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Originally Posted by Pammy2016  I recently moved to Florida and the pest game down here is a whole lot different than up north. 
My yorkie is just over a year old and she weighs a measly 2.5/3lbs. She's a little peanut. Lizards seem to be a problem getting in my apartment. I was thinking about getting one of them wall plugins to keep these small lizards and other critters from creeping in my apartment and having my family live on pins and needles, including our yorkie.
With her being so small, will one of them wall plugins hurt her or affect her health? I don't want to do ANYTHING that might hurt her or make her act differently. OR, for anyone that lives in Florida or down south, do you have any alternatives to a wall plugin to keep small lizards and other pests out? My yorkie and my family has been a nervous wreck since we found a nice sized lizard that snuck in the apartment yesterday afternoon and now we can no longer find it. We would like our peace of mind back!! |
Uhh I doubt small lizards will do anything to her... I mean define "small lizards" -- how small are we talking about? Like those anoles? Anoles don't have the bite power to do much damage- if any.... the only thing ("lizard wise") that you should be cautious about is the nile monitor-- which is one of the species people were dumb enough to introduce to florida... maybe the "tokay gecko" if she ever managed to mess with a tokay lizard, maybe that will persist. They have a nasty attitude towards anything that gets close to it. They don't have the hardware to do much damage- but it still stings being bitten by one. If you mean the fence lizards or the scub lizards.. they cant do much damage to her either and lizards in general will leave you alone if you don't get close to them and start bothering them...
I will warn you, there are threatened species of reptiles over there... like the eastern indigo snake being one...
You do however have a few threats to your yorkie-- like real threats.. if he manages to find either the coral snake(the real one-- there's a fake one as well which is harmless - i.e. non venomous), cottonmouth, rattlesnakes, copperheads all of these are highly poisonous... you have 3 different species of rattlesnakes. The diamondback rattlesnake being the more aggressive and one of the more venomous ones... the coral snake is also highly dangerous and so is the cottonmouth and the copperhead.
As for a non-venomous but still highly dangerous snake that very "smart" individuals decided to release into the wild is the Burmese Python, which can grow to be 26 feet long and have more than enough muscle power (which is what pythons tend to rely on) to strangle the life out of a young child( about a 2 year old could easily be killed by a hungry burmese)... so that being said, a yorkie would be easy prey for one....
Overall, you should avoid handling any reptiles (especially the dangerous venomous snakes- one wrong move could cost you your life or end up at the hospital at the very least) and should call animal control to deal with it.
If you want to keep your place free of said reptiles.. I'd keep your yard(if you have one) clean of debris--- don't leave trash laying about-- snakes can make (and like to) a home out of lumber on the ground, tires, etc... anything big enough that a snake can get under will potentially make a snakes den'. In your garage(if applicable) keep it neat and organized. Don't leave things piled up.
Same thing applies to pest rodents. Like snakes, rodents hide underneath things like tires, logs, lumber in general, heck even a trash can turned upside down could make a potential home for a rodent....
Keep your grass short to discourage them from moving in. As for actual repellents...
If anything is coming inside your house-- usually there's underlying problems... Don't leave dishes unwashed, always eat in a designated area- keep it clean, and wipe it down(the table) to remove any smells. If anything spills, pick it up, mop if needed. Dry food should be kept sealed and stored in a container. Things like sugar, flour, etc should be kept in sealed containers.
The smell of food is a good enough reason for them to move in. Don't leave your dog food there for hours. If your dog doesn't eat when he's supposed to, throw it out. Make sure his dish is kept clean as well. Pet food will always attract rodents. By the way, don't be fooled into thinking that rats wont eat meat.... You'd be surprised what a hungry rat will eat...
Keep your living spaces clean, organized, and free of clutter. Rodents also like dark places to live in....
Even here up north we had a mouse find its way in our home once and was living under our stove. We found that if we left the door open even for a little moment during autumn unattended.. whatever was in the backyard would go in here. (Well not rabbits, but we had mice come in once, and another time a vole). If you want to set a mouse trap, you can always use peanut butter with potato chips mixed in or crackers(like the lays) for whatever reason... mice and rats seem to like PB a lot....
I would suggest leaving sticky paper anywhere near the entrances or anywhere they could get in... they'll be forced to go through the paper. Do check it often.