How Not to Deal With a Silverfish Infestation
A Silverfish bug infestation is one of the hardest pest infestations to get rid of, second only to bedbugs perhaps.
They are remarkably tough and resilient as a species, due mainly to their knack for hiding, their long life spans and their prolific breeding habits.
The little pests have been about for 300 million years, so we know they are not easy to kill off.
The number one mistake people make trying to get rid of silverfish in their homes is just going about killing them off with poisons and traps without the necessary preparation.
If you take this tact you are almost certainly going to see them appearing once again in force a few weeks later.
Silverfish can live up to 3 years, and during that period the females continue laying eggs the entire time.
If you have silverfish in your home, then you undoubtedly have dozens of eggs too, hidden away in all the little nooks and crannies, under your fridge, or in cracks in the floorboards, in the laundry room.
Behind your book shelves.
So if you just go ahead and poison all the silverfish you can find then you are not dealing with the eggs, which will hatch in a couple of weeks.
And that isn't everything.
The creatures are somehow entering your home, so there's nothing to stop more coming in unless you do something about it.
And they are entering your home for a reason - somehow you are offering them good living conditions and plenty of food.
So before you begin laying down poison and traps you simply must deal with all these factors - the entrance, the food supply, the living conditions and the eggs.
Only then can you be confident that when you poison the existing ones you will not have to do it again a month later.
The Right Way to Destroy a Silverfish Infestation Now we know how not to do it, let's go into a little more detail on how to get rid of them.
The entrance could be a crack in your wall, or in the corner of a door.
It's generally a good idea to go around and fill all such cracks, including general cracks in your floorboards.
This is also part of removing the hospitable living conditions.
Do some research into where you can most commonly find silverfish.
They love warm, dark, moist areas near plenty of food.
So under the fridge or behind cupboards in your kitchen, in the laundry room or pantry if you have one, in the bathroom, in the attic near the boiler or in the cellar.
Plus plenty of other areas which might surprise you.
You have to clean up and dry things up properly! And of course silverfish love food, all sorts of food.
Not only starchy cereals and corns you find in the kitchen and food storage areas, but also the glue in your book bindings and even elements in your clothes.
So you have to carefully research exactly what these bugs eat and if you have a serious silverfish infestation then you might want to bag and remove all food-stuffs before you go about exterminating them.
Now you are ready to kill them, so you can use a variety of methods to find out where the thickest silverfish hot spots are in your home, such as leaving out certain traps at night.
And when you choose a poison, watch out for anything that is too toxic as some of them might be harmful to any pets you have, or even children should they get hold of them.
Only following all these preparatory steps should you be able to finally get rid of these unwelcome little visitors once and for all.
They are remarkably tough and resilient as a species, due mainly to their knack for hiding, their long life spans and their prolific breeding habits.
The little pests have been about for 300 million years, so we know they are not easy to kill off.
The number one mistake people make trying to get rid of silverfish in their homes is just going about killing them off with poisons and traps without the necessary preparation.
If you take this tact you are almost certainly going to see them appearing once again in force a few weeks later.
Silverfish can live up to 3 years, and during that period the females continue laying eggs the entire time.
If you have silverfish in your home, then you undoubtedly have dozens of eggs too, hidden away in all the little nooks and crannies, under your fridge, or in cracks in the floorboards, in the laundry room.
Behind your book shelves.
So if you just go ahead and poison all the silverfish you can find then you are not dealing with the eggs, which will hatch in a couple of weeks.
And that isn't everything.
The creatures are somehow entering your home, so there's nothing to stop more coming in unless you do something about it.
And they are entering your home for a reason - somehow you are offering them good living conditions and plenty of food.
So before you begin laying down poison and traps you simply must deal with all these factors - the entrance, the food supply, the living conditions and the eggs.
Only then can you be confident that when you poison the existing ones you will not have to do it again a month later.
The Right Way to Destroy a Silverfish Infestation Now we know how not to do it, let's go into a little more detail on how to get rid of them.
The entrance could be a crack in your wall, or in the corner of a door.
It's generally a good idea to go around and fill all such cracks, including general cracks in your floorboards.
This is also part of removing the hospitable living conditions.
Do some research into where you can most commonly find silverfish.
They love warm, dark, moist areas near plenty of food.
So under the fridge or behind cupboards in your kitchen, in the laundry room or pantry if you have one, in the bathroom, in the attic near the boiler or in the cellar.
Plus plenty of other areas which might surprise you.
You have to clean up and dry things up properly! And of course silverfish love food, all sorts of food.
Not only starchy cereals and corns you find in the kitchen and food storage areas, but also the glue in your book bindings and even elements in your clothes.
So you have to carefully research exactly what these bugs eat and if you have a serious silverfish infestation then you might want to bag and remove all food-stuffs before you go about exterminating them.
Now you are ready to kill them, so you can use a variety of methods to find out where the thickest silverfish hot spots are in your home, such as leaving out certain traps at night.
And when you choose a poison, watch out for anything that is too toxic as some of them might be harmful to any pets you have, or even children should they get hold of them.
Only following all these preparatory steps should you be able to finally get rid of these unwelcome little visitors once and for all.
