Harris Roach Tablets, Boric Acid Roach and Insects Killer with Lure, Alternative to Bait Traps (6oz, 145 Tablets), Yellow

Palmetto bugs. If you live somewhere between Richmond and Miami you know all about these vile creatures. Palmetto bugs are what you call them when you find them in your house, when you see them in someone else's house, they're called roaches. In central North Carolina, they're everywhere. 1.5-2 inch long flying cockroaches. You know a bug is big when you can *hear* it's footsteps when it's running. For 17 years in my house I've battled these Smokey Brown roaches. There are good years and bad years for them. We've had a lot of mild winters lately which translates into more bugs. They don't infest houses like German roaches, they mostly live outside, but they're opportunistic, and where there is food and water, they will go. They're somewhat seasonal, and late July through mid October is typically the worst time of year for them. I'd find at least one per night in my garage (we keep our recycling bin in there), sometimes up to a half dozen of them. Several nights per week, I'd find one in my kitchen late at night when I turn the lights on. Occasionally one would come out of my chimney in my family room (usually when company is over, of course) When I lift the cover off my grill on my back porch, a dozen scurry out. Once in a blue moon, I'd even find one in the dead of winter. I've never liked the idea of spreading harsh toxins or nerve agents around my house where I or my kids or my pets or my food could come into contact with it. Professional pest services are hit and miss, and they're not going to care for your house like you do, some might work, some wont, but either way you're out hundreds of bucks. I also didn't want wildlife, birds, reptiles and amphibians that might eat a poisoned bug to be affected. That sort of hamstrung my options. I've put borax/sugar and diatomaceous earth all over the place before. That worked great for ants, but didn't make a huge dent in the roach situation. A few weeks ago a flying insect hit my head at I was sitting at my desk one evening, and as I flailed and yelped like a baby I saw a giant palmetto scurrying away. That was the last straw. I either had to fix this problem, or move back North. General Sherman never surrendered or showed mercy, and I wasn't about to either, so I did some research and came across these tablets that seemed to get a lot of good feedback. I placed about 20 of these tablets around my house at various places where I suspect they get into the house from. A bunch in my garage, under kitchen sink, under the dishwasher, on my back porch, and inside my mostly unused fireplace. After the first night the tablet that was close to my garage door, which I suspect is where most of the palmettos came from, was 75% eaten. I placed a few more tablets in the same spot. It's been around a week since placing the tablets and I have not seen a single adult roach inside my house except for one that was 90% dead. It's hard to describe how miraculous that is. I have not gone an entire week in August without seeing bugs in years. All of the tablets show signs of being nibbled on. Some are almost gone after a week. I've probably seen 6-8 newborn hatchlings in that time, but those were certainly from eggs laid somewhere nearby before the tablets were there. Those should stop too once all the eggs are gone. The tablets smell like wet dog butt, but I rated them 5 stars, because whatever that smell is, the roaches cant get enough of it. You can only smell the smell while in the packaging though. Individual tablets are not strong enough that you can smell them in your house. I was really surprised at how well these worked, given that I've tried all sorts of things in the past. Boric acid is safe for other wildlife, and unlike many other insecticides it's not a nerve agent capable of affecting mammals and humans. The organophosphates used in many insecicides is in the same family of chemicals as VX and Sarin gas used in chemical weapons. These tablets have none of that. Boric acid is a primary component of laundry soap. While it's probably not a good idea to eat large quantities of it, exposure to it is completely safe, it's mostly toxic to insects. The price of these things for what they do is amazing, I've spent 10-20 times as much on other products over the years that never worked well. I've spent a decade never letting my food touch my countertop in the summer, because I never knew if there was a palmetto-party on it the night before, now I feel like one day soon, I'll be able to treat it like a normal countertop.

***UPDATED REVIEW - OCTOBER 16, 2020, PLEASE READ IN ITS ENTIRETY We've been dealing with an infestation for long enough that I was ready to burn my house down and be done with it. After getting these, I immediately placed a few around my kitchen, I didn't even go through additional steps to clean, I just wanted something down before I laid down to take a nap. TWO HOURS LATER......out of the nine tablets I placed, three were completely covered with roaches, three were already gone, two were crushed and the other two had enormous chunks chewed out of them. But what got me the most was the sheer lack of interest in me when I was checking on the tablets, normally when a roach sees a human they are high tailing it off whatever they're on. The ones eating the tablets could have cared less that I was even there. It was almost like they were gorging themselves on the tablet. I know it's going to take more time to get rid of them all, but I am extremely happy with what I saw, I mean, two hours later! That was the best thing I saw and I finally feel like I'm going to get rid of these things once and for all. ***It's now been almost two weeks since the start of our application of these tablets and I wish I could tack on a few more stars to my original review. The sheer number of roaches we have been seeing has been in a drastic, steady decline over the last few days and thought I would take the time to offer up some tips that worked for us, not to mention take care of some of the negative reviews I read. First and foremost, this is war. If you have roaches, spreading roach bait around and then not following up with it will not give you the results you need. If your kitchen is dirty, clean it and leave nothing untouched, it needs to look as clean as it did the day you moved into your house/apartment/condo. If you have a steam cleaner, break it out and steam everything, including your appliances, walls, ceilings, floors. Take everything out of the cabinets and steam clean them. Rewash your dishes, you've GOT to remove every single roach trace that you can and you've GOT to get rid of any food that will be more enticing to them than the tablets. If you see brown spots, those needs to be eradicated, those spots are actually roach feces. They not only eat it but it signals to other roaches that there is a nearby food or water source. Bleach will do, steam is better, both will be a great knockout punch. Roach nests are easy to spot but hard to find, if you see more than six roaches hanging out in a corner, that's a nest. Destroy the nest and the roaches will scatter. Steam and bleach, I can't say that enough because it disrupts their 'signal' spots and causes them to run. By doing all of this, you are going to stir them up and it's going to be a full-on invasion, but that's what you want. They're going to scurry around looking for other places to nest, food and water sources. Once you've cleaned your kitchen from top to bottom, place the tablets. Put them in your cabinets, under your appliances, anywhere that you've seen the highest traffic of roaches, but away from pets and children. In our early days of the tablets, we would place tablets and go back in a few hours later and they were gone, they ate the entire tablet. When you see one tablet missing, immediately replace it with a fresh one. Inspect the other tablets multiple times a day if you can, if they start to look like Swiss cheese and you don't see a lot of roaches on it, replace it with a new one and dispose of it properly. This kind of kill is NOT instant like some of the negative reviews seem to believe, this is a slow death situation. If you see a roach crawl over a tablet and not eat it, it doesn't mean it's not working. Boric acid is a fine, fine powder and the second it touches it, it signed its own death warrant. Boric acid works three ways, a physical death because it eats away the waxy coating that roaches have on them to protect them, then burrows in deeper to dehydrate the roach. They also track that powder with them all the way to their nest as well, so they're killing the nest, too. When they eat the tablet, it starts to disrupt the roach's digestive system and neurological system. After they eat it and you see one walking around drunk or actually doesn't run from you a day or two later, that's the acid killing it from the inside out. I've had roaches actually walk up to me and hang out like we were best friends. I squashed and killed it, but that just let me know the acid was working. You're going to see roaches crawling around for a while, but you'll start to see the numbers diminish. If you see a roach that looks like it has a square shaped hind-end, you need to kill it immediately and dispose of the body, that's the female and the oblong attachment is actually an egg case. I've purposely started to target any female with an egg case, doesn't matter where or when I see her, she's toast, so consider this move as well. If you destroy a female with an egg case, you're destroying the line. Don't let her live if you can help it and if you spot an egg case without a female, squash it immediately. Once she drops that case, you're literally down to hours before roaches inside break through the case lining. One of those egg cases holds up to 80 eggs, a viable female roach reproduces multiple times and lives for a year. I'm not going to do the math, but just one female roach can be responsible for THOUSANDS before she dies. Once you start seeing dead roaches, sweep them up, put them in the trash and take the trash out. Roaches are cannibals, they'll eat their own if there are no food sources. Stay on top of this just as much as staying on top of the tablets. Last but not least, if you get a box where the tablets are broken or there is a lot of powder at the bottom of the box, don't throw it out and leave a negative review! There's still roach bait, there's still boric acid, it's still going to kill roaches, your application is just going to change. Take out the tablets that are in good shape and use them, then take the powder and dust into corners, under your appliances, find a way to use it but don't throw it out and be sure to wash your hands afterward. We are absolutely sold and are firm believers in this product, we've bought two more boxes and I'm telling you, the roaches are dying, I walk through my kitchen multiple times a day and I find dead roaches. Don't let the negative reviews deter you from using this, take my tips to heart, follow the directions on the box and I guarantee, the roaches will die. Be patient, be vigilant, believe in the product.

WARNING PETS: Do NOT Get If You Have Pets. Our 2 beloved Cats (like my children) Died Soon After Getting These. We hid the tablets around out of reach, but our 2 young cats were able to access the locations. 1.) because a lady had flipped the drawers of a dresser that I had hid them in- (the dresser had roaches in it, they were never flipped before, and I did not expect that to ever happen and she threw many things around "cleaning". I saw the dressers flipped when I came home, in a few days my dear cat died. (I have always had cats that live very long, so had this lady, her other cat lived 18 years, mine lived 19.) But these two, who were around these tablets died young and within months of each other. The second cat died when the lady also cut open a bag which I had wrapped a large box in, which I knew was a popular roach nest, (the box had electronics in it-but saw it was getting infested-we NEVER had roaches until these past few years & the roaches basically came with an old broken oven the landlord gave us to replace our other broken oven, really, so, that's when the roaches arrived.) Anyways, I had placed a few tablets in the box of electronics and quickly wrapped the box in a garbage bag. The lady, while I was not there, cut the garbage bag knot out, leaving the bag and box open, without telling me. When I returned to see, I saw the bag and box open and the tablet gone! Very soon after, my 2nd cat died. This was devastating for me. I had earlier told the lady where I put the tablets and to of course not let the cats get to them, but people can forget, you cannot count on things being kept the way you place them, it is not worth the risk. It also has a lure, which brings more roaches & this item does not even work as well as the old roach motels, which are black with plastic covering, which I started to use w/better success. I wish I had just used the. black plastic covered ones, I am pretty sure my cats would still be with me. It is devastating. I had never had this experience. I did not see our cats eat these, but I think that out of all possibilities for our 2 young indoor cats to die within months of each other and right after the drawers were flipped and the bag around a box was cut & open, I see this as the most likely cause of their unfair and sad early deaths (I am pretty sure they would be with me another 10 years) and I will never forgive myself for getting these tablets, even though I had hid them, even enclosed them way out of reach. Before hating this lady, please know she was equally as devastated and she also cries about it and we talk about those two cats almost every day, we speak to them and remember them. From the beginning, I did not feel right about reading "Pet Safe" While it also Says Keep Out of Reach of them. That makes no sense and I should have just listened to an inner voice. I am writing this to possibly save one pet from what my dear little girls experienced unfairly. I did not see them eat these, but it is most likely what happened (more than 90% likely these tablets). Please, if you have pets, do NOT get these. Also, the plastic covered ones that are black work better and seem safer and can be seen by people who may try to move your furniture around or flip drawers upside down and other things around. Be careful with the little loved ones, it would be so heartbreaking for you to make the same mistake I did, and even worse than our suffering about it constantly, is what the pets experienced. I have not had a pet since, and will not until we are out of this terrible apt building.

Maybe we just have picky roaches, but these have not seemed to help. I don't think any of the tablets I put down have been touched, and we still see roaches. Just get the canned sprays - they work better.

Works well to reduce population but very dusty

Omg these are AMAZING! I live in south florida land of giant flying roaches and after one had me hiding under a blanket I had to take action. These work so amazingly well and are nontoxic to pets and kids. Bugs are gone! If I happen to see a lively one I toss a few more tablets in the area and it takes care of it. (sometimes you will see a dying bug taking its last steps in the beginning ) the box says to add more tablets after a year but the bugs down here are big and athletic so I’d say it’s maybe once a month I might have to toss a few tablets in a corner. They are so affordable and work amazingly well. I’m so grateful to have found these.

This product works! During 2019-2023 California Drought we had tons of roaches in garage and in the house. I tried all remedies. Sticky traps gave good indication on degree of infestation but only killed after they were born. These tablets when placed strategically in infected areas killed the roaches and eliminated them for good. Nice to deliberately leave food and water out and leave these pills next to the nourishment roaches wanted. They then ate the tablets and so satisfying to see tablets whittled away after being eaten. Roaches then died in the nests and residue on roaches was eating by their friends and relatives who then died too. So impressed on how quickly the roaches disappeared. Just make sure your pets don't try to lick or eat them.

So I have a slight phobia of roaches. Can't stand the sight of them nor can I stand the crunch they make when stepped on. So after moving into a place where I found a roach to occasionally appear on the floor I got a can of Raid and sprayed them as they appeared. But as I started doing some research I fell into a rabbit hole of cockroach articles and videos of how roaches behave, their habits, as well as how to successfully destroy them. I found that if you do see a roach inside your home quite regularly, and a good sized one at that, that it's likely that you have hundreds of others hiding inside walls and crevices mating and multiplying. And my final conclusion after reading these forums, articles, and videos from google and YouTube, boric acid coupled with some sticky pads were the winning combo, and of course keeping your place CLEAN. So I set out to get every product that contained boric acid. Which led me to these pellets. Boric acid is deadly to cockroaches. So if you can get it on them or better yet in them (by making them eat it) they end up bringing it back to their hive and spreading the boric acid within their community and killing the rest of them in their own lair. And sure enough roaches came and went straight for these pellets at night. I placed these in every corner, threw them behind the fridge, stove, cabinets, and shelves, I must have had at least 15-20 pellets in each room. I also got a bottle of boric acid dust and dusted along all the baseboards and doorways. Basically any possible entrance, hole, and crack in the house was dusted. It says to combine powdered sugar with the boric acid dust so that the roaches ultimately consume the dust along with the sugar. But I didn't really feel like spreading sugar laced boric acid dust around the house. I didn't need ants to also smell the sugar and start another insect problem. Which brings me to these pellets. They must have some sort of bait within these boric acid pellets because roaches do go right up to these and start nibbling on them. I just wanted to use the boric acid dust as a back up in case they don't find a pellet that night. My research also found that as long as they walk through the boric acid dust, that should be effective because they end up ingesting the dust as they clean themselves. So along with these pellets, it was a sure fire way that some boric acid one way or another would come in contact with any roach that enters the house. It could take up to 3 days for a roach to die from coming in contact with boric acid. Sooner if they ingest enough of it. Soon I would see dead roaches in a few corners and some outside. There's probably a whole pile of dead roaches within my walls as well. Unless they moved out and found a more appealing home with extra food and water readily available. Anyway I estimated about a month before I never saw a cockroach inside my house again. I also keep my house very clean, I don't leave crumbs on the floor, dishes in the sink, or food on the bottom cabinets. I also sealed every crack and hole I could find with some silicon caulking, but not before I could squeeze some boric acid inside them. I will occasionally spray some of that big box store 30 day insecticide around the outside of the house just as an added 'barrier" not really sure that works, but I do know that ever since I started using boric acid products my roach problem has ended. I do still keep these pellets hidden around the house, behind furniture and inside cabinets because the dust that comes in a bottle gets a little messy and unsightly when spread around the house. This is my 3rd time purchasing this brand of boric acid pellets and will continue to do so until humans figure out how to eradicate roaches permanently.