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Spiders and Scorpians!

Brainiac 8Brainiac 8 Don't call me Shirley...Registered User regular
edited May 2011 in Help / Advice Forum
So every summer I seem to get an influx of Spiders of different varieties and those small florida scorpians getting into my house. I hate them with a passion and really don't want my children accidentally stepping on one, getting themselves stung.

What can I do to either get rid of them or make it less likely they come in?

The current spider problem are Brown Widows which are showing up all over my back porch...grrr. :x

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Posts

  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    I'd call an exterminator. From what little I know about spiders, brown widows are almost as dangerous as black widows. They can just go through and kill all of them, so you won't have to worry about your kids getting bitten or stung.

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  • SpudgeSpudge Witty comments go next to this blue dot thingyRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Call an exterminator (preferably a local guy with references) and have him do an initial spray. You'll see bugs of all manner coming out of the woodworks and consequentially croaking on your linoleum. But it'll be worth it

    Then set up sprays for no more than once per month, no less than once per quarter, depending on how much certainty you want in that your house is mostly inaccessible to the bugs

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  • BloodySlothBloodySloth Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    I Am Not A Biologist, but as far as I know, while brown widows are closely related to black widows, and their venom is about as powerful, their actual bites are only painful or dangerous if you're allergic and they can be considered pretty harmless. Black widow bites get their reputation because they have relatively gigantic venom glands and just pump you full of the stuff.

    Also remember that lots of spiders can look alike, so they might not even be brown widows.

    It'll be the scorpions you'll need to worry about, as scorpions in general are much more likely to sting in self-defense, and they typically like to hide in enclosed, dark places during the day.

    As for getting rid of them, the whole reason they're coming to your house to begin with is because it's a really attractive environment for them. Remember that any measures you take will have to be long term plans solely because of that.

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  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    wikipedia confirms that brown widow spiders are not dangerous. Oh, and the best way to keep insects out of your home is to seal up holes and cracks which they use to get in. And, you can put Borax down behind your cabinets and into the various nooks you never go into. It remains dangerous against them for years. Although, I think it's bad for cats? So if you have certain pets you should be careful :)

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  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    As for getting rid of them, the whole reason they're coming to your house to begin with is because it's a really attractive environment for them. Remember that any measures you take will have to be long term plans solely because of that.

    Yeah, scorpions are predators, so most likely they're coming in because there's good food to be found. I would also recommend setting up regular service with an exterminator. We have ours done once a quarter, and it's about $90 each time. We still see the occasional spider (usually towards the end of the quarter) and I'll still see a scorpion every now and then (maybe once or twice a year), but they're much fewer since we started the service.

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  • SpudgeSpudge Witty comments go next to this blue dot thingyRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Holy crap carcass

    I never charged more than $50 to do a quarterly spray

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  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Spudge wrote: »
    Holy crap carcass

    I never charged more than $50 to do a quarterly spray

    Oh, I'm sure we're being gouged, but they kinda have a monopoly in the area. It uses that system with the tubes that go throughout the walls in the house, that only they can use. It works pretty well, so meh.

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  • TejsTejs Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    I do my own pest control; simply buy your preferred brand of insect poison in concentrate from home depot, and then a 1 gallon tank sprayer. You can spray around your home when you want, whenever you want and it cost me maybe 30-40 bucks for almost 2 years worth of protection. My father worked for Orkin and another local pest control service, and he told me that those in house in the wall systems are just a scam with how much profit they made.

    The only thing I see every now and then are some beetle varieties. Everything else is non existant.

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  • Brainiac 8Brainiac 8 Don't call me Shirley... Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Yea, I'll have to look up a good exterminating service in my area....as my family went out of town for the weekend and when we got back, I had to kill three scorpians over the next couple of days.

    They must have had one heck of a scorpian party. D:

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  • Namel3ssNamel3ss Registered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Yikes, I hope that works out for you. If I lived in a state where my home was infested with brown widows and scorpions on an annual basis, I'd think about moving to another state.

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  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    edited May 2011
    Brainiac 8 wrote: »
    Yea, I'll have to look up a good exterminating service in my area....as my family went out of town for the weekend and when we got back, I had to kill three scorpians over the next couple of days.

    They must have had one heck of a scorpian party. D:

    The last one I saw, maybe 6 months ago, was crawling on the ceiling above me while I was taking a shower.

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