Household remedy request: Water Bugs

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-get...

Boric acid in crevices, (unaccessible to the dog) is the best insect deterrent I know. Hardware stores sell it to remove cockroaches and ants.

If clogs up their little pores (i.e., is not a poison, and they cannot develop resistance.)

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It sounds like it's toxic in large amounts only, and so a strategy would have to be developed for the dog. Not sure!

http://www.ehow.com/about_5453526_boric-...

http://www.justanswer.com/dog-health/26x...

Looks like Terro is a pet-safe granulated form:

http://www.terro.com/pressroom.php?id=35

Sounds like a call to a real vet.

you could try this flea remedy. i've had good luck with the dishes of soapy water for drowning fleas [whenever i can rig up some way to keep the pets out of the dishes] even without using any light source. waterbugs are roaches and soapy water will drown roaches, so a deep enough pan of soapy water ought to work.

going on the "waterbugs are just another roach" idea...

i've tried the boric acid mixed with sweetened condensed milk paste, because the idea is that you can put the paste in places where pets can't get to it, like the undersides of countertops, but it didn't seem to dent the roach population noticeably. still, here are some other variations you can try.

speaking of bay leaves... bay leaves, catnip tea, and beer and peanut butter roach traps; and more roach traps. i wonder if that means that the honey-type flea traps, mentioned in the first link above, would work for roaches?

speaking of using smelly liquids as repellents, this is one i learned from a college room mate... every night just before going to bed, mix some bleach in about a half saucepan of water, use this to wipe down the stove top, counter tops, sink in the kitchen, leave the rag you used out to dry [hanging on the faucet or the sink divider, lying flat on the counter, whatever], and if you don't have pets that can get to the kitchen sink, leave the half-full pan of bleach water sitting in the sink overnight. it didn't seem to cut down the overall roach population any, but if you got up in the middle of the night and turned on the kitchen light, at least there was no horde of roaches madly scrambling across the counter or out of [or into] the sink.

Here is a fine explanation of how it works and how to apply it:

Cockroaches succumb to boric acid when they crawl over treated areas. The tiny particles of powder adhere to the cockroaches' body, and the material is ingested as the roach preens the powder from its legs and antennae. Some boric acid is also absorbed through the greasy outer covering of the insect's body. All species of cockroaches are susceptible to boric acid provided the powder is applied into areas where the roaches are living.

So that's why the paste won't work: No powder.

It seems to me then that the main issue is preventing the dog from licking it. But it sounds like that can be solved by proper application:

Key areas for treatment include under/behind the refrigerator, stove and dishwasher, into the opening where plumbing pipes enter walls (such as under sinks and behind the commode, shower and washing machine), and into cracks along edges and corners inside cabinets and pantries. Oftentimes, there is a void (hollow space) under kitchen and bathroom cabinets which becomes a hiding place for cockroaches. This area can be accessed and treated by injecting powder through any existing gap at the top of the kickplate, or if none is present, by drilling a few small holes.

NEVER apply boric acid onto countertops or other exposed surfaces, especially those used to prepare food.

The dog isn't going to lick in any of those places.

This living space does not sound ideal. I'm sorry.....

... maybe it would kill my Japanese beetles!

dunno about water bugs.

In the really old research building I used to be in, there was a huge ant problem.

The person in charge of facilities would put out dabs of boric acid mixed with mint jelly. With ants of course, it was easy for him to spot their usual trails, and choose locations with this in mind. Oh, it did work, and kept the boric acid in place.

As far as how boric acid acts on water bugs, I see no reason why it wouldn't be the same as for ants. (Prior is an informed statement.) They eat it mixed with something else, it kills them. Re: Hipp's link above, boric acid ~33%, "inert ingredients" ~66%.

So, in the case of the ant bait, the 66% "inert ingredient" would be mint jelly. I have no knowledge as to whether or not water bugs would like mint jelly. But anything they like should do as the inert ingredient. Should I mention the cat litter box at this point?