Snake control in Ajyad, Makkah

Targeted, not broadcast

Product goes into cracks and runways, never sprayed across open surfaces.
Told before we start

What we will use, where it goes, and what to cover or move before we arrive.
A follow-up visit

We return after the first treatment, because what survives it does not show on the day.
Homes and businesses

Apartments and villas, and kitchens and stores that need a record of each visit.

Why they keep coming back in Ajyad

Ground floor carpet and lobby tile stay wet most of the year because of seeping water from the commercial kitchens and the crowded shared bathrooms on floors above them. The method is set out in full on the full Snake control page.

The first reason

Shared flats multiply the paths snakes can use

In packed apartment buildings the floors stack vertically and shared doors and corridors let a snake climb from ground to roof without a barrier, and adjoining flats open to each other so snakes move horizontally between units as easily as between floors.

The second reason

Commercial kitchens pump out fresh rats every hour

Hotels and furnished flats run their kitchens night and day during pilgrimage season, leaving food and scraps loose in store rooms and hallways, which brings in floods of rats that in turn bring snakes to hunt them.

The third reason

Damp foundations and pipe gaps offer safe shelter

Old drains and loose pipework and the constant dampness around the building footings on the hillside slope provide snakes with cool dark crevices that hide them from the heat and put them within reach of rats, geckos and the dampness they need to stay alive.

Ajyad on the map

Ajyad sits about 0.5 km from Al Hajlah and about 1 km from Al Shubaikah.

Open in Google Maps

Before treatment

What the site tells us before we start

Dense apartment buildings with shared entrances and repeated floors, foundations planted on slopes where old sewers lose themselves and gaps open between the pipes.

A shed skin

Shed skins lie on the damp floor slabs beneath flat units and in the gaps between old pipework in the lower storeys of the tall residential blocks.

A winding trail across fine sand beside a wall

The track in the sand

Snake tracks are clear on the damp soil around the building footings on the Jabal Khandamah slope and in the old trenches beneath the underground stores in the hotels and apartment blocks.

Concrete blocks stacked against an exterior wall

Block and rubble piles

Stacks of old block and rubble from the constant repairs of the hotels and buildings offer safe hiding places for snakes above the wet soil.

A closed metal gate with a visible gap beneath it

The gap under the gate

The gaps under shared doors and in worn door frames offer wide openings for slim snakes moving through the shared corridors and climbing between units.

A burrow opening in dry soil beside a garden

Rodent burrows

Rodent burrows spread below the floor slabs and building footings and in the soil beneath the basement stores in the hotels and residential blocks.

A drip irrigation line leaking onto garden soil

A leaking irrigation line

Leaking irrigation from scattered drain outlets and loose pipework and seeping water from shared bathrooms keep the soil around the footings wet all year.

How we work

1
Inspect and locate

We work the perimeter, the garden and the service rooms with a torch and a mirror, reading the tracks, the skins and the burrows to establish whether it is still on site and where it came in.
2
Safe removal

It comes out on a hook and tongs into a closed container and is released away from buildings where that is possible, with no chasing it around a room.
3
Close the routes, take away the shelter

A strip under the gate, sleeves around pipe entries, tight covers on the floor drains, and the blocks and palm fronds moved off the wall line.
4
Cut the food, then come back

We treat the rodents and the geckos on the perimeter, then return once that activity has settled to check the sealed points and look for any fresh track.

What snake control includes

A recorded site inspection

Perimeter, garden, service rooms and pipe entries, with tracks and skins recorded before anything is applied.
Drains and entries closed

Tight covers on floor drains, sleeves around waste and air conditioning pipe runs, and the weep holes in the boundary wall closed.
Rodent work around the building

Closed bait stations on the rodent runs, because cutting the prey is what makes the site stop suiting them.
Perimeter treatment down the food chain

Insects on lit walls hold the geckos, and geckos feed some species, so we treat the chain from the bottom up.
A perimeter housekeeping list

What to move off the wall line, how low to cut the ground cover, where the lighting sits, and what to do if you see another one.
A scheduled follow-up

A set date to check the sealed points, the rodent stations and any new track in the sand.

What is different about Ajyad Sub-Municipality

Ajyad sub municipality takes in the districts that press against the Grand Mosque from the south and west: Ajyad, Al Hajlah, Al Shubaikah, Al Tandabawi and Al Mansour. Hotels and rented apartment blocks for Umrah visitors stack up along Ajyad Street and Ibrahim Al Khalil Street, with kitchens and restaurants running aday and night in season. Behind them, Al Shubaikah and Al Tandabawi keep narrow old lanes on hillside ground where buildings and drains are ageing, and demolition and construction sites are a constant presence around Jabal Omar and the central zone.

Questions about this district

A snake got into our flat somehow. How did it get in when everything is sealed?

Shared entrances and pipes and the gaps around doors, windows, electrical conduits and the loose points where pipes rise through concrete offer invisible routes, especially from upper floors where ventilation plenums and damp insulation sit closer to your windows.

Do the large hotel snakes differ from the ones that live in residential flats?

Hotel snakes in the tall towers hunt in the vast kitchens and store rooms, while flat snakes slip through thin walls and crowd into units that overlook the dense commercial kitchens next door, where food waste brings rats all night.

Is sealing the entry holes enough or do we need the dampness problem fixed first?

Sealing the holes matters but is not enough if the dampness and the rats stay under the floors and in the walls, because the snake keeps returning to the habitat for water and to hunt, even if the doors are locked.

What can we do about the commercial kitchens in the hotel next door?

Enclosing the kitchens and sealing their openings cuts the rat population, and working with the hotel on deep cleaning at night protects the adjoining flats from snakes that slip through at dark.

Is the ground floor flat a bigger risk than the upper storeys?

The ground floor receives snakes from outside and the soil, but upper floors in hotel towers sit closer to ventilation ducts and damp insulation where rats and insects cluster and where dampness collects.

The hotel next door says they have no snake problem, so where did ours come from?

Shared problems between adjoining buildings are rarely admitted by hotel management, and snakes move between them through shared foundations and shared drains and pipes without care for property lines.

How much does snake control in Ajyad cost?

It is set after the inspection, because the price follows the type of infestation, the size of the space, how far it has spread and the number of visits it needs. Send a photo and a description on WhatsApp and we will give you an estimate before we reach Ajyad.