I have read all the posts, but I must say my home has quite a few centipedes. I see at least 3 every day. They seem to be getting bigger. The one I found on my main floor last night, the dog found first. It was the fattest centipede I have ever seen. I am wondering if it was getting ready to lay eggs. Is there any house hold product I can use to get rid of them.
First of all, my condolences. Three centipedes a day is enough to test anyone's sanity, especially if they're big ones. You may very well be right about last night's centipede getting ready to lay eggs; this is the right time of year for it. Spring (and fall) is also when centipedes are most active, and you're likely to see them most often.
Honestly, centipedes are tricky to get rid of. The only household products you can use to kill them are boric acid and diatomaceous earth. They may not be "household products" in the sense that you already have them on hand, but you should be able to find one or both at a home supply or hardware store, and they are environmentally/pet friendly. The instructions for both involve applying them along the edge of your foundation and in any indoor/outdoor cracks and crevices where centipedes may try to hide or enter your home. If a centipede comes in contact with either product, it will die. Unfortunately, products designed to eliminate infestations all at once, like insecticide fogs, don't work well on centipedes.
You can also deter centipedes by keeping your house as dry as possible. Use dehumidifiers or air conditioning if you don't already, and if you have carpet, try sprinkling an odor removing powder (Arm & Hammer makes some good ones) before you vacuum. I find that this draws moisture out of the carpet, and I usually have a slowdown in my centipede sightings for at least a few days afterward.
Good luck.
hi i have a bed which has the drawers within it and at times wen i go in the drawers to remove clothes i come across small centipedes and i know wherever a small one is there is likely for a family to be there. i have cleard out the drawer but i belive they r still livin in the bottom of my bed how do i get rid of these???
trurose: Sorry for the slow response. I actually wouldn't worry too much about the idea that you have a family of centipedes living under your bed. Once centipede eggs hatch, the babies are pretty much on their own. However, the fact that you're finding centipedes there at all means it's an attractive place for them to hang out. Clearing out the drawers was a good step, because keeping them empty makes your bed a less secure place to hide. My next move would be to put boric acid or diatomaceous earth (both powdered pesticides) inside the drawers. These chemicals are safe for people and pets, so you don't have to be concerned about having them in your bedroom, and they'll kill any centipedes that walk across them. But if you ever decide to store things in the drawers again, be sure to clean them out well to remove pesticide residues.
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