Roaches are hard to kill; I suspect that you brought them in from the
pinecones. Besides, it is getting close to winter, and they are looking for
a warm place to live, and breed.
Best way to stop them, is to use croak a roach, but if they are in the
gerbil cage, then
1) Move gerbils into an empty cage (no bedding),
2) Take all old bedding from their cage and dispose of it outside right
ways - or if you have a wood stove, burn it, but the pellets from the
gerbils might make the fire smell funny, if not gross.
3) Fill up a bathtub with hot water, and add simple green cleaner.
4) Take apart the tunnels and everything inside the cage that can be taken
apart.
5) Put everything inside the tub, and let it soak for a few hours.
6) While waiting - take the bedding in the bags, and put them into an
airtight container. Put a box of salt in the container (use cheesecloth, or
tea balls. You want to suck the moister out of the roaches, and eggs.
7) In the mean time - get a small bag of bedding from the pet store. You
want the older bags to dry up, and eggs to die out.
8) Put all food into a air tight container. But, when you do this, take a
couple of spoonful of baking soda, and put into a paper towel, roll it up,
and then place into the container. The backing soda will make the smell
unappealing to the roaches., and take the air out of the roaches, salt would
do the same, but the gerbils would not eat the food, if they can't get
moister out of it.
9) When the cage is soaked for a spell, take each part out, and rinse it in
cool water - and dry it with paper towels, Reassemble the entire cage. Put
new bedding into the cages, and add each gerbil back in to the cage one at a
time after checking for roach bites.
10) BTW - the gerbils will eat the roaches, as a good source of protein.
However the young, and eggs are hard for the gerbils to eat.
I hope this help, may sound extreme, but - it keeps then in check.
If you buy a huge bag of litter for the gerbils, then get a large rubber
maid container that will hold it, and keep it airtight.
ALSO - stay clear of cedar - As noticed many a times here - CEDAR is a known
killer to gerbils.
-----Original Message-----
From: Gerbil Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
C'est moi
Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2000 12:34 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Pest problem
I went to put some pinecones in my gerbils' cage and saw a few baby
roaches. What could have caused them? I don't put anything they like
to eat in there; all I put is the gerbil/hampster mix, with dry foods
such as seeds and corn. I sometimes accidentally leave it open, but I
don't think the roaches would eat it. I pick up pinecones from a
neighbor's house, and they might have roaches in them. I have a large
bag of bedding that I don't close because it's very difficult. What do
you think could have caused it? And if I clean the cage, do you think
they'll just come back? Thanks for your help!
