i need help with keeping bugs off the layout and out of the trainroom my dad sprays the floor but that still does not help is there some non toxic stuff that i can put on the layout around the edges because we have a dog and i dont wand it to harm her at all last night i was fixing a faulty cnnection and when i looked down to grab a tool here comes a HUGE CENTAPEDE it scared the pands of of me (im not a big fan of insects especially crepycrawlies) and my elbou knocked a building off (so you know what i am going to be doing tonight right) and if a train hits something like a bug i wont feel like cleaning the guts off of the bottom and trucks of the loco and i dont want whe wet stuff to make something explode and i am in the trainroom all the time (literaly) and i want to make it more enjoyable whithout being scared out of my pants all the time i posted this because i'm sick of bugs evorywhere my house is not old about 13 years and the trainroom was painted with white sealent and 2 coats of light sky blue paint and i was just wondering if someone can help me please thankyou
Hi.. By the sounds of it the trainroom is not sealed 100%, so you need to get a fog machine and fill the room with smoke and from the outside look for any smoke, them fill them, once you have done that, remove all what you can from the layout and use a few bug bombs. Stuart
Hi, Your post made me chuckle. It reminds me of when I was 11 years old when we had a layout in our unfinished basement at our house which was located near a ravine. It had centipedes and huge spiders too. Yuck. Not to gross anyone out, but I remember the spiders being dead and all dried up. I'm not expert on insect extermination, so as far as getting rid of them, not much you can do other than what you're already doing. Good luck! Chuck
I'm with Stuart about the room being sealed. Try and find where their comming in and seal the hole(s). As far as getting rid of the bugs, you could get yourself a chicken. Chickens love bugs but then it brings up a new problem little messes all over the floor Just joking with you Lucas in Alaska PS: I would really check with mom and dad before you bring a live chicken into the house
I'll agree with the others about sealing the train room. Be sure that you fill any holes and gaps with something which critters will not wish to eat. Such as a rock hard water based putty from a hardware store. Also, review what is on your layout. Any materials which might attract insects. Keep all trash, and foodstuffs cleaned out of the room. If worried about your pet, be sure to check with your veterinarian, on what is safe to use. Boxcab E50
i only see a centepede in the trainroom once evory 2-weeks about spiders 5-a week little buggies (what my little brother calls them i have no clue what they are) like to hang by the rail and always get squashed the basement is finished the room has carpet the heater/water heater in one is in there so i wouldent conciter using bugboms unless we get a new heater and befor they put the new one in i might put a B-Bom but from the looks of how the mythbusters blew that house up with them i'm not liking the idea of bugboms (literaly boms) LOL we have some other bugs sometimes do you think that because the room is always cold is why the bugs are attracted to that room does it matter if it is moist or dry in the room what do bugs like moist or dry there is nothing they would want to eat uuuutttt hhhooo that centapede prabably came from the tunnel and it is probably eating something in the tunnel would they like glue and blue plasterboard or thet foam board stuff you use to make mountains my worst fear is to go into the room and run a train and when it goes in the tunnel it hits something obviously large to stom it and knock it off and see a Giant taranchala crawling out of the other end well got to go my mom wants to take our christmas pic well be back in 10
I'm no bug expert, but I don't think you have to worry about tarantulas roaming around Pennsylvania. I feel sorry for you because of the centipedes. The only insect I hate worse than a spider is a centipede. I'd almost rather see a snake than a spider or centipede.
There is a critical mass, a sustaining mass, of food and young arachnids and arthropods in your basement such that they have a little ecosystem. Temperature and humidity are just fine, thanks very much, and there is food...some feeding on other insects, such as sowbugs. The sowbugs eat stuff that you can't see, including dead skin flakes, and then eat dropped food. If you want to keep the insects and arachnids under control, you must eliminate their food. Eliminating their food precludes them from hatching enough spiderlings to sustain the critical mass they need. I agree with finding obvious openings, such as at sill plates, door seals, cracks in the foundation, and so on. Fill them with steel wool if it will keep dry, or use an expanding foam sealant...not one that expands more than about twice its ejected volume. The super foamy ones are wasteful. Once you know the basement is well sealed, and so the doors and windows, then buy Black Flag or Raid smoke bombs (the Raid ones come three to a blue box), and set off one bomb per approx 600 ft sq. Make sure all drawers and cupboards, closets, storage bins, etc, are ajar/open. If there is a suspended ceiling, such as acoustic tile, slide several of them open. Follow the smoke bomb directions strictly. Then, about three or four weeks later, repeat to get any bugs left alive, or eggs that might have managed to hatch.
We have centepedes here too. One thing, aside from plugging all the holes you can find is to get an exterminator to come in monthly. We do this at my office, and we have our dog there with us (we are assured the chemicals are safe for man and beast). This cuts down the chances for big bugs to have little baby bugs because they all die off, or nearly all of them do. It is an ongoing thing though...once a month no matter what you get the bug guy in. Just another idea...hope it doesn't bug you! P.S. I had MICE on my layout when I was 11. I REALLY don't like mice and these mice really like to eat my plaster mountains, my trees...even chew electrical wires...YUCK! J
Please have your FATHER read the answers here and follow advice if he chooses. I am sure nobody wants an eleven year old to start setting off smokers with insecticides.
I know nothing about this product except I saw it advertised on TV and wonder if it actually works. If anyone tries it let the rest of us know. http://www.riddexplus.com/ Ben
i asked to get an exterminator in but they said Too much money the trainroom has no dropsealing the other room does the TR (trainroom) has no sealing there is no source of food in the TR that bugs or humans want to eat would goo gone do anything because i've been using goo gone more often scince the biggining of the summer dont spiders not like the scent of lemon because befor i was using goo gone more often i saw more spiders
What you probably have there is a common house centepede. What's That Bug: Centipedes and Millipedes I see them occasionally in my basement. They are lightning fast and great entertainment for my 2 cats. The cats like to tear their little legs off one-by-one. Ironically, the centepedes are probably hanging around to dine of your local spider population. Both spiders and centepede are arachnids. Arachnids don't particularly like moth balls. You can get those moth discs that have a hook to hang on a clothes rod. I hang them all over my basement along with the placement of moth balls in areas where my cats cannot access them. I do find a lot of dead spiders around the moth discs and balls. For a more drastic approach, You can try Ortho Home Defense MAX which kills spiders and centepedes on contact and also repels them. I have had great success using this on the eaves of my house where, here near Lake Erie, spiders thrive. This insecticide comes in a gallon jug with a portable sprayer. It is relatively inexpensive and can be used indoors with the proper precautions.
I did not know centipedes were also arachnids! That's a new one. As a father, I will advise you firstly to chat with your father about getting those bugs out of your train room. It is, after all, an adult problem (their house) and your Dad will know best how to get rid of them. I know that they are bothersome to you because you can't run your trains in peace with something crawling around on your layout. All of the advice so far has been good. Print them out for your Dad.
Centiped vs. Tarantula [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf8pAwGsuF4&feature=related"]YouTube - giant centipede vs tarantula[/ame]
Non-toxic, and cheap: White distilled vinegar. http://www.vinegartips.com/ "Discourage ants by spraying undiluted white distilled vinegar outside doorways and windowsills, around appliances and wherever you find the pests coming in." http://www.vinegartips.com/gardening/ has more tips that could help. It can't hurt to buy a jug of this stuff, it's so useful. Even if it doesn't work for your particular application.
what do you think how much fun it is to remove the remainings of some full size snails hit by a g scale train in the backyar ? that's even less fun... i had spiders in my hobby room. but since i run a dehumidifier 7x24 i got rid of them. humidity is set to 15%. to dry for any middle-european creature.
My humidity is usually low here; my problem is Black Widow and other western arid habitat spiders. Hobo spiders, as they are known around here, are very aggressive. They'll attack you! We get those AL the time at work. Had one sleeping in the shop vac hose once. Man, was he mad when I picked up the hose to connect it! A quick boot usually does the trick, but these guys can get quite large. Not to tarantula size, but measuring leg tip to leg tipe was over 2".
Love this thread. That vid was GREAT! I was rooting for the spider. Wish I had an outdoor layout to scrape snails off of. My building seems to be insect free.
