What Can I Use to Kill Maggots? (Several Options)

What Can I Use to Kill Maggots? There are lot you can do to get rid of maggots. Maggots can feed on both live and rotting materials and it would vary depending on the fly type. They would usually burrow once they consume the material. Ultimately, they would leave circular shaped chewed holes in them.

So, if you had encountered the maggots at your home and were wondering how to get rid of them, this article would be useful for you. We will be describing on, how to get rid of them and on how to prevent them occurring too. 

How do you get maggots ?

Maggots are baby flies. Further , you may consider them as larval stages of a fly as well. Appearance wise they would be conically shaped. Further you could spot them either in gray or in creamy white.

Furthermore, the maggot head would be more like pointed in shape which they use for the digging purposes. Many of the commonly spotted maggots around the home are common housefly and bluebottle flies. Maggots can end up landing in your home or around your home if there is improperly discharged trash. In addition to that, dog droppings and presence of animal carcass may also contribute to this condition.

Maggot female flies are attractive towards those elements as they could lay their eggs on those surfaces. Once the eggs hatch, maggots would burrow into those materials and keep consuming them until they transform into a metamorphic stage. 

Maggots are silent invaders. However best would be to act fast and get rid of them as soon as possible. For example, if the maggots spread more on a severe level, they would result in fly infestations and in animal sickness among your domestic pets. If by any chance they land in your food and if you consume them by accident, it will lead to infections.

Why do I have maggots in my trash can ?

Flies would lay their eggs on hardy food sources. So ,it could be either your trash or dogs’ droppings that maggots would tend to occupy most of the time. Once they lay the eggs, the hatching would take place within twenty-four hours’ time. Once the little babies come out, they would tend to stay enclosed to rotten food so that they can pupate. Maggot pupation is more like a transformation of a caterpillar to butterfly.

So maggot would develop a hard shell which would later on become a dirty housefly. Flies are renowned for their ability to lay hundreds of eggs at a time and due to that you could spot clusters of maggots at once.

How to check for maggots

You could identify the maggots when they are occupied at home. Literally the maggots would tend to take the size of a thumb nail. Those maggots would tend to crawl out from the food source they invaded. If you wish to check whether they are present in your garbage, you may simply take a stick and move and break the food items and see whether you could spot any maggots. Additionally, you could put on your gloves and check this out too.

If you want to ascertain whether your pet has maggots, most probably they would be present on their wounds or beneath their skin. In addition to that you could check it by feeling the infected area too. You need to ideally check whether they have a hard bump under the wounded flesh.

There could be some maggot types which would feed on plant materials. If there is a healthy plant which perishes all of a sudden you need to ideally check whether there is a presence of maggots. You can simply pull one plant and see whether there are any maggots in the root mass as well as in the plant’s hole.

How long can maggot infestations last ?

Generally speaking , Maggots would usually feed for about three days. Chances are that they may feed up to five days. However, it would take about 14-36 days for the transformation of a fly from an egg. Further if the food sources are still edible, this process can keep happening. So, if you don’t dispose of the material, you are inviting the maggot infestation to become more severe.

Are maggots dangerous ?

Many people consider maggots as creatures which can spread diseases. Although they are a nuisance they are not dangerous. Instead, they can help to rescue lives. Maggot therapy is a commonly practiced medical therapy and some people farm them as well. In fact, maggots will consume the dead tissues as well as dead flesh and then remove all the bacteria in the infected wounds.

In addition to that, some people used to consume maggots. However, that doesn’t mean you can straightaway take maggot from your trash bin and then consume. The maggots in the trash bin may contain bacteria and if you end up ingesting them, it will lead to bacterial poisoning. So, do not ever consume maggots by simply picking from the bins. 

How to get rid of maggot’s step by step

You may come across maggots in different areas of your home as well as in your yard. Further chances are that they may develop in your pets as well. So, you need to treat them accordingly depending on where they have stabilized. So, this is how you should get rid of these irritating invaders. 

How to get rid of maggots at home

First of all, you need to find all the infested areas. You need to ideally find out all the locations where the maggots are feeding as well as living. You need to specially look at all the dirty areas at your home. If any rotting takes place at the foundation at your home, you could spot maggots in multiple rooms at your house.

Kill maggot and eggs 

If you come across any maggots in food or in your trash, you can boil them so that it would kill both eggs and the maggots. Next you may sprinkle some salt on those too. Alternatively, you could spray those with an insecticide too. On the other hand, if you come across any maggots in carpeting or in any baseboards at your home, the best thing you could do is to spray them with a spot spray treatment. Further if the infestation is rather on a larger scale, you may be tactful in using a broader spray to do the task for you. 

Clean thoroughly

You can rinse or wash the infected area to get rid of the maggots. In addition to that I urge you to use a fly repellent to prevent any further possible future infestations.

How to get rid of maggots in pets

First you need to look for places where maggots are. It is important that you verify that your pets have maggots in the first place without treating them at once. Look out for recent wounds and in between the toe joints. Check whether they have any lumps beneath their skin. 

Secondly you can take the pets to the vet. I recommend the best thing you could do is to take them to the vet. In fact, it would be safer. Vet can kill maggots and secure the pets completely from the maggots. They will ensure that no harm is done for your beloved animals while he does this.

Thirdly, ensure that you keep them clean all the time. It would be even better if you could wash them with a pet shampoo specially during their egg laying period.

How to get rid of maggots in the yard

The first thing you need to do when trying to get rid of the maggots in the yard, the first thing you need to do is to locate where they have invaded first. If you are not sure where they have infested, you need to first get an idea on the scope they have infested. Next you can dig up the ground around all the plants in the infected areas and see whether you could witness any holes around the root mass of the plants.

Secondly you could spray or dust to clear the region to get rid of the maggots in your yard. You may use a vegetable and fruit spray around the infected area. Thereafter dust the area as well. There are numerous products such as Fly Beater Fly and Odor Reducer, Harris Home Insect Killer etc, which you could use to treat maggot infestations.

What Can I Use to Kill Maggots? naturally

If you don’t want to use chemical cleaners, you could use the following methods to kill the maggots naturally.

Try a salt and kill

Maggots depend on water for their survival. So, Salt is a natural dehydrator. When you use large amounts of table salt and dowse them it would make them dry out. When they are dead, you could simply dispose of them into a plastic bag and throw them away. Thereafter ensure that you wash the infected area well.

Lime juice and salt

If you wish to use an organic solution, you could make maggots with some warm water mixed with concentrated lime juice and salt. This would act as a natural DIY, and it would help you eradicate them completely. . These are some of the commonly spotted pantry substances which you could find very easily.

Pour boiling water on them.

If you are sort of looking for the most impactful way to kill maggots, best would be to use the boiling water on them. Maggots contain protein which would be prone towards boiling water. Once you pour boiling water on the maggots, it would cause the protein to coagulate and kill the maggots in a very short period of time. That said, ensure that you are using boiling water and not warm water as the maggots can thrive in warm water. Thereafter , you could rinse the remaining leftovers away from using baking soda so that you could remove the bad smell as well.

Sprinkle them with diatomaceous earth

Diatomaceous earth is a natural powder which you could use for numerous purposes. In fact, you could utilize them to get rid of the maggots especially which have occupied under the carpets and other fibrous places. You could simply sprinkle some of the Diatomaceous earth and that powder would stick to their bodies and will kill them at the end. You can collect the corpses of the maggot in a separate plastic bag and discard them. Thereafter you can clean them thoroughly.

Use White vinegar to treat them.

Maggots can withstand the acidic nature of vinegar. So, you can ideally mix 3 parts of water into one part of vinegar and pour the solution right on top of the maggots. Ensure that the mixture is there for about one hour and then discard the maggots and clean the area.

When should you call a professional exterminator to treat maggots?

If the aforesaid methods were not effective and productive there will be a point where the maggot infestation would become severe, and it will get out of your hand. Further if the maggot infestation has spread in multiple rooms, and it has reoccurred even after you had treated them, it literally means you cannot get rid of this on your own. Here best would be to call the professionals to do that task for you. They will have better ways of eradicating this menace from your house.

How to keep maggots out of your home?

First and foremost , you need to avoid the flies getting attracted to your household to prevent a maggot infestation. So, make sure that you clean whatever food remains and keep them in sealed containers. That way the odor of the food will not attract the flies to your home.

If there is pet food, ensure that you cover the dish so that it would keep the flies out. In addition to that you need to remove the old food also faster too.Furthermore ensure that you remove animal feces faster too. Otherwise, those would not attract the maggots.

Can bleach kill maggots ?

Bleach can kill maggots. Just like boiling water can eradicate the maggot menace , you could use bleach also to remove them permanently. However this is an effective way of overcoming them chemically. All you need to do is mix bleach 50/50 with water and apply them right on top of the maggots to kill them. you could do this even for the maggots in the trash bin as well. This is an instant way of getting rid of the maggots.

Related questions

How do maggots get into your house?

Flies would usually sense the odor of the food or any other wastage and they would get attracted to those and end up reaching your house. They would lay the eggs in those locations and later on they would become maggots.

What are the natural ways to get rid of the maggots

You may use lime or lemon juice to kill maggots naturally. Besides you may also add a large amount of salt and that would also help you to eradicate the maggot menace completely.

What are maggots a sign of ?

If you spot maggots , it literally means the food was not disposed of well or it was exposed to air for too long. Additionally you need to watch out for the wounds in the animals as well

What kills maggots instantly?

If you wish to kill the maggots instantly, you could use lime or lemon juice for that purpose. Additionally you could sprinkle some large amounts of salt as well. Lastly, you may use string vinegar and boiling water also to kill them abruptly.

Can hydrogen peroxide kill maggots?

To answer the question where you can kill maggots using hydrogen peroxide, yes you can. Hydrogen peroxide is a commonly spotted home remedy, and you could use them to kill maggots as well as the lingering eggs too.

Will alcohol kill maggots?

Maggots are quite fascinated towards alcoholic beverages. Further they are quite attractive to foul smelling elements as well. So , you could make use of this opportunity and kill the maggots using the beer. You simply have to use a large unused bowl and fill it with beer and then apply it on the maggots. 

How long do maggots live for?

Maggots can live for about 15 to 30 days. So, if you wish to get rid of them before they become flies, you can make them run out of food , water and then they will struggle to thrive.

Does Sun kill maggots?

Generally speaking, if you expose them to harsh sunlight, it would kill the maggots. That said, it is not an effective way of killing the maggots. That said, you can try out other methods such as applying boiling water, insecticides and bleach to kill maggots.

Conclusion

To recap ”What Can I Use to Kill Maggots?”, preventing the maggots reaching your home is an effective way of overcoming the maggots problem at your home. However, if you come across any maggot infestation, you could treat them with either a natural way or a chemical way. So, I hope this information was helpful and now that you are well confident in handling these irritating creatures.

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