Why Is It So Hard To Keep Silverfish Out Of My Wilmington Home?

5/28/2020

While there are many different pests you might encounter in your Wilmington home, some are more of a problem than others. While some pests are somewhat harmless, others can do damage to your property or cause health concerns. On the other hand, even harmless pests can be frustrating when they invade your home in large numbers.

One common pest in the area that’s difficult to keep out of your home is the silverfish. While they are mostly considered nuisance pests, they are still not pleasant to find in your home. They are rather gross to look at and have an appearance that looks more like a prehistoric insect than an actual fish.

If you’ve never encountered these pests before, they have some identifying characteristics that will help you classify them in the future.

They are mostly silver but sometimes brown.
They have oval-shaped bodies that get skinnier near the tail end.
They have long antennae.
They have feelers that extend from the end of their bodies.

What Attracts Silverfish To A Home?

Silverfish are attracted to your home for three main reasons:

They eat things like flour, arts, starches in cardboard, meat, and book bindings.
They like damp, humid environments. Therefore, having them in your home may be an indicator of other moisture issues.
They look for warm, dark places to hide.

Silverfish often find homes attractive for these reasons, and this is especially true if you have high humidity in your house. They tend to get inside in many ways including hitchhiking inside cardboard boxes and secondhand books.

They can be particularly hard to get rid of because they often keep coming back if they find a favorable environment to live and breed. Things like humidity and food can continue to attract them to your Wilmington home.

Silverfish Prevention Steps

Seeing as how silverfish are attracted to your home for three main reasons, the best way to prevent them is to address the things that attract them in the first place. However, even with prevention steps, it’s not always possible to keep them out.

The following tips will help reduce the likelihood of an infestation:

Inspect cardboard boxes and secondhand books before bringing them into your home.
Reduce the humidity in your house using things like humidifiers.
Address other humidity issues by repairing leaky pipes and getting rid of mold.
Seal up holes around doors and the trim in your house.
Store food in airtight containers.

Protect Your Home From Silverfish

While silverfish might not be the most harmful pest, they are frustrating to encounter and even more difficult to get rid of. The safest and most effective way to get rid of these pests is to contact the experts at Jay Taylor Exterminating Co. We have over 75 years of experience protecting Willmington homes from silverfish and many other common pests in the area.

Reach out to the experts at Jay Taylor Exterminating today, and we will help rid your home of silverfish or other unwanted pests!