is spraying baseboards with ortho bug spray a problem?

[sfin52]

Thanks for the info.......we had a bug guy come out that did confirm the same thing. We actually had to have several large trees removed from being eaten at the base. I now spray both the exterior and interior, as well as around all of our trees close to the house.

I'm also a bug guy.

 

[EricGRIT09]

I use bifenthrin, which appears to be the primary ingredient here, but I don't use it indoors and I close all windows and turn off fans for a while when spraying outside my house. Bifenthrin is apparently *extremely* harmful to aquatic life. Not sure if that's all, fresh, salt, etc. but I err on the side of caution. I'd probably use diatomaceous earth or something indoors and see how that works, or at least find a different chemical to spray which doesn't explicitly call out the negative effects to aquatic life.

 

[Tired]

I don't like any use of pesticides on anything that isn't a serious threat to either property (termites) or life and limb (mosquitos, ticks), and isn't a parasite (fleas). Even when it's for spiders, that won't do much good- more will just come in. Better to try and spider-proof.

Be very careful with the sticky traps. Get weak ones. The stronger ones can trap lizards, which is a horrible way to die- they tear their own skin off panicking and trying to get out, and die of stress and dehydration. Vegetable oil won't fix their injuries, and won't do anything for ones you don't get to in time.
I hate that there are sticky traps designed for mice. It's a terribly inhumane way to kill something, and should, frankly, be illegal for vertebrates. Invertebrates, since they aren't known to feel pain, I can accept. I still don't like it, though- again, it's not terribly humane, they die pretty slowly.

 

[Dom]

What are you trying to get rid of? May have better luck making your home harder for them to get into.

True. But even after they close the access point, don't they have to get rid of the ones that are already inside?

 

[Tired]

Just catch 'em under a glass and slide a card under, then put them outside. If it's in one of the few parts of the world that has truly dangerous spiders, a thorough vacuuming will suck them all up and should kill them.

(Most pictures you see online of horrifying "spider bites" are misidentified bacterial infections. Brown recluse are frequently blamed. No spiders in the US pose a real threat to a healthy adult. Black widows can make someone pretty sick, and may be dangerous to very young or very old people, but most people don't have much to fear from most spiders. I would understand pesticide use in Australia, though! As long as it was kept indoors as much as possible.)

 

[Silent]

Kill-em-all. Nothing in my house that is not in a cage or tank under 75lbs.

 

[DaddyFish]

I use that same Ortho spray with no noticeable negative results on four tanks at different locations around the house. I use it both outdoors and indoors, 3-4 times each year. My house was overrun with earwig bugs when I bought and remodeled it. Lots of trees removed to reduce rotting vegetation, spray the crap outta every baseboard and window with Ortho, and now things are good.

Only negative side effect I know for sure is if you spray it along the baseboard behind your tank(s) and anybody goes carpet surfing (like a snowflake eel), they probably won't survive.

I highly recommend diatomaceous earth for spiders. Non-toxic and works well! But has an even worse effect on carpet surfers like eels, gobies and wrasses.

 

[KnightlyBuzz]

Kill-em-all. Nothing in my house that is not in a cage or tank under 75lbs.

 

[KnightlyBuzz]

To funny! LOL

 

[charlieannhanson]

I wouldn't call once a year use overuse. I use this exact spray around my house because plugging holes won't keep spiders out and I have like embarrassingly severe arachnophobia, so I use it probably more than is healthy for me, not sure of the effect or lack thereof on my reef. I mostly use it around doors/windows etc, rarely in the hallway where my reef is.

 

[charlieannhanson]

I hate spiders too. I am not even scared they will bite me even though I do live in area that has both black widows and brown recluse spiders. My irrational fear is that the things will touch me at all anyway. Spaying for bugs will kill their food source. But usually does not kill spiders. I've had an exterminator tell me this and I've also read that they don't drag their bellies to the poison like insects so that's why maybe it doesn't kill them. That exterminator used sticky traps. And I've used sticky traps ever since everywhere I can hide them. As long as he can't see him I try to leave them there for as long as possible because the more spiders on them it seems like the more spiders want to get on them join the fun. I also use ortho home defense inside and outside. I've even caught a snake under a kitchen sink at one house along time ago, which was a house in the country that probably was borderline condemnable and without a doubt now. I never opened the cabinets under the kitchen sink And I'm not sure what the situation underneath there was but I just remember it being something that didn't seem cleanable without tearing it out and replacing it and living there was always a temporary situation not meant to be there very long. So fixing it was just ridiculous because everything else needed fixed as well. But somebody else that was visiting, could not find the soap which was sitting around the sink and was looking for it underneath the sink and found where the snake had been stuck and shed it's skin and left, which explains why I never smelled anything dead.

 

[sfin52]

I hate spiders too. I am not even scared they will bite me even though I do live in area that has both black widows and brown recluse spiders. My irrational fear is that the things will touch me at all anyway. Spaying for bugs will kill their food source. But usually does not kill spiders. I've had an exterminator tell me this and I've also read that they don't drag their bellies to the poison like insects so that's why maybe it doesn't kill them. That exterminator used sticky traps. And I've used sticky traps ever since everywhere I can hide them. As long as he can't see him I try to leave them there for as long as possible because the more spiders on them it seems like the more spiders want to get on them join the fun. I also use ortho home defense inside and outside. I've even caught a snake under a kitchen sink at one house along time ago, which was a house in the country that probably was borderline condemnable and without a doubt now. I never opened the cabinets under the kitchen sink And I'm not sure what the situation underneath there was but I just remember it being something that didn't seem cleanable without tearing it out and replacing it and living there was always a temporary situation not meant to be there very long. So fixing it was just ridiculous because everything else needed fixed as well. But somebody else that was visiting, could not find the soap which was sitting around the sink and was looking for it underneath the sink and found where the snake had been stuck and shed it's skin and left, which explains why I never smelled anything dead.

Not brown recluse. The eat dead bugs.