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Kill maggots instantly


How to kill maggots instantly: experts share solutions |

(Image credit: GettyImages)

If you’re faced with the question of how to kill maggots instantly, it is likely that you’ve had a sighting in your home. In this case, you will inevitably want to get rid of the pest as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, you may be relieved to hear that the best solutions are simple.

Knowing how to keep flies out of the house is important, as no flies should mean no maggots. But if they do manage to infest your space, it's essential to know that maggots pose an ever greater threat in your home. 

This notorious pest can lead to animal sickness – and they pose a significant problem if they get into food that is destined for human consumption. Therefore, if you’ve had a sighting, learning how to kill maggots instantly should be a priority. 

How to kill maggots instantly – expert advice for pest prevention and cure  

Maggots can survive for 8-10 days before turning into a fly, but they can cause a lot of damage during that time. Here's what you need to know when contending with the pest. 

(Image credit: GettyImages)

Michael Thome, an associated certified entomologist with Western Exterminator , recommends making your space unattractive to flies before you actually have an infestation of maggots. The easiest way to do this is by maintaining a clean trash can. 

'Make sure that all trash placed in cans is in a bag. If the trash is especially nasty or attractive (for example, pet waste), consider placing it in a smaller bag first, then into the larger bag,' Michael says. He also suggests ensuring all trash cans have lids that seal properly and consider replacing a can with holes from years of use.

Though, if you already have maggots in your home, the expert resorts to the boiled water method (explained below) to get rid of them permanently.

1. Boiling water  

According to Michael, boiling water is the most impactful way to kill maggots quickly. ’Maggots are actually highly vulnerable to many things. They consist mostly of protein, which makes them most vulnerable to boiling water,’ emphasizes pest control expert Nicholas Martin . 

Nicholas explains that boiling water causes protein coagulation and kills maggots instantly – and naturally. ‘Don’t forget that maggots can live in cool and warm water, so it must be boiling to kill them,’ he says. 

And Nicholas isn’t the only person who practises this technique. Pest expert Ray Brosnan similarly recommends pouring boiling water over the area where the maggots are gathering to remove them quickly. 

‘All you need to do is rinse away the remains afterward; a sprinkling of baking soda over the area is recommended after the scalding to eliminate any bad smells that may linger,’ Ray adds. 

After cleaning with baking soda, all residue of these maggots should disappear completely. 

2. Lime juice and salt  

(Image credit: GettyImages)

For an equally organic solution, the expert suggests spraying the maggots with warm water mixed with concentrated lime juice and salt. This natural DIY remedy will ensure your home is maggot-free quickly. Plus, many of these ingredients are pantry staples that you may already have hidden in your kitchen cupboard. 

3. Bleach and water mixture  

While boiling water is often powerful enough to eliminate maggots permanently, you can also tackle this pest with a bleach mixture. This method is not as natural as the first, but Nicholas explains that it’s equally as powerful. 

‘You can mix bleach 50/50 with water and pour it onto maggots to kill them quickly,’ he says. ‘If the maggots are in your trash can, you can also close it after pouring bleach inside to kill those maggots that are not covered with the liquid with toxic bleach fumes.’

Now you know how to kill maggots instantly; the only thing left is to decide which method you use to regain control over your space. 

(Image credit: GettyImages)

Does salt kill maggots?

Yes, salt effectively kills maggots – when paired with lime juice. When creating your lime-based mixture, you should add a generous amount of salt to guarantee success against the pest. Plus, you can use salt and water to disinfect your bin before you notice any maggots – to ensure they stay away for good. 

What kills maggots besides bleach?

In most cases, you can usually get rid of maggots using boiling water alone. However, in a particularly bad infestation, pest control expert Nicholas Martin suggests mixing bleach 50/50 with water before pouring it onto maggots to get rid of them instantly. 

Megan is the News and Trends Editor at Homes & Gardens. She first joined Future Plc as a News Writer across their interiors titles, including Livingetc and Real Homes. As the News Editor, she often focuses on emerging microtrends, sleep and wellbeing stories, and celebrity-focused pieces. Before joining Future, Megan worked as a News Explainer at The Telegraph, following her MA in International Journalism at the University of Leeds. During her BA in English Literature and Creative Writing, she gained writing experience in the US while studying in New York. Megan also focused on travel writing during her time living in Paris, where she produced content for a French travel site. She currently lives in London with her antique typewriter and an expansive collection of houseplants. 

How to Kill Maggots | 5 Effective Solutions

How to kill maggots

Maggots can appear in many different areas throughout the home, yard, and — at worst — your pets. Each scenario will require a different treatment to rid you of the pesky invaders for good. Follow the guides below to learn how to kill maggots.

Locate all infested areas

As advised by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, locate all areas where maggots are feeding or living. Search through food products that are in especially dirty areas of the home. If the foundation of your home is rotting in any area, you could find maggots in different rooms of the house.

Killing maggots in the house

If you find maggots in the house, there are several ways you can kill them:

Getting rid of maggots on pets

Before taking any treatment, you want to verify that your pets do have maggots. Look in recent wounds and between toe joints for anything moving or hard lumps under the skin.

If they’re found, the best thing that you can do to ensure the safety of your pet is to take them to the vet. Veterinarians will be able to kill maggots and rid your pet of the infestation without doing any harm to the animal.

Keep your pets clean and repel further infestations by washing them with pet shampoo during high season for egg-laying flies.

Spray or dust to clear maggots in the yard

First, you need to determine the scope of the maggot problem in your yard. Dig up the ground around plants that are suffering to check for any large holes dug into the root mass of the plants.

To clear out the infected area, use a vegetable and fruit spray all over the soil of the area. You can also dust the area with a similar treatment if there is a concern the spray could drift.

Killing maggots naturally

Maggots do not have a hard outer shell to protect them as other harmful insects do. This makes killing them by natural or organic means easier. Several home remedies are effective at ending a maggot infestation and cleaning out the infected areas.

If the maggots are in a trash bin, empty the trash bin and dispose of the materials that were inside. Then, fill the trash bin with boiling water. Another option is to set up a feast for the birds, putting out the trash can in an area where birds are common and can quickly pick through.

If you find areas infected with maggots outside of the bin, pouring lime or lemon juice over them should be enough to kill them. Make sure to spray it over the entirety of the area to kill any eggs that have not yet hatched. Another home remedy is to use diatomaceous earth, spreading it over the soil or infested area.

What do maggots look like?

Maggots are baby flies or the larval stage of a fly. They are conically shaped and often a grey or creamy white color. It is hard to differentiate the species of flies from their maggots, but if this is your goal, the University of Kentucky has put together a guide to recognizing larval types. Most maggots found in or around the home are from the common housefly or bluebottle fly.

Holger Kirk /Shutterstock

Maggots are burrowers with their head-end being the more pointed end for digging in. Depending on the kind of fly, maggots feed on either live or rotting materials. They burrow in as they eat through the material, leaving circular, chewed holes scattered throughout.

If you’ve spotted these pests in your home, you’re probably wondering how to kill maggots, where they come from, and how to get rid of them for good. Here’s everything you need to know.

How do you get maggots?

The top causes of maggots in or around your home include improperly stored trash, excess dog feces, or the presence of an animal carcass. The female flies are attracted to such materials and lay their eggs on them. When the eggs hatch, the maggots burrow into the material and begin to eat until their next metamorphic stage.

Although they are quiet invaders, maggots should be dealt with quickly. Some of the dangers of maggots include fly infestations and animal sickness if you have pets. If they get into any food meant for human consumption, they can cause bacterial poisoning.

How to check for maggots

In the home, maggots are generally easy to spot, with most of them being at least as big as a thumbnail. They will be crawling both in and out of any infested food substances. To check if they are inside of your garbage, take a stick or put on gloves to move the trash around and break food open to check inside.

To check if your pet has maggots, they will often be in a wound or under the skin.  You can also check by feeling the area to see if there is a hard bump under the flesh of the wound.

Some maggots eat plant material. You may notice plants that were once healthy are dying without anything else changing in their environment. To check for maggots, you may need to pull up one of these plants and check for maggots in the root mass and in the plant’s hole.

Maggots will only feed for three to five days. The process from egg to fly takes anywhere from 14 to 36 days and, if the material is still in an edible state, the process may start all over again. If the material isn’t properly disposed of, then an infestation will only continue to get worse.

When to call a professional exterminator to treat maggots

The time might come when the maggot infestation is out of your control (or you just can’t stand to deal with it). This might be when the infestation has taken over several rooms in the house or if you have tried to clean an area out multiple times and the infestation has returned.

Another time that you may need to call a professional is if you are unable to identify the pest which will make it difficult to properly treat the problem.

How to keep maggots out of your home

To prevent a maggot infestation, it is important to prevent flies from being attracted to your home or yard. Be sure to clean up any food promptly and store it in sealed containers will keep odors from attracting flies into your home. If you have pet food out, you may want to keep the dish covered to keep flies out of it and remove old food quickly.

If you keep compost in your yard, be sure to keep it covered or sealed to keep the flies out. Finally, make sure to keep the yard clean of any animal feces.

Starting with prevention will be an effective way to keep maggots out of the home. If you do suffer from an infestation, treating it with a chemical spray may be the quickest way to get rid of the problem. If you would prefer to use a home remedy, lime or lemon juice, salt, and boiling water are all useful methods to exterminate the problem.

Frequently asked questions

Q:

How do you get maggots in a home?

A:

Flies come in through open windows or doors if they sense any food or waste odors. They will lay eggs on the food and the eggs hatch into maggots.

Q:

Are there natural remedies to get rid of maggots?

A:

Using lime or lemon juice will kill maggots. Sprinkling a large amount of salt over them also does the trick. Strong vinegar or boiling water will kill them as well.

Q:

What are maggots a sign of?

A:

Maggots may be a sign that food sat out for too long or was not disposed of properly, or perhaps you left windows or doors open for too long. Keep an eye on any pet wounds to prevent infestation there, too.

Q:

How do I get rid of maggots in my pets?

A:

You may need to shave the hair around their wound to effectively see and remove the maggots. Washing them with treated shampoo or applying a topical salve to the wound or infected area may also help, though the safest route is just to take them to the vet immediately.

How to instantly kill the larvae?

Pour boiling water over grubs to kill them instantly. The water should be as hot as possible and poured directly onto the larvae. It should also be poured into hard-to-reach places to make sure that all the larvae have died. Add 1 cup bleach and 1 1/2 cups hydrogen peroxide to a gallon of boiling water for extra killing power.

Spraying insecticides is an effective way to repel larvae and prevent them from entering the house or eating fruits and vegetables in the garden. It is important to read labels to ensure that the type of insecticide used on crops is not harmful to crops or people. nine0005

Ground rock powder known as diatomaceous earth is a more natural solution to get rid of maggot infestation and prevent it from becoming infested. Stone powder can be found at most local garden centers. Salt, vinegar, and lime are also effective methods for killing larvae in a trash can. Wipe the jar with vinegar and water so they don't come back.

Using baking soda does not kill or prevent larvae from infesting any area, but spraying them on an area that has already been cleared of them helps remove the odor they leave behind. nine0005

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How to get rid of skin beetles and their larvae in an apartment

Unlike cockroaches or moths, such a domestic pest as a skin beetle is somewhat less familiar to a wide audience, but when it appears in an apartment, traces of its vital activity are hard to miss. Disgusting holes in expensive carpets, hopelessly mutilated fur coats and coats, spoiled cereals, window sills polluted with feces and skin residues - this is the work of the kozheed beetle. But that's not all: despite its tiny size (no more than 3 mm), the beetle allows itself to bite a person and acts as a carrier of dangerous diseases. nine0005

As for reproduction, the small beetle will give odds to many larger insects: in a lifetime, the female kozheeda manages to lay more than 100 larvae. Due to their small size, they are difficult to detect, and if they are not found and destroyed, the fight against the skin beetle is doomed to failure: the larvae are able to “doze off” for a very long time, literally for years, without showing signs of life until food appears. Then they begin to actively eat, and soon the owners of the apartment, who seem to have gotten rid of uninvited guests, discover that everything has started anew: leather beetles gnaw things and crap. Therefore, it is better to immediately get rid of the proximity of the kozheed beetle with the help of proven drugs. nine0005

In order to guarantee the eradication of a harmful beetle, you must first find its nest or nests containing colonies of larvae. Such nests are most often found in rolled carpets, floor crevices, under skirting boards, behind radiators. Sometimes kozheedy nest directly in cabinets, in deposits of fur or woolen things.

Both nests and infested items should then be thoroughly treated with broad-spectrum insecticides that are not harmful to humans. The drug "Death to pests No. 2", which instantly kills skin beetles, has proven itself especially well. It is very convenient, as it is sold ready-made, it does not need to be diluted with water. It is enough to press the trigger-sprayer and irrigate the nesting sites of leather beetles, based on the formula "10 ml per square meter", to get rid of them for a long time. nine0005

Other effective insecticidal preparations against skin beetle include:

  1. "Cypermethrin". It is sold as an emulsion concentrate and is suitable not only for irrigating nests, but also for treating beetle-infested clothing, as well as stuffed animals.
  2. "Cifox". The principle of action and composition is similar to "Cypermethrin".
  3. "Althecid". Among its advantages are action up to two months and sticking effect.
  4. "Delicia Contra Insect". This spray is non-aggressive and does not harm the sprayed surfaces. nine0069

It is important to remember

Even if after the first treatment with insecticides the skin beetles have disappeared, it is recommended not to lose vigilance and after a while treat their favorite places again. When treating a room, you must not deviate one step from the instructions, in no case spray the product into the air and stay away from aquariums: insecticides that are deadly for skin beetles are also dangerous for fish.

As a preventive measure, it is recommended to regularly ventilate cupboards, put things in direct sunlight for a short time, and use moth-repellent preparations (skin beetle also does not like the smell of lavender or wormwood).

Learn more