Silverfish - Uggh!
How do I get rid of silverfish and what are they doing in my bedroom? I find them on the ceiling in my bedroom at night. I know they like warm areas and I guess they're nocturnal, but my bedroom - yuck! Every now and then I'll see one in the bathtub which makes more sense to me. I hear boric acid is good, but what do I do? Just sprinkle it on my floor. Help! I feel your pain!!! I just recently found silverfish in my kitchen , hate them bugs. Im 8 months pregnant and can't use any chemicals that would be harmful to the baby, so I whent on a hunt and found a spray called Bug-B-Gone. It's safe to use around kids, pets and even food that is left out. It is made from Orange peels( you would think it smells good , but the smell is real bad) it works real good not just on silverfish but on other bugs as well. I found it at a place called Henry's Market ( a natural health food store) here in California. They might have a web-site, so go on a search. Good luck to you and kill them bugs dead. P.S My research also led me to learn that Neem oil works on them bugs too.It is safe, made from a Tree called Neem very well known in India. Silverfish and firebrats survive on glue, wallpaper paste, paper, bookbindings, photos, clothing starch, and fabrics like cotton, linen, rayon, grain products like cereal and flour, leather, and dead insects. Silverfish like cool, damp places like in the basement, bathroom, or laundryroom, and are sometimes found in sinks and bathtubs. Firebrats like hot, humid places like in the attic, near the furnace, fireplace, heat pipes. Both silverfish and firebrats have flat, elongated bodies 1/3 to 3/4 inch long. They are broad near the head and taper toward the rear. They are fragile and have no wings. They have antennae on the head and three appendages on the rear. Some people call these insects bristletails. The silverfish adult is about 1/2 inch long with a uniform silvery or pearl-gray color, whereas the four-lined silverfish is about 5/8 inch long and the back displays four dark lines the length of the body. The gray silverfish is about 3/4 inch long and uniform light to dark gray. The firebrat is about 1/2 inch long, grayish and mottled with spots and bands of dark scales. Young resemble the adults except they are smaller. Eggs are whitish, oval and about 1/32 inch long. Silverfish and firebrats are active at night, but can be seen if they are disturbed in their hiding place. Sanitation is important to control populations, but will not completely reduce population because they often live inside walls, insulation, books and papers, and places that you can not see. Eliminating paper clutter and old food stuffs will help. Eliminate moisture problems, reduce humidity in home with a dehumidifier, and improve ventilation with fans. Lighting dark, sheltered areas may force these insects to move to new sites where they can be controlled more easily. Treatments need to be applied in cracks, crevices, behind baseboards, and wood trim, around water pipes, in and behind furniture, in closets and attics. Huge populations in wall voids will require drilling holes in wall. Any treatment will not immediately eliminate bristletails, because they must come in contact with insecticide. There are many insecticides labelled for control of silverfish and firebrats (bristletails). Not all insecticides are available in all areas. A residual spray which leaves a residue is best. Dusts, including boric acid, can be puffed in wall voids, crawl spaces, attics, and hard to reach areas. Before using any insecticide, always read the label, follow directions and safety precautions. If problem is persistent, then it is best to contact a licensed, professional exterminator. Silverfish are a pest, no doubt about it. And yes, they are icky and hard to get rid of. The method that works best not only for getting rid of them, but keeping them from coming back or ever even showing up in the first place is sanitation. Keep things picked up. These critters can go for up to a year without food and months without water. The eat almost anything too. They eat paper, book glue, paper sizing (the stuff that makes magazine paper shiny), cotton, silk, linen any food speck you may have dropped. They will even eat the glue used to stick labels to cans and cleaning products a wallpaper to walls. So, pick up and clean up. Get clothes off the floor, get papers, books etc. into plastic tubs w/tight fitting lids. Pick up anything with a label and put it into the same type of container. After all is picked up start vacuuming or sweeping and keep up on it. Once the place is clean, make sure it is dry. These guys love water. You may need fans, better ventilation or dehumidifiers. Fix any pipes that drip. Keeping moisture up is the most critical thing. There are also a billion things you can buy to kill them. They won't do much good though unless you follow the prevention tips. But if you do do all the prevention you can, pesticides will get them out of your house much faster. Like I said, even after you've cleaned, they can live for up to a year without food. If you want even more tips on getting rid of silverfish, copy and paste this address into your browser. http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-silverfish.htm Here you will find more prevention and eradication tips. There is also a nice section on natural and organic methods to get rid of these little cuties. Good Luck, BDeyes Silverfish are a sign of a moisture or humidity problem. Lower you AC a few degrees to dehumidify your home, simplest solution. If you have a bad problem there is a product called Niban, a boric acid and corncob bait that works wonders with a very ,very low, (we're not allowed to say no),toxicity level to warm blooded animals Silverfish require water. They thrive in moist, rotten pockets within walls and under bathroom floors, etc. So, they indicate a larger problem of water damage. Eliminate the moisture, silverfish have no habitat.
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