Do you have unwanted little geckos in your home? You can tell by the tiny brown / black colored droppings with a white pin they leave in their path. If you see a specimen walking on a wall, then you are sure of their presence. While geckos are actually useful for hunting spiders and insects, their presence may not be pleasant; therefore it is necessary to follow some precautions to make them understand that they are not welcome guests in your home.
Home remedies
Geckos are useful for keeping insects in check, but sometimes you just want to not have them around the house. To keep them away, you can use a variety of products you may already have at home:
- If you have gods egg shells, you can arrange them around the perimeter of the house to scare them.
- If you have some naphthalene, you can use it as a repellent.
- If you have coffee And tobacco, you can prepare some kind of poison.
- If you have garlic cloves, you can use the smell as a repellent.
- If you have any onions, cut some into slices to keep them under control.
- If you have del cayenne pepper or of Tabasco, you can make a pepper spray yourself.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Drive Geckos away from Home
Step 1. Put some egg shells
This is a very effective and inexpensive way to scare away geckos, as these animals associate eggshells with predators. Leave half shells in various areas of the house, such as next to the front door or in the kitchen.
- You don't have to crumble them, just leave them in half.
- It should be sufficient to put only two halves at each entrance; as soon as the geckos see them, they will run away.
- Make sure they are always fresh, change them every 3-4 weeks.
Step 2. Put some mothballs
This works against moths, cockroaches, ants, flies - and even geckos! A real home panacea! Place some under the stove, refrigerator, or sink to ward off geckos.
Step 3. Place sticky traps
Many insects these small reptiles feed on are attracted to light, so geckos tend to stay in those areas. Put some fly paper near light sources, not only to capture their food source, but also to block the geckos themselves.
- A good place to place it is inside the lampshades.
- You can also decide to put small planks or cardboard with glue near the windows or other entry points of the house.
- If you find a live gecko stuck on a sticky trap, you can free it by pouring some vegetable oil over the trap. You may find it rather disgusting, but at least it's human!
Step 4. Make a ball of coffee and tobacco
Take the damp coffee grounds and some tobacco and shape them with your hands to form a small ball that you can attach to the tip of a toothpick. Place it in the area where geckos have settled or where they could easily settle, such as near a front door. Geckos will eat some of this substance and die.
Step 5. Put a clove of garlic
The strong smell of this plant is not only a repellent for humans: even geckos do not like its aroma! Leave a wedge near the door to prevent these pesky reptiles from returning.
Step 6. Cut a few slices of onion
This is another irritant that is supposed to ward off geckos. Cut an onion in half and leave it where you know these creatures love to hide, somewhere warm and comfortable where you've seen them take refuge or next to the front door.
Step 7. Sprinkle some pepper all around the house
The irritation humans feel when pepper is sprinkled into the air is no different from what geckos feel. Make a mixture of water and pepper and pour it into a spray bottle filled with water; then spray this product in all areas of the house, such as under the refrigerator, behind the stove or even on the walls - basically in any warm place where you have seen a gecko.
- Instead of pepper, you can add cayenne pepper or hot pepper powder.
- Tabasco sauce is also a valid alternative to the homemade pepper solution with water.
- Be careful not to spray too much, otherwise you will want to leave home too; take into account its irritating effects.
Step 8. Catch a gecko and let it go
If you find yourself having to deal with a particularly stubborn little reptile that does not want to leave your home, you can try to catch it "by hand", so to speak, by placing a small box on the wall and "encouraging" the animal to enter it. Once captured, release it in the wild and prepare some more repellent to prevent it from returning!
Method 2 of 3: Preventing Gecko Entry
Step 1. Make your home inhospitable
These creatures love warm hiding places and water, so you need to take several measures to prevent favorable environments.
- Keep your home clean by sweeping floors and avoiding piles of messy items, such as clothing, newspapers, boxes, and so on.
- Keep furniture at least 6 inches away from walls and don't hang pictures - remember they are nocturnal animals and love warm, dark places to hide during the day.
- Keep the thermostat set to the lowest possible temperature you can handle - geckos prefer warm, humid places in the house when the cool of the night arrives.
- If any faucet or pipe in the house leaks water, or in any case stagnant water remains in some area, fix the problem, because geckos like these environments.
Step 2. Make the garden inhospitable
This part of the house could be the welcome ticket for geckos, if they are attracted to different comforts: presence of water, insects and a hiding place. Here are some tips to make your garden a very unattractive place from a reptile point of view.
- Remove any containers or items that favor water stagnation, such as bird trays. Still waters are fertile ground for the spawning of insects which, in turn, are the favorite meal of geckos; moreover, these reptiles will also take advantage of the water to drink.
- Water the garden a little, since lizards, and therefore geckos too, love humid environments where they can satisfy their hydration needs.
- Do not grow succulent plants: in the absence of other sources of water, geckos gnaw on these plants to survive.
- Prune shrubs, especially those close to your home, as they are a perfect hiding place.
- You can cover the bushes with nets to prevent the geckos from using them as a refuge.
- Do not turn on the outdoor lights for too long, or you will attract the insects preyed upon by the geckos. If you need to light up the garden, use sodium vapor lamps or yellow ones.
Step 3. Check that the house is well insulated
Geckos are able to flatten their thin scaly bodies and crawl into tiny crevices and holes as well. For this reason you need to be sure that the house is well insulated. Inspect the perimeter walls and close any cracks with putty, do the same with the door and window frames. Check that the glass is silicone coated.
Method 3 of 3: Eliminate Food Sources
Step 1. Prevent mosquitoes, midges and flies from entering your home
These insects love standing water because they lay their eggs there. You must delete any container or object that offers this possibility.
- Close the garbage cans and those of separate collection.
- Avoid leaving glasses full of water exposed for a long time.
- Check that the sink and bathtub are not filled with standing water.
Step 2. Get rid of the ants
These insects hate the smell of vinegar, so you can sprinkle or sprinkle some of this liquid on door and window frames to avoid welcoming rotting columns of ants.
Clean immediately after meals; dirty napkins, crumbs and dirty dishes attract ants
Step 3. Kill the fruit flies
These insects love sweet foods, they can't resist it; therefore offer them what they want: a small cup or bowl with white wine. Let them dine there… until they die!
Step 4. Smother the moths
They proliferate in humid environments. If you want your home to become inhospitable to these insects, hang a piece of chalk in the closet; in this way the environment dries up and the moths will go away.
Step 5. Keep cockroaches away
These insects feed on many things but, if there is one they can't stand, it's cucumber peel. The next time you peel one, don't throw the scraps away, but leave them on the kitchen, counter or in the bathtub, to prevent cockroaches from roaming around your house.
If cucumber peels attract ants, then you can always use borax - sprinkle a little on the spots most infested with cockroaches and, within a month, you should notice the population decline of these insects. But remember that borax is highly toxic to humans and pets
Step 6. Prevent spiders from entering the house
They often appear to appear out of nowhere, but besides getting rid of the insects they feed on, there are other ways to keep arachnids away from home. Here are some suggestions:
- Seal any crevice or opening that leads outdoors, for example by putting putty around door and window frames.
- Catch unwanted spiders by placing cardboard filled with glue in garbage cans, basement, bathroom and kitchen.
- If you have a true spider infestation, you will need to use an insecticide or call a pest control company.
Step 7. Limit the population of crickets
They are a source of food for geckos, so reduce the number of them both indoors and in the garden, so you can keep the reptile population in check as well.
- You can fill a shallow bowl with molasses (or beer) diluted with water. This trap will kill crickets both indoors and outdoors, as they will be lured into and jump into it.
- Keep the lawn well cut because crickets love to live in tall grass.
Advice
- WD40 spray, while not an eco-friendly remedy, can prevent geckos from entering your air conditioning system (spray it all around the base of your plant's outdoor unit).
- Geckos are nocturnal animals and hide behind or under furniture and appliances during the day, so you may run into them more easily during the night.
Warnings
- Never use mothballs if there are children or animals in the house, as it is toxic.
- Borax is toxic to humans and animals, so don't use this method of killing reptiles if you have children or pets!
