Boric acid is low in toxicity and relatively safe to use around children and pets. Also, it is not a carcinogen like other pesticides. As with most things, toxicity is in the dosage or exposure, so you want to place these where children or pets will not happen upon them and decide to eat them.
Wearing a mask and some gloves are a wise extra precaution.
The easiest way to do it is to use disposable plates and forks. Take a little leftover dinner and put it on a disposable plate. Add some boric acid to it and mix it in really well with the fork. Leave the plate on the counter, table, etc. where you see the most activity. Seal off the room for the night (I use a baby gate to keep the dogs out).
Discard the fork deep in the trash so your pets can't dig it out. Make sure that there is no other food out on the counters or in the sink. Let the roaches feast over night. Throw away the plates in the morning. Do this for about a week and then three days any time you happen to see more activity.
If you want an actually recipe use this one below:
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup boric acid
- 1/4 cup Crisco
- 1 tsp minced onion
Mix together flour, sugar, boric acid, and Crisco, making sure they are mixed well and are a dough-like consistency.
Add some minced onions and continue mixing. If you need to add more Crisco or flour, do so until you can roll the dough up into marble size balls that hold together.
Place them in the corners of cabinets, under the fridge and oven, behind furniture, underneath the sink, and in other places where cockroaches are seen. If you can put them in cut up Styrofoam egg carton pieces or on small pieces of cardboard that would be best, so they are easy to move or remove.
Check the baits daily. If they hardened, add a few drops of water to moisten the dough balls. It helps cockroaches feed on it easily.
Note: Borax is not boric acid. You must mix borax with hydrochloric acid to convert it to boric acid.
Don’t use sticky pads or traps. This will reduce effectiveness of the boric acid’s killing action. The objective is for the cockroaches to take the boric acid with them (ingested or attached to their exoskeletons) to the nest.
