How to Get Rid of Maggot in Trash Can | Step by Step

They are lots of easy ways on how to get rid of maggot in trash can. Maggots are truly a sight for anyone unfortunate enough to find them.

They can seemingly grow from nowhere and people can often be confused by how they got maggots in the first place, flies, and maggots are known to transmit a number of diseases.

However, this article will enlighten you on how to identify and get rid of maggots on your property. So your trash can stays free of these disgusting pests.

 

How to Identify Maggot Infestation

In any pest elimination process, the first step you should attempt is identifying what exactly you’re dealing with.

It is observed that careless identification can lead to wrong elimination methods, costing you time and money.

Maggots are actually the larvae of a few different fly species, which include blowflies, houseflies, and fruit flies. Immature maggot’s size will depend on the type of fly, the largest maggot can grow up to 20 millimeters or about 3/4 of an inch in length.

Their body colors include white, off-white light, brown pale, yellow, or even red. They have pointed heads, a blunt tail, and no legs.

Maggots and flies can become a problem any time of the year, especially during the warmer seasons of spring and summer when flies are more active.

Flies in the larvae can pass overwinter in regions where it gets cold enough, but warmer areas can see fly activity year-round, with this, we believe you will be able to identify maggots.

 

Inspection: What Causes Maggots in the House?

After identifying the pest infesting on your property,  you should carry out an inspection to discover what causes maggots in the house.

Once, you know what your pest looks like. Check around your property to confirm their presence or find hot spots of activity.

Maggots don’t just show up from nowhere. They show up for a reason if flies can access rotting material or spoiled Food.

They’ll use it as a breeding site to lay eggs, the maggots that hatch will eat the surrounding material, eventually maturing into more flies where the cycle repeats in the infestation grow.

If you’re dealing with a fly infestation, search your property for potential maggot breeding sites. Common spots include where food is prepared and eaten.

Also, check the pantry and nearby trash cans for any spoiled food and produce. When inspecting outdoors ensure to check in and around any garbage cans for possible fly breeding sites.

A common fly breeding spot is dog feces. If you have a dog, be sure to clean up its droppings regularly. Also, consider that potential breeding sites may not always be in plain sight.

Look underneath the trash cans, under appliances, crawl spaces, or addicts around clutter in garages or sheds. If you have gardens, check landscape beds with cracks and crevices for any flies.

 

What to do When You Spot Maggot Activity on your Trash Can?

If you suspect fly activity in your trash can, you may have to move clutter aside to see if any rotting food or dead animals are hiding.

In a situation where you can’t see flies, this doesn’t mean they don’t exist, flies will lay eggs on dead animal carcasses.

If a small animal like a rat was unfortunate enough to invade your home and die, its body can serve as food for flies, and maggots.

Also, take note of any unsealed foods, or rotting material, you find this includes any pet food along your home’s perimeter.

You’ll look for entry points flies can use to invade your property like broken doors and windows, seal voids, cracks, and crevices in the wall.

Take note of all entry points you found. As you’ll use this information to direct your treatment.

 

How to Get Rid of Maggot in Trash Can

After identifying and inspecting for maggots activity on your property. It’s time to start treatment but before starting any treatment, ensure to wear your personal protective equipment or PPE.

Also, don’t forget to keep all people and pets off the treated areas until dry to get rid of maggots.

The first thing you need to do is:

• Utilizing proper sanitation by eliminating food sources, you’ll inhibit, the maggot’s ability to reproduce.

Once you’ve done that. You’ll want to use insecticides for further effective control of maggots and flies, start with pro-grade pesticides, like

• Flex 10-10: This is a liquid insecticide concentrate that’s labeled to tree flies and many more pests.
• Martin’s IG Regulator: This is an insect growth regulator that will prevent eggs from hatching and prevents maggots from developing, and to all adult flies, breaking the fly’s life cycle.

Both products are labeled for indoor and outdoor use, which makes them great choices to stop maggots from appearing.

To treat tighter spaces or structural voids. You’ll need to use an insecticide aerosol that’s labeled to control flies like Pyrid.

Pyrid is a pyrethrum insecticide that comes with a straw applicator that’s used for crack and crevice treatments.

Pyrid does not have a residual and is used as a contact spray that delivers a quick and lethal knockdown of flies and many other pests.

Simply attach the straw to the nozzle of the can and press it down to apply the product. It can also be used without the straw applicator, as a space brain to treat open areas like above the trash can.

 

Recommendation

We recommend using a hand pump sprayer since you’ll be making localized indoor and outdoor applications for Flex 10-10.

We recommend you use a rate of 6.4 fluid ounces per gallon of water for Martin’s IGR. Use 1 fluid ounce per gallon of water.

This solution can be used to treat up to 1,500 square feet of the treatment area.

 

How to Apply Flex 10-10 and Martin’s IGR

To use a pump sprayer:

• Open the sprayer.
• Add half a gallon of water.
• Add a good amount of Flex 10-10 based on the square footage of your treatment area.
• Then add the remaining half-gallon.
• Close the sprayer and shake.
• Once Flex 10-10 is evenly spread, open the sprayer once more and add your measured amount of Martin’s IG Regulator.
• Then close the sprayer and give it one final shake to make sure it’s mixed evenly.
• Pump a couple of times to produce a low pressure.
• Spray on trash can for maggots and flies indoors, you’ll focus your treatments around fly resting spots and entry points.

 

How to and Where to Spray?

When spraying ensure to spray around doors, windows, along windowsills, and on the outdoor trash can.

You’ll spray ornamental plants and landscape beds, where you’ve seen fly or maggot activity, make your applications early in the morning.

Using a low pressure setting to spray where you’ve seen the fly and maggot activity such as soil or mulch beds.

Also, spray resting spots for flies, like around doors, windows, garbage cans, and on trees. When spraying liquid products ensure to apply on calm days when wind speeds are low to minimize drift.

 

How to Get Rid of Maggots Using Traps

You can install a fly light such as a UV light trap. When the trap is powered on, flies will be attracted to the UV light bulbs and get stuck on the glue board behind the bulbs.

Installation is very easy, you can set the trap up to stand on its own or hang it on the wall and it’ll plug into any plug outlet. This is great to use in garages backyard porch, areas, or mud rooms.

 

How to Prevent Maggots from Returning

Prevention is essential to keeping pests in check even after you’ve applied pesticides. The best way to stop pest activity is to make sure it can’t happen again.

Remember that maggots only appear when there’s decaying organic matter nearby. Try these steps below to eliminate maggots;

• Always clean surfaces, mop floors and take out the trash regularly.
• Make sure you seal your garbage bags and cans to make sure nothing can breed inside.
• Don’t forget to seal up or repair any cracks crevices or voids that flies can use to enter the structure.
• Address all sources of decaying food and matter you found during your inspection properly, dispose of all spoiled food into a sealable trashcan.
• Stored food should be contained in tight containers.
• Ensure your garbage bins can close properly so flies can’t get inside.
• The key thing is to remove any decaying material that the maggots and flies are feeding.

 

Conclusion

Finally, be sure to conduct follow-up treatments of Flex 10-10 monthly and Martin’s IG Regulator every six months to ensure control year-round.

Maggots are disgusting pests that multiply rapidly but following the procedures discussed in the article, you can identify, prevent and get rid of maggots in the trash can.

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