cockroaches

hello!

totally off topic of cockroaches...i noticed you are from toronto! i would love to touch base with you as I too am from TO and probably moving to Doha soon! CAn we talk?

[email protected]

Kuwait was something else... before August 1990.

Disagree with the claim of Doha having biggest roaches.

Kuwait's HUGE roaches sunbathe in Kuwait City's Iranian souk.

They have also been seen doing weight training in the evenings.

You can buy sandles with them fitted to the sole and they will carry you about.

lol, funny!

Qatar has the biggest mo fo roaches in the world.. they are so big that if u try to kill them with a sandal they might take the sandal from your hand and slap u back...

get lizards... theyll eat them ..

then get a cat to eat the lizards..

once the problem is gone feed the cat to a dog ..

call the muncipility and tell them their is a stray dog out ur door.. theyll come and shoot it

problem solved.. everything is efficient in qatar.

It will pay any expat to learn to love the ghekkos if you're going to live here. They will never come near you, as they run and hide at the slightest awareness of your presence. However, your fly, mosquito, bug problems will always be at a minumum with them around. They are safer than spraying your home, and certainly aren't poisonous, and will never 'attack' you when you're sleeping etc etc.

We use pest control, which I hate, but the roaches are too many to cope with otherwise. I hate the fact that all other bugs in my garden are also wiped out whenever they spray, so I only allow certain areas to be sprayed. I will try the boric acid/milk/etc technique, and if it works, I'm calling off the pest controllers.

You should put that technique in BIG WRITING in a new thread. I'm sure lots of folks would be interested in that one.

Angel

Roach traps are available (I believe known as roach hotels) at many locations in Doha. There are also countless makes of spray.

I don't know if you can get lavender plants from the store, but this plant repels not only cockroaches but other insects without the chemicals. Plus it make the area smell good and is not harmful to humans nor pets if ingestsed. Put the potted plants near the areas that they are coming from.

That's what I use here in the US and they work great. I've been using them for years and they never fail to work. Within a week of placing the trays, all roaches are gone for at least a year. Then I put down fresh trays. If they don't sell these in Doha, then I will ship some over when I come because they are much safer, more effective, more convenient, and much cheaper than spraying.

I tend to be very wary of these pest control companies. Whatever they use is certainly effective, but i wonder how safe it is for people living in an apartment. To be honest, if u have small children crawling around they can easily get this stuff on their hands and they are continuously putting their fingers in their mouths.

I was once told of a very effective and safe way to get rid of roaches. What you do is mix sugar, condensed milk together with boric acid (which you can get in a supermarket) until you get a firm dough. Take small pieces of it and smear it in dark recesses where roaches frequent.

Youll find dead roaches all over the place and then none at all.

yyzguy

I don't think that there is any way to ensure that you don't have a visit from roaches or geckos at some point...However, I feel that you would see less living in an apartment that isn't ground level.

The geckos don't bother me near as much as the roaches do. Just knowing that they eat a lot of other bugs helps though. And they do their best to stay clear of you. Roaches on the other hand well that is a different story all together....

Good luck on your move, and welcome to Doha!

If you went to Fahaheel shopping then you must have known the "Seamens Friend". They were known to UK customs officials for backdating invoices.

I was back there in 2004 for a couple of days but didn't have chance to get into Ahmadi or Fahaheel. Kuwait City was full of armed soldiers of various nationalities.

Over the years I met regularly with old KOC friends regularly in GOC PM meetings and have some very good photographs (from KOC) of the scene before the wells in Burgan were extinguished.

Apparently the Hungarian team "blew" some out using a MIG 29 engine.

Regarding the invasion of Kuwait, many in Qatar may not know that the GM of the Doha GC (Chris Myers) was in fact one of th "Human shields" in the first Gulf war.

I myself am extremely grossed of cockroaches! What can be done about them in Doha? Are there some areas of town where they are less prevalent? I myself will be relocating from Toronto to Doha in September and I need to ensure that cockroaches, lizards and the like do not bother me.

What can be done about them? Should I contact Pest Control the next day when I arrive to deal with them? Are they less prevalent in villas or apartment flats?

Please advise.

dweller, I loved shopping in Fahaheel! We were only in Kuwait for a few years and left about I think in 98! WE lived right in the city in apartments called Oceanview... Have you ever gone back for a visit. We are hoping to at some point.

We lived in Kuwait a long time since (mid 78 to end of 81) and lived in Fahaheel (Fawlty Towers) next to the cemetary when they were initially opened (the towers not the graveyard).

YUK! What a nightmare that must of been...If I seen one a day in Kuwait (and I usually did) I was a mess!

My friend in Korea's apartment was infested with those. And I used to stay over at her place some nights on the weekend. I would go into the bathroom and the Middle of the night and dozens would scurry and fly away into cracks. I screamed everytime...eventaully I stopped staying there. :)

Funny story dweller....I too lived in Kuwait and I seen lots more roaches there then I do here. I just assumed that it would be just as bad here. Maybe they are better at spraying around the buildings or something here, I don't know. I do know that I've never had anyone come in this apartment in the 7 months that I've lived here and still have never seen one.

I seen flying roaches in Tokyo!

Where in Kuwait did you live? And how long ago?

Don't forget that roaches fly. Personally, I chased one in our bedroom with a rolled up newsaper as it flew round. Wife was amused as I was doing a trampoline act on the bed stark naked.

We also had two in our flat in Kuwait and we lived on the 6th floor.

According to an article in Gulf Times some years ago, there are 3 types of roach in Qatar: American, European and the very quick Asian (aka Bombay runners). There are no arab cockroaches :)

If you find one, then look for its mate. They are invariably in pairs as they mate for life. The eggs are a bit like a wedge shaped apple pip.

We used a spray in Qatar that lasted for 6 months (sorry I cannot remember the name) but it smelled of oranges and it worked.

Anyone that has window type A/C units, you need to seal them as roaches love to get in through there.

Geckos definitely aren't poisonous, they will just happily munch on the little bugs etc and will keep well out of your way (usually).

I think they are cute, and even though they can be a bit noisy sometimes, I love having them around. They were all over the place back home, so they make me feel more at home here... :)

Funny story: Back in Australia, my aunt regularly has foreign students stay in her place, like a homestay. Once, in the first day or so of his stay, she was woken up in the middle of the night by the Japanese student rushing into her bedroom shouting "crocodile, crocodile"... He was convinced the gecko in his room was a baby crocodile.... It took my aunt quite a few minutes to calm him down enough to get him out of her bedroom so she could get out of bed and get dressed to go and investigate, then a few minutes more before she could stop laughing enough to explain what a gecko was, to the poor boy. lol

And geckos aren't poisonous at all,so there is no need to worry about them.

spray the little gap between the doorstep and the door with a strong insecticide (i use this brand called patriot) then get out of the house for about 30 minutes. The same applies for any routs of entry with big holes basically.

when you come back your house will smell less like the bug spray and you will never see a roach or lizard around your place again. or at least if you do they're likely to be dead.

Are these geckos poisonous?

My collegue told me two ways to get rid of 'em.

One way is to place egg shells around the room or spray insect killers like 'baygon spray' directed to its face. It'll become sort of dizzy and fall down. Then its upto your mercy. Either kill it or just throw 'em out of your house.

By 'lizard', do you mean the sort of tan-coloured ones that live usually on the walls or ceiling inside...?

If so, they are geckos and they are totally harmless and GREAT at eating other bugs, spiders, moths etc - keep them!!

The only problem can be that they poop on the top of picture frames sometime... lol... :S

Well good to know!

It does actually. :) I would recommend QAWS for all your pest control needs

Does the cat also take care of roaches??? Maybe that is a good solution if I have a problem with them...

You could always try to catch it. Not easy as they are really fast, but it is possible as I made my husband chase one around the apartment a couple of weeks ago, ha. He did catch it and then he put it outside...

They are good for eating bugs though.

Good luck!

My cat catches them. It's killed three. We don't see them around much anymore. :)

Does anybody know how to get rid of lizards? We've spotted two of them in my apartment and my wife & kid are having nightmare. And I don't have the guts to kill it either!!

Does anybody know how to get rid of lizards? We've spotted two of them in my apartment and my wife & kid are having nightmare. And I don't have the guts to kill it either!!

I'm moving out of my apartment and into a house the end of the month. It is new compound. My only worry is the roaches!!! I'm sure that none of us like cockroaches, however, I actually have a real fear of them, lol and I can't even go close enough to one to kill it! I will have to see if the company sprays every so often, if not then I will have to have it done myself I guess. Haven't seen one though in the apartment we are in and have been in it for almost 7 months :)

I get National Pest Control Company to spray my house and surroundings twice a year. After the spraying all you have to do is sweep away the dead bodies. You'd be amazed. I also have them treat the manholes outside the house. You should've seen that sight. I actually got my camera and filmed. Hundreds, literally hundreds, of cockroaches were scampering away, climbing on walls, on the NPCC staff, everywhere.

Look at your home. There are cracks in the door frames where the frame meets the floor. The buggers love these places.

Get your home treated and you'll be sure to have peace of mind for a few months. Otherwise these unseen guests will make your home theirs. Believe me.

You can not stop these things from getting in just kill on sight i have only had two visits in five months so its not that bad

They're big and they're gross and it doesn't matter how clean your house is, especially at the ground level. :)

goodluck...