Typically, cockroaches do not infest homes suddenly, and you will rarely find cockroaches all of a sudden.
There are a few explanations for why it seems like there is a sudden appearance of cockroaches. Following are a few primary reasons why you are finding them more often.
- Roaches are nocturnal insects, so they hide in the daytime. But if the infestation has grown too much, roaches will come out during when daytime. Roaches compete for food sources when the infestation grows.
- Roaches from elsewhere are looking for a new place to nest if the infestation has crossed a certain level next door.
- You may have introduced something already infested in your home like a piece of old furniture, electronics like a fridge, oven, playing station, etc.
- You have left a drain pipe open in your bathroom or kitchen. Big cockroaches live down the drain.
- There were already roaches in your home in a limited quantity, but a recent ample supply of food has increased their growth.
- You unknowingly introduced repellent smells in your kitchen, pushing the existing roaches to come out of their hidings. (How to make a roach come out of its hiding?)
- You live in Florida 😉
So these are a few reasons which explain the sudden appearance of roaches in your house. Let me explain each of them in detail.
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Reasons why you have a sudden influx of roaches in your home
Now I will explain each of the reasons mentioned above in more detail and how to can you handle it.
1. Severe Roach Infestation
Roaches are nocturnal insects, which means they are active at night in the dark. Roach’s eyes are designed in a way they can see in the dark. Their internal bionic clock also guides them on when to rest and hunt down for food.
So, in the early phase of infestation, you may miss finding the roaches if they have a good hiding spot.
But, when the infestation grows, roaches will start competing for hiding spots and food.
If the hiding spots and food is limited, you will start to spot cockroaches in the daytime.
So, there are a lot of chances that the sudden appearance of cockroaches is not that “sudden”, in fact, these roaches were already breeding for quite some time, and now you have spotted them.
But you don’t need to worry. Read this article on where roaches hide and understand the level of infestation.
Once the infestation level is known, you can follow this guide to get rid of roaches without using an exterminator.
2. Hiding spot is disturbed
Cockroaches are not like viruses carried with air but must be introduced into your house before a sudden appearance of cockroaches.
So there are a lot of chances that you already had an ongoing infestation, but luckily you just came to know about it after the hiding spot of cockroaches in your home was disturbed. Maybe you have moved something, and you got a chance to spot them here and there.
Learn More: Where do Roaches Hide? [Solved With Pictures]
3. Roaches from neighbors
Cockroaches can infest your home, apartment, or building from your neighbors. If you have an apartment and the entire building is infested with cockroaches, there are a ton of chances that roaches will visit your home as well.
As said earlier, if the level of infestation grows in a single spot, roaches will spread out in search of more spots and food.
So the sudden influx of roaches in your house may be from your neighbors. But the roach problem is treatable if you take proper precautions. Check this article on how to get rid of roaches coming from neighbors.
4. You introduced them recently
We often bring roaches inside our homes ourselves unknowingly. Purchasing used items is the top reported reason for bringing roaches into your home.
Often old furniture and electronic devices used in the kitchen are infested. So recall if you have recently brought something old to your house. This can be why are there suddenly so many cockroaches in your house.
If so, make sure to analyze it properly for any infestation.
Quickly move it outside for treatment if you find it infested with roaches. Also, invest in the products mentioned at the start of the article to get rid of roaches that have already escaped into your house.
Related Read: How to remove roaches from furniture, electronics, cars, and clothing before moving out?
5. Left a drain pipe open
Okay, so roaches come from drain pipes, but these are the giant roaches, also known as palmetto bugs or American Cockroaches. These roaches live in the sewer system and can quickly enter your bathroom via drain pipes.
These cockroaches are giant & can be a very probable cause of why you are seeing big roaches all of a sudden.
Just make sure you did not leave any drainpipe inside your home open. If so, closing that will be enough to stop encountering cockroaches in your home.
Learn More: 5 Best Anti Cockroach Drain Covers
6. Supply of Food
So this is what I experienced when I lived in a small apartment.
There was an attached kitchen with my room which I did not use for an entire year, except for making some milk tea.
I used to dine outside for food, and I would see a couple of roaches inside my kitchen now and then.
But the infestation never went out of control.
Once I started to order food and put unwashed dishes in the kitchen to take care of the next day, my kitchen got infested in a few weeks with a ton of roaches roaming everywhere.
So, observe if you are leaving more food inside your kitchen and inform of leftover food in bins, basins, etc., then you need to change this habit.
Often there are a limited number of roaches inside our houses and kitchens, but since the quantity is so low and the food supply is so limited, they can’t outbreak in significant numbers.
And the sudden supply of food can increase their population many folds.
But no need to worry, follow the instructions mentioned at the beginning of the article and you will be all good.
7. Smell Repellants
There is another explanation for the sudden appearance of cockroaches in your home.
Roches communicate via smells, and they have an excellent capability to detect smells.
But roaches do not like all kinds of smells. There are smells and natural repellents which can keep roaches away. Smells of coffee grounds, garlic, bay leaves, mint oil, citrus, etc., can keep cockroaches away.
So there is a probability that you might have unknowingly introduced these smells in your kitchen, and the smell from these items makes the roaches leave their hiding spots.
Hence you have a sudden appearance of cockroaches. So observe if you have introduced something which is driving roaches crazy. If so, double down on it to get rid of roaches altogether.
Additional Read: Why Ultrasonic Pest Control Devices Does not Work on Roaches?
8. You live in Florida
Encountering roaches of a sudden in your home concerning your geography is highly probable.
Roaches like to live in hot, humid environments, and southern states like Florida are ideal for roaches to breed and thrive.
Due to the high number of cockroaches in these states, it is a high probability that you will encounter cockroaches inside your home, often entering via doors, windows, vents, and other openings.
There is no permanent solution to this, but you can control it by ensuring you don’t have any unsealed openings inside your home.
Related Read: Flying Florida Cockroach
