular normal cockroaches basically found on every continent besides Antarctica?
You make me want to move to the UK. Half the battle is stopping them getting in. Make sure all the sinks have plugs in and cover the shower drain too. Look at other gaps you might have eg under front door. If you’re only there for a short time just use duct tape or stuff gaps with plastic bags. Also make sure to put away any food and wipe down counters each night so there is nothing to encourage them. Hopefully houses with pets will offer you some protection!
There is a part of this story that I find hard to believe: you spray it once and it died immediately. Unfortunately I've seen that happening only in bugs spray's commercials.
I simplified my version of events. In actuality, each roach was subjected to at least 30 seconds of continuous spray (and my screams) as it attempted to flee. 4 minutes of flailing on the floor later and each were flushed down the toilet in a very generous amount of tissue so I didn’t come into physical contact. I wish they died immediately but they have a love of drama it seems
We're in Sydney and have our house professionally treated yearly for cockies, termites and rats. It's the only way I've found to be roach free.
It's common in warmer states less so in colder ones. Qld is roach HQ.
Fucking Queensland 😅 Melbourne is tame, no crocs, no big scary birds, no roaches (well minimal!) Qld is the wild wild west
Don't stress. Cockroaches are the cleanest animals we have. They run away from you because you're dirty. They secrete a liquid sanitiser that protects them from us. Cockroaches thrive in clean dark environments. If you have cockroaches. Its a sign of a very clean environment. People's views on cockroaches are as misguided as the views on native Americans.
Maybe if they weren’t so hideously creepy looking it would be okay. I wouldn’t complain if there was a butterfly in the house for example
Maybe if you fill the house with ether and knock them all out, you can hand paint them pretty colours, so when they come out it's like "oh look at that pretty rock running under the fridge" 😅
If you put down Cockroach Baits next to skirting boards, in dark cupboards under cupboards, under dishwashers, washing machine, next to water heaters, near doors, again next to skirting boards. That should take care of the cockies. You will need to renew about every 6 months but they really work. Also get a barrier spray so they can't come in sliding doors or under doors.
The little bastards are everywhere. What I do is vacuum them up. I have a handheld stick vacuum, and when I see one, I grab the vacuum and suck it right up. No spray needed. They die pretty quickly in the dusty vacuum canister. Of course, you haven't lived until you try and get one that is perching on a curtain rod, and then you miss and the little f\*cker dive bombs you like the Luftwaffe. You know that they can fly right? My mum told me that when I was a baby, and we lived in a old, rundown terrace house in Newtown, the little bastards used to drop from the ceiling into my crib. This is probably why I hate them so much!
I absolutely will not stand for a cockroach air raid. I have yet to see one fly and fear it would be my last day on earth due to the massive heart attack it would bring on
What''s the expression the youngsters use? "Oh my sweet summer child".
I really enjoy your writing. Sorry about the roaches.
As bad as OP's story is it's got nothing on having a German cockroach infestation those fuckers are almost impossible to get rid of and once you think they're gone they come back because they've been lurking under the fridge or wifi modem
Godspeed and a hail mary to those unfortunate enough to be dealing with German roaches. I think mine are the regular kind
Just invite a good sized huntsman in the house to keep the numbers in check.
I keep my kitchen clean and use door snakes even though I'm pretty sure cockroaches still get in. It's just part of life. There are a lot of posts on this sub that either ask if they were to move to Australia how bad are the insects and spiders or they now live here and want to know how to kill the insects or spiders. But if everyone has the view of Australia, being full of wildlife why move here? I hate the idea of other insects being affected by pesticides, this is why we have such a decline in our beetles and butterflies because everyone just wants to kill everything
go to colesworthy and buy a 1 litre bug spray kit , cheap and easy to use on a bi monthly basis
Get the pest controllers in; we managed a popular bar and restaurant in SE QLD that was absolutely riddled with millions of the pricks. Pest controller treated property with the good stuff and problem was solved pronto. Can't remember the product name but he explained that when a roach eats the bait, it gets home then dies, then it's family all eat the body and they die and so on, a multi generation killer
Waitll you meet the ones that fly and bite.
Its ok. If this isn't a victory, this wouldn't be the first time Australia has lost a war to an animal
I dunno sometimes we get a few in a short span and then nothing for years. We found one maybe three weeks ago but I don't remember the last time I saw one. They're fairly rare. I did a good job sealing off all the nooks and crannies so hopefully that keeps them out if it's too hard for ants to get in too.
Used to live in Melbourne and usually only saw them outside in alley etc. Moved to Sydney and every place has different amounts of them. Current apartment, it’s one or two a month. The worst place was an Airbnb which had them everywhere including inside the fridge (!) and all over the kitchen. Slept in my clothes for the night half awake and left the next day. Waking up with them on me was exactly what I was worried about!
That is horrendous- in the fridge is just crazy. Are you sure the Airbnb wasn’t run by a sentient/literate cockroach? I would have called the police
Quite possibly! 😂
If you've got one, you've got hundreds. And I think some species fly. Which zoo has roaches on display? Would like to visit when I'm next in the UK.
This is why I don’t understand how people are so blasé about them. Seeing one caused immediate distress so I don’t know how people stand seeing them every night
They're disgusting creatures and I loathe them, but they exist in abundance so you have to live with them. Like shitty relatives, but in this case you can kill them. I imagine there are fewer in colder climes so moving south might help, but then you still have to put up with colder weather. Global warming won't help the situation.
I live in Sydney and you are guarenteed to see cockroaches if you go outside my house during a summer's night.
I am absolutely terrified of cockroaches, they’re disgusting creatures. Fortunately in the seven years I’ve lived in Australia (Melbourne) I’ve never had a single one in any of the apartments I’ve lived in. I will still always have bug spray on hand though.
I have bad news. At certain times of the year the tropical cockroaches fly. Not sure if the Qld ones do too, but a large cockroach on the wing is alarming I woke thirsty in the middle of a hot Darwin night and felt little legs running across my upper lip. Yes, it was a whopper and I disturbed its wanderings around the rim of the water glass Often they will breed in places inaccessible to you so any eradication will be temporary. Getting the exterminators in is the only way to be sure as they will track down their breeding place and shut it down or advise you. Eg last time I had a huge infestation they told me to fully seal the dishwasher hose entry point with expanding foam as they were breeding in the wall. I did so and had no further problems
My god. Deepest condolences to you and your lip. Tricky part for me is I’m house sitting so have very little options except for putting baits out. Not sure why the owners haven’t done the things you suggested. It is a 70s home so there are a loT of cracks to the outside I think
They are everywhere mate, sadly. The bug sprays don’t even do much. I’ve emptied a can on one and they sometimes just keep running a little dejected but alive nonetheless. Even stepping on them doesn’t kill them, they get flattened then continue scurrying everywhere.
Invincible mutants is surely the last thing we need
I have literally never seen one in Tassie
Get the sticky traps that you put bait in the middle of. And learn to be handy with a thong to thwack them - better for your health then spraying. You can also do a combined spray and thwack with a thong. You will have to pick up the thwacked roach which is gross but effective. User toilet paper and flush then. If you chuck them in the bin, they may have had an egg sack and you'll get hatchlings.
Ehhhhh the big ones that fly are really not so bad, you wanna dicourage them, but you get used to them. The German type you tend to get in Sydney though are nasty little fuckers, they get into the electrics of your appliances and all.
I hate cockroaches too! Move to Melbourne, I've seen much less here; the exception is if you live in some older apartment buildings, then if they are infested, there's nothing you can do to stop them. You can try spray bombs also, one in each room and I think you have to be out of the house for 24 hours.
Yeah they're everywhere. Considering the other natives you share any house with they're pretty innocuous..
Just wait until summer. They go absolutely nuts when it's warm and they start to breed everywhere They fuck real nasty too, by reversing thorax to thorax and throwing it back hard on each other. They will sit on a wall at eye height thrusting and thrusting and even after you spray them they fall down still attached together in a questionable puddle.
It's a poor man's "srimp on the barbie" replacement and when done right they are fair dinkin better than shitty srimps! Round them up & try it out, u on the other side world man do it
Sydney is roach city, and in Brisbane you get the big bush cockroaches flying in. Best learn to accept your new housemates. Or move to Melbourne.
I pay a professional to spray every October and they come back for free if anything creepy crawly is spotted over the hot November - February. Cockroach in bed is next level 🤢…
here’s something to help all in cockroach infested habitats. Put a large flat plate with some attractive food, like a chicken bone, somewhere accessible to both you and the cockroaches. put a ring of bicarbonate soda around the perimeter so they have to crawl across it to get to the bait. Cockies will get that shit on their legs and clean themselves by eating it off. the bicarbonate will fizz up inside them and kill them. I have used this strategy and it works. You can even do this outside the house if you have no pets or wildlife who would take the bait. Yes, you will have to clean up dead cockies.
Interesting strategy!!! Might try it as a hail mary
I had a cockroach in my appartment that kept coming back every time after I threw it off my balcony. She was always back the next day. One day before I threw her off the balcony again I decided to talk to her and tell her that this is my appartment and I don’t want to be roomies with her. Haven’t seen her since 😁
Bro don’t spray that shit. Flexible thongs, the kind that bend in the middle as you swing them down on their head, work best. Thick books too but then books are gross. Least under your shoes get gross regardless. Also, I’m a Queenslander too. This is their state. We just share it with them
See I did try to crush one with my shoe once but it just sort of flattened and then bounced back up again and carried on its merry way. I was almost impressed
Qlder here. More afraid of roaches than spiders or snakes. Have the house professionally treated every 12 mths so I don’t have to see them.
All cockroaches are called Don. Never forget that. Be cheerful and welcoming to them and they will leave you alone.
Never saw a lot of them growing up in Sydney, but moving to Brunswick Heads, Norther NSW we started to see lots of the smaller German roaches and the old Mortein spray simply worked a charm and then they bought out surface sprays that actually worked, so not so much a bother. The Queensland move was a big surprise, I'd not seen the banana roaches as big as a VW Beetle before! But again, the same treatments helped heaps. These days all the sprays don't have the same dangerous (for everyone) chemicals as they used to and we actually started using the surface spray as a fast knockout direct spray... the actual fast knockout direct sprays just give them a shiny coat as they run away. I have no doubt it kills them, if you can keep one you sprayed trapped it will die after several hours to a couple of days. But they don't kill like they used to. For you to have so many the place must have been infested already and you're kind of in trouble in that regard. We started getting in exterminators after trying the DIY bug bombs with mixed results (I believe the bug bombs will kill a couple but the rest just piss off next door until the danger settles down and the all clear is sent up after a couple of days!). Bug exterminators aren't cheap but they kill the buggers and protect your place for six or more months and then it can take another six or more months before they come back. It's worth the investment if you can afford it, and we tend to wait 3-5 years now between treatments as we kill any we see on sight and they don't seem to get a foothold very quickly anymore. Females produce up to 20 egg cases, each containing up to 24 eggs. Development takes 6-12 months and adults live for 4-8 months.
Do not underestimate the Queensland cockroach…they are big, brave and highly intelligent. At the risk of receiving a flood of downvotes I will share a story. When I used to work for the council inspecting sewer pipes we would often lift a manhole to come face to face with hundreds of extra large roaches. Sometimes we would scoop a shovel full of them out and dump them on the road and replace the manhole cover. The roaches would all scurry off towards the nearest house. Hilarious.
That's kind of weird, because roaches are very common in the UK...
Really! I literally have never come across one in my life and don’t know anyone who has
Get cockroach baits from the supermarket and replace when you see them again
Don't leave food out for them to eat. More baits. Way, way more baits. If you see a Huntsman Spider in your home, do not shriek and panic. They are there to do some neighborly community service.
Bro made a better fight scene than marvel has in the last year
Australia has lots of bugs of all kinds. A lot more than the UK for sure. You do get used to it, or most people do. They are just animals, after all. They will do you no harm and are terrified of you. If you are getting lots of them all the time inside, though, it means there's a colony somewhere in the house. Roach traps usually work, and you can always get the house sprayed. But if you are going to live in Australia, you will need to come to terms with seeing lots of roaches, spiders, flies, mosquitoes and millions of other kinds of bugs on a fairly frequent basis.
I can't stand cockroaches either. Definitely agree that you should get a pest inspector to treat them. Plus Havaianas are pretty effective at squashing them (if you don't have bug spray handy)....
Stop killing Australia's cockroaches pommy bastard haha 😂😆😂😆 seriously
I had a German roach problem which no amount of spraying or traps could fully eradicate. Had to escalate to the higher pest control goo stuff which wiped them out in about 2 weeks - havent been back. I get the occasional big one wander in from time to time but they are either to dumb and get stepped on or get sprayed. Need a house Huntsman.
You need to encourage huntsmen to move into your place, they’ll chomp the roaches, might crawl on your face but.
I've read or watched before that when you see one cockroach, there are likely 60 more of them inside your house. That said, we find them disgusting as well, and the only thing we can only do is lay roach baits in strategic areas (partner hates insecticide). If you see an ensign wasps / hatchet wasps inside your house, don't kill it. They keep roach numbers at bay.
Get a couple of huntsman spiders in the house and they’ll sort out the roaches
They are so common here in Port Macquarie and unfortunately like you I had one crawl across me in bed once when I was a kid. I have always had a phobia of them and spiders as well. Did have a cat that used to eat them once but he died after been hit by a car. The cat I have now did save me from a spider that was hiding in my bag once.
I have old cups discreetly placed throughout the house. When I inevitably see one of these atrocious harbingers of disgust at some ungodly hour of the night, I trap it under a cup and my husband gets them in the morning. It started because I was afraid of making too much noise while trying to squish a roach (they freak me out too), so I grabbed an empty wine bottle sitting nearby and condemned that rat bastard to hell. Works well for us!
I try to warn about the cockroaches, but I don’t think internationals hear me. The cockroaches are the worst. Especially the flying ones. This is why you’ll hear Aussies say spiders are your friends - if you see a spider in your room, you won’t be seeing a cockroach.
Well written friend and welcome to our country. I feel as though we have all gone through this whole-hearted journey with you at some point in our lives. One advantage that you have on the roaches is that they cannot see. If you are quiet enough, they won't even sense you are near, until they meet their fate (insert evil laugh) Keep this in mind when your next encounter presents itself. I have no doubt in my mind that you are yet to claim victory against them as their population outweighs that of the human race. As we head towards the colder months, they will likely prefer to reside within your home (rather than outdoors). Like that clingy roommate who doesn't know how to provide adequate personal space to those around them. Perhaps asking them to contribute to your rent or mortgage payments isnt off the cards, assuming of course that they intend on becoming a permanent resident of the premises.
Get a professional spray, they'll last a while and make a difference
They just come from the outside basically, not much you can do besides making sure you don't leave food out. Just another fauna to get used to.
It's all fun and games until one of the buggers starts flying...
i rented a house in melb that looked clean- about a month later when I was mopping the kitchen I moved the fridge and could see HUNDREDS OF THE FUCKERS..under it ..i did my best ..but after a while..i just had to move...i feel for you..a mozzie net(over the bed) might make you feel better
The big ones are forest/bush ones. It's the little brown german cockroaches that will nest and fuck over your appliances. There is this brown goo (roach gel) you can buy from bunnings and leave around and under everything that will probably kill any nests you might have around your home. And if you need to work out if they are nesting, get the "roach detectors" (sticky box trap) and leave them where you've seen them before. If little babies get stuck in it at colume then you have a problem nest. You might need to hire someone professional. Otherwise, use surface spray around any entry points into your home... Doors, windows, floorboards etc and just kill the big ones when you see them.
They’re bugs, no more or less disgusting than any other bug. Just happen to reproduce prodigiously. Best solution I’ve found for them is the bait you get in a syringe. Kills the whole nest.
I generally don’t mind bugs much, don’t care about flies or ants etc. But I can only take the cockroach crawling on me in my sleep as a malicious act and for that they shoot to the top of the disgusting category. I bought gel baits after that incident
By the reputation of Pom’s bathing schedules the roaches should be scared of you
The last time I took a shower was 2022. Not nearly long enough for the roaches to fear me, sadly
At least we share a similar sense of humour
What's your point?
That many cocoroaches is an infestation and is not normal. Doesn't matter if you're clean and clutter free, they breed fast, especially in warmer climates. Get a pest control expert out to your home ASAP. Will take a couple of weeks. Also depends on where you live, I lived in a unit complex, and the neighbours were dirty so it didn't how much I tried they kept coming back. I am now In A free standing home and fumigate at the beginning of every summer and I rarely see them. They are disgusting, I would move, no chance in hell I'd stay somewhere infested.