Family and I just moved into a new home and have not had it sprayed for bugs yet. Just looking to see who is the best.

Thank you in advance.

I've only used ABC. I have been satisfied with their performance and their customer service.

Venus Pest- and I am not just saying that because they are a sponsor. We have used them for years!

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Venus Pest

+1 for Venus

Venus - Scott and the crew are fabulous!

+5 for Venus. Scott & the gang has done an outstanding job for us for more than 5 years now.

Another for Venus. Excellent customer service and great people.

Hmmm.....I may switch

We used another well known company after moving here because we had terrible issues with ants. They normally had to come back out between our scheduled maintenance (thankfully at no charge) and spray again because the problems wouldn't go away. We had geckos, roaches, ants and spiders constantly.

Eventually, there was a billing issue (their fault, not mine) that sent me over the edge, along with the reappearance of the ants full force. And so, we decided to switch after hearing such great things about Venus.

Scott came out himself, talked with us about our problems and found a solution that would work for our family. He was patient and willing to spend quite a bit of time over here, and at the time, I think it may have been a Saturday.

He took care of the ant problems that afternoon and we haven't seen them since. That was about two years ago. The worst we get is the occasional spider. No more geckos. No more roaches. I can't tell you how thrilled we are with their service. I cannot say enough great things about them.

Looks like I will be calling Venus. Thank you so much for your time. My wife and I appreciate it!

Another satisfied Venus customer here. You will not be disappointed.

me too, me too! +1 for Venus Pest (They have a great website, too!)

Another +1 for Venus!

I'm huge on service people being on time and I never have to worry about Venus keeping their appointment. They show up on time. Every time.

Wow! Thanks for all the props. We are super slammed today, so it may be later this afternoon before we can call you back. You could also email service@venuspest.com or direct message on twitter @venuspest. Talk to you soon!

Do geckos do damage that I'm unaware of, or do you just not like them 4lilmonkeys? I always thought they were natural bug killers.

Tariny, nope, I'm just absolutely terrified of them for no good reason whatsoever.

We can't kill geckos. It's probably just coincidence in normal abundance fluctuations. I haven't looked it up to be sure, but my opinion is that most any insecticide applied at rates to kill insects won't harm geckos. They have a closed circulatory system and blood/brain barrier which will protect them. We had them in Copperfield the whole time we lived there and I sprayed regularly for mosquitoes. We also had plenty of Anoles.

The best you can do is sticky traps inside to capture the occasional invaders. You could do sticky traps outside, but that's just being mean.

Reducing their food supply with pest control might reduce abundance, but I doubt by very much. They hang around lights at night and capture insects that fly to the light. Those insects flying to the light aren't going to be affected by what we sprayed on the ground until they fall on the ground. That leaves plenty for geckos.

A lot of people are totally freaked out by them. My wife hates them for sure. Maybe one day I will invent a catch and release gecko trap!

For the record, we NEVER kill them. My boys are fascinated with them and would be devastated if I ever did. I'm just more of a "let's keep nature outside" kinda gal. Which is probably pretty ridiculous when you've got four boys, but I can't help it. So, we do practice catch and release out here!

They usually congregate around the porch and in the boys' clubhouse. As long as I don't step on one at 5:30 in the morning (done that) or come face to face with one in the bathtub while showering (also done that), I'm good!

Whatever it is, they're not in my house, and I'm fine with that, ha!

[This message has been edited by 4lilmonkeys (edited 3/28/2011 4:43p).]

+1 for Venus

We switched to Venus a year ago after all of the recommendations on here, and we love them!

how bad are brown recluses in bryan? my roommate says he found and killed a brown recluse on the floor of the kitchen.

brown recluse spiders are common around here, but they really like dark, dank places like underneath pier & beam houses or in sheds, under log piles, etc. It's not impossible you saw one running across your kitchen floor but it was probably just a wolf spider - which are VERY common and harmless. I've known lots of people who freak out at wolf spiders thinking they're recluses.

I won't post comparable pics for that arachnophobes on the board

rhoswen is right, brown recluse are common but rarely found inside. In 10 years, I have identified brown recluse inside 2 houses. One house was really bad. We caught dozens in sticky traps. The family had recently moved a lot of boxes in from years of storage in another location. I think that was the source. 99.9% of the calls end up being wolf spiders.

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was a billing issue (their fault, not mine) that sent me over the edge..

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4lilmonkeys, lemme guess: ABC Pest. Their billing/scheduling is horrible. Jennifer at Venus rocks!

RP Lee has been great.

Has anyone used Venus or ABC for flea treatment for their home?

Some friends of ours used Venus for flea treatment (outside - not sure if they had any problems inside), and were very, very pleased. Their neighbors on both sides and behind them have dogs, and one neighbor has chickens as well. They've not had any trouble with fleas since getting the treatment (I think it's every quarter, but I may be wrong).

1-Above Pest Control is who I use and have had the best luck with. Very prompt, professional and gets the job done. A lot of my neighbors use them as well. Not a corporate company, locally owned and operated.

How often do they usually spray and how much is the charge ?

RP Lee are great.

I use RP Lee. I am under warranty with them for termites so just kept with them.

Horlen Pest Control has always done me a great job.

I will get rich if I ever develop a trap for red wasps. They are so erratic!

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I will get rich if I ever develop a trap

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you'd think so...