Found a Cockroach, in a Panic

These are not the "infestation" kind of roaches. And cleanliness has nothing to do with it. They typically live outdoors and feed on decaying organic matter. Sometimes they come inside looking for water. The best you can do is to try and close up any holes in or around plumbing, but even then, they can still get in. Like my exterminator said- Every house has at least 5 hiding about at all times.

I'd get an exterminator. probably under the house if you have pier and beam.
Do not bug bomb yourself if you have children in the home. Just not worth it as you have to thoroughly clean everything afterwards to ensure you don't transfer poinsons to food, etc.

It's probably all about the weather.

I'd probably call out an exterminator for a good once over just for peace of mind.

We have good luck brewing cat nip and spraying it around the exterior of the house.

* Put a small saucepot on the stove with about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of water.
* Bring the water to boil, toss in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dried catnip leaves and reduce heat slightly to a gentle boil.
* Let steep for a few minutes and then turn off the heat.
* After allowing the catnip tea to brew and cool (30 minutes-ish), I strain the catnip out (it will clog the spray bottle otherwise) and pour the liquid in a spray bottle.
* Top off the spray bottle with water.

For application I go outside and spray around all windows, doors, and access entries (screens in the sofits, etc) into the house. Inside the house you can spray under sinks and so on. It's non-toxic so you don't have to worry about animals and little ones. I repeat the process every few months. Even with a pool we don't have a roach problem. Good luck.

Oh dear . . . the cockroach is the official state animal in Florida. :P We lovingly refer to them as "palmetto bugs." I've seen some the size of teacup doggies.

I would check with my exterminator. Every couple of months our guy sprays something around the outside perimeter of our house and that seems to keep them in check. Our house is pretty clean, but we live on water (which attracts them). It's good to keep all paper and cardboard out of the house (they love paper products). And of course don't leave food laying around.

My boys laugh when they see me run off with a broom and dust pan to engage in epic battle with a cockroach. They are very quick unless they've gotten into poison. And beware cockroaches on their backs - if you turn them over they will miraculously revive back to life. When I catch them I flush them.

I've also read to sprinkle dimataceous earth around spots where you see them. I'm about to do that in my son's closet.

Once I threw one in the canal behind our house . . . I kid you not the thing started back-stroking for the shore.

Cockroaches will truly inherit the earth.

Just get an exterminator out there and they will all be dead, no need to concern yourself where the corpses are.

Palmetto Bugs AKA the State Bug of ANY/ALL Southern States...may they ALL go live somewhere else...BUT that's not gonna happen! I lived in CA many years & never saw one until I came to FL, BUT they are travellers! Sounds as if one came on vacation with someone from the South & decided he liked the area & invited his family to, 'c'mon over'! Get the exterminator, get a yearly contract, cuz' where there is one there is bound to be more! The biggies don't reproduce as quickly as the smaller cousins but they DO reproduce! ;(

You can't stop these bugs from getting in your house. The size of a crack they can come in would truly amaze you. The odds are good that its near a sink pipe.

We get the covered bait traps and flat sticky traps. The best ones are completely flat, just a piece of thick paper with sticky stuff on the ends. We can find them here at Home Depot. You put it right next to the wall, wherever you can figure out they are coming in, and they run by and get stuck. Supposedly they eat poison out of the bait traps and take it back to the next. I put those by all the drains.

We called out an exterminator once, and this was pretty much what he did.

Also... my MIL is a firm believer in boric acid, which you can sprinkle across your thresholds and around the outsides of your house. I hate this stuff, because I think it is smelly, but it is very effective.

They are probably tree roaches by the size of them. We have them here in Houston and sometimes I think I could slap a saddle on them and go for a ride! Get some bug spray for the outside and spray around the house. Spray inside as well. That should help.

I've never had them here, but when I lived in Iowa, they were everywhere. I am OCD, so extremely clean. My attached neighbors, not so much. I woke up one night which one on my naked chest. I freaked! I used boric acid around the perimeter of my place that day and it took care of that.

Also, if someone close has recently tented or done some sort of extermination, it will drive them away from them and closer to you. Don't worry.

Sounds like what we in TX call a "wood roach" They come inside your house when it is wetter or drier that normal, they are everywhere, inside and out. I am surprised you don't see them very often. They are not the same as the German cockroach, which is the "dirty" one. I find at least one a week, but I live in an old holey trailer, and they come in through the gaps. I trap them in a cup and flush!

Personally, I'd set off some bug bombs.
Good luck.

Big ones are not a usually a big problem. I just got some professional strength bait that you apply for around $21. Of course I found a couple stupid german roaches. I just cleaned and redid all my cabinets and there was nothing, why now. The owner said she has had a huge increase in customers this last couple weeks. We have had a pretty wet spring, and I guess it is just a cycle. Ew, I am not happy, stupid bugs.

To answer one person (and it may help you) boric acid is Borax that you can find in the grocery store laundry detergent aisle or even at Home Depot. It works for fleas too - awesome awesome stuff. Cleaning, bug de-festing (my new word), and...laundry;)