Are Silverfish Dangerous?

If you're asking the question "Are silverfish dangerous?" you've probably already determined you have them inside your home.

Now it's time to find out if they're going to hurt you and how you're going to get rid of them.

Although they're not considered a dangerous insect, they will do a lot of damage to items inside your home such as old photographs, books, cotton or silk clothing, wallpaper and many other items that contain starch, proteins and adhesives.

Silverfish look like an insect that's straight from the prehistoric ages.  

Their scales have a silver metallic shine making them appear like an armored bug.  

Add some long antenna and a slithering motion when they move and you're sure to be screaming when you see one dart across your floor searching for a quick place to hide.

With roots dating back over 400 million years, silverfish are not new to the insect world, but if you start to see them lurking around your basement, attic or bathroom you'll want to take action to prevent them from becoming a big problem.

To learn more, lets look at some silverfish facts to understand why they're in your home to begin with.

Are Silverfish Dangerous? - Facts

Okay, so we've determined that silverfish are not dangerous in a life threatening manner, but they will cause you a lot of problems if they decide to make your house their home.

Silverfish love humid, damp environments.  

An atmosphere that's roughly 75-90 percent humidity creates the perfect environment for silverfish to thrive.

This is why you'll find them in the basement, under the sink (if you have a leaky faucet) or in a poorly ventilated attic.

Since they're nocturnal and can move at alarming speeds for their size, chances are you'll notice the damage caused by their eating habits before you actually see one in your home.

Holes in your clothing, damaged books on a book shelf, or ruined photographs are all signs of silverfish feeding on these items.

Don't worry, silverfish do not bite humans or animals, but since they also like to eat dandruff, you might see them crawling around your bed or near a hairbrush in the bathroom.

A silverfish life cycle takes about three or four months to go from an egg to an adult.  

They continue to molt throughout their life and even molt as an adult, which could be up to 50 times!  

With a life expectancy of about 2-3 years, silverfish inside your home will be around for a while, especially if you have an easy food source and don't do anything to control the humidity such as a dehumidifier in your basement or proper ventilation in your attic.

If you're looking for an easy way to get rid of silverfish, try using Dekko silverfish packs.

Dekko Silverfish Packs

They're easy to set out, the active ingredient Boric Acid is safely contained inside the package, and they last for several months.

Recently at work, silverfish seemed to be everywhere.  Especially late at night as they began to venture out into the open.  

It was apparent something needed to be done.  Are silverfish dangerous?  

No, but we needed to find out why they were there and what they were eating.

Little did we know at the time, there was a lot of paper that had fallen on the floor behind the desks.  

The silverfish were eating the paper that had probably been behind the desks for years.

The paper was shredded by the silverfish!

We set out a few of these Dekko packs and within a month the number of silverfish was noticeably reduced and the problem was basically cured.

Are Silverfish Dangerous? - Overall

Are silverfish dangerous?  Not really.

While you might need to consider silverfish contaminating your food, they won't spread disease and won't bite you in your sleep.

They will however plague you with their destructive feeding habits until you get the problem under control.  

A dehumidifier is basically a necessity in every home.....especially if you have a basement.  

Even in northern Michigan where we have 4 full seasons, it doesn't take long for humidity and moisture to become an issue.

Controlling moisture will not only help with a variety of different insects, but it will also help with mold and mildew throughout your home.

I run our dehumidifier in the basement roughly 10 months out of the year.  

By reducing the humidity in your home and setting out some bait packets you'll be on your way to getting rid of silverfish for good.