How to Get Rid of Centipedes in Hawaii Homes: Keeping Unwelcome Guests Out
The fastest way to get rid of centipedes is to remove what draws them in: the insects they hunt, the moisture they need, and the gaps they crawl through. Then add a professional perimeter treatment so new ones can't get inside. If you've found a six-inch centipede in the shower or felt one in your bedding, that plan works far better than a can of spray.
Hawaii's large centipede, Scolopendra subspinipes, delivers a bite that causes intense pain and swelling. It's a real concern for homes with small children and pets. These centipedes also move indoors after heavy rain, so one sighting often turns into several.
This guide explains how to get rid of centipedes step by step, why they keep showing up, and when it makes sense to call a professional. First, it helps to know what you're dealing with.
Why Centipedes in the House Are a Real Problem in Hawaii
Centipedes are fast, nocturnal predators with one pair of legs per body segment and venomous front claws called forcipules. Most homes on the mainland only see small house centipedes. Oʻahu has the Hawaii centipede, which can grow over six inches long and bites defensively when it's pinned or touched.
A centipede in the house usually means two other things are going on: the house has a steady supply of prey insects, and there's a damp spot where the centipede can shelter. Centipedes don't eat crumbs. They follow roaches, silverfish and crickets. That's why a single sighting is often a sign of a larger centipede infestation outside, near your foundation. Professional centipede pest control treats that source rather than the one centipede you happened to see.
Knowing how to get rid of centipedes properly helps you:
- Protect your family: A centipede bite can send a child to urgent care, and the risk is higher at night in beds and shoes.
- Stop repeat sightings: Removing prey and moisture ends the reason centipedes come inside.
- Avoid wasted money: Retail sprays kill what they hit but scatter the rest into wall voids.
The most common mistake is treating only the centipede you can see. If the insects it feeds on stay, so will the centipedes. Silverfish control is often the missing piece in bathrooms and closets.
How to Get Rid of Centipedes: A Step-by-Step Plan
Knowing how to get rid of centipedes comes down to working in the right order. First you cut off their food and water, then you block their entry points, and finally you treat the perimeter. Skip a step and they'll keep coming back. This is the same process our technicians use in centipede control on Oahu.
Why Centipedes Come Inside
Three things drive centipedes indoors:
- Prey: Roaches, silverfish, ants and crickets living in your walls or under sinks.
- Rain: Heavy storms flood the soil and leaf litter where centipedes live, so they climb up and look for dry shelter.
- Moisture: Centipedes dry out quickly, so indoors they gravitate to bathrooms, laundry areas, under-sink cabinets and crawlspaces.
Step 1: Find Where They're Living
Before treating anything, locate the source.
- Check stacked rock walls, hollow tile, mulch beds, potted plants and leaf piles near the foundation.
- Inside, look under sinks, behind toilets and in damp closets.
- Set sticky traps along baseboards for a week to map where activity concentrates. Qwik-Sand glue traps catch centipedes and the crawling insects they hunt.
Step 2: Cut Off Their Food Supply
This step matters more than any spray.
- Treat existing roach, silverfish and ant activity.
- Store pantry food in sealed containers.
- Reduce clutter like cardboard boxes and piled laundry, which shelter prey insects.
If ants are marching along your baseboards, professional ant control removes another food source centipedes rely on.
Step 3: Dry Out Damp Areas
- Fix leaking pipes and dripping faucets.
- Run bathroom fans after showers.
- Ventilate crawlspaces.
- Move potted plants away from exterior walls, and don't overwater beds right next to the house.
Step 4: Seal Entry Points
- Install door sweeps on exterior doors, especially sliding lanai doors.
- Repair torn window screens.
- Seal gaps around pipes with caulk or copper mesh.
- Cover weep holes and floor drains with fine mesh.
Tip: Large Hawaii centipedes flatten their bodies to slip under doors. A gap you can slide a credit card into is wide enough.
Step 5: Apply a Perimeter Treatment
A licensed technician applies a residual treatment around the foundation, entry points and harborage zones. It stops centipedes before they reach the door. Pairing it with prey control is what makes it last.
Is DIY Enough?
For an occasional small house centipede, steps 1 through 4 may be enough. For repeated Scolopendra sightings, bites, or centipedes appearing after every rainstorm, a professional plan is safer and faster.
How Hawaii Homeowners Get Rid of Centipedes in Real Life
Here's how the plan works in real homes across Oʻahu.
The Kaneohe Family With Bathroom Sightings
A family living below a wooded hillside found centipedes in both bathrooms after every storm. The inspection turned up silverfish in the wall voids and a stacked rock planter against the house. After roach and silverfish treatment, a perimeter barrier and new door sweeps, sightings dropped to none within a month.
The Pearl City Move-In
A new homeowner in an older post-and-pier house found centipedes in the crawlspace before moving in. He had the crawlspace treated, pipe gaps sealed and a vapor barrier added. The family moved in with no indoor sightings.
The Mililani Lanai
Another homeowner kept finding centipedes near her sliding door. A door sweep and moving her potted plants away from the wall solved it.
Each case shows how to get rid of centipedes by fixing the conditions behind them. The same approach works for your home.
Expert Tips to Keep Centipedes Out for Good
Once you know how to get rid of centipedes, these habits keep them from coming back.
Shake Out Shoes and Towels
Centipedes hide in dark, soft places overnight. Shaking out shoes, towels and bedding that sit on the floor prevents most centipede bites. Keep beds pulled a few inches from the wall so bed skirts don't touch the floor, especially in ground-floor bedrooms.
Treat Before the Rainy Season
Centipedes move indoors when heavy rain floods their outdoor shelters. Scheduling a perimeter treatment before Hawaii's wetter months, roughly October through April, puts a barrier in place before the migration starts, not after centipedes are already inside.
Keep a Dry Strip Along the Foundation
A three-foot band of gravel or bare soil between your walls and any mulch or groundcover removes the damp shelter centipedes use as a staging area. This one change often cuts sightings dramatically.
Stay on a Prevention Schedule
A one-time treatment fades over time. Regular service keeps both centipedes and their prey in check. Here's what long-term prevention plans typically include and cost.
Consistent centipede prevention is what turns a one-time fix into lasting results.
Stop Centipedes at the Source
Now you know how to get rid of centipedes: find where they live, remove their food, dry out damp areas, seal entry points, and treat the perimeter. Sprays alone won't solve a centipede infestation, because they don't touch the reasons centipedes came inside.
Acting early protects your family from painful bites and keeps a few sightings from becoming a regular problem, especially heading into the rainy season. If you'd like to understand your options first, a free estimate costs nothing.
When you're ready for a lasting fix, let a licensed team handle it with Xtermco's centipede pest control on Oʻahu.
Centipede Removal FAQs
What Is the Fastest Way to Get Rid of Centipedes?
The fastest way to get rid of centipedes is to combine a professional perimeter treatment with removing the insects they feed on. Sprays kill individual centipedes, but new ones keep arriving while prey and moisture remain. Most homes see a sharp drop in centipedes in the house within two to four weeks of treating the source.
Are Hawaii Centipede Bites Dangerous?
A Hawaii centipede bite is very painful and causes swelling, redness and sometimes nausea, but it's rarely life-threatening for healthy adults. Children, older adults and people with allergies face greater risk. Wash the bite, apply a cold compress, and seek medical care if swelling spreads or breathing is affected.
Why Do I Keep Finding Centipedes After It Rains?
Heavy rain floods the soil and leaf litter where centipedes live, so they move upward and indoors looking for shelter. Door sweeps, sealed gaps and a perimeter treatment applied before the rainy season are the best ways to keep centipedes out during wet weather.
Do Centipedes Mean I Have Other Pests?
Usually, yes. Centipedes hunt roaches, crickets, ants and silverfish, so regular sightings suggest a prey population nearby. Treating those insects, starting with silverfish control in damp rooms, is one of the most reliable ways to get rid of centipedes over the long term.
About the Author
Ryan Malaluan, CAPM®, is an SEO & Content Strategist with over 8 years of experience in SEO, content strategy, and digital marketing. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®). Throughout his career, Ryan has worked with brands including Spacer, Airtasker, Marlee (formerly Fingerprint for Success), VEED.IO, and ROSEMET LLC, as well as several digital marketing agencies, helping businesses strengthen their organic visibility through strategic, results-focused SEO and content.