A technician checking a boundary wall line and pipe entries at ground level

Snake control in Umm Al Salam Jeddah

Umm Al Salam is a popular district in south eastern Jeddah on Old Makkah Road, with low rise homes, aged foundations and narrow streets. Cracks in the older buildings and subsurface dampness provide easy entry routes for snakes. Houses stand close to one another and gaps between walls offer multiple points of ingress. Work here focuses on sealing the small cracks and entry points scattered through every building, a labour intensive but essential task in an older settlement.

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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 Umm Al Salam

Close packed houses in this popular district create gaps between walls through which snakes move freely from one property to the next. The method is set out in full on how we approach Snake control.

The first reason

Cracks in aged foundations provide direct entry

In an old popular quarter, foundations have settled and shifted over decades. The resulting cracks offer numerous entry points for snakes. Old brick and decayed mortar cannot stop a snake crawling through. Repairing every crack is tedious work, but it is the only way to stop entry at source. Patience and attention to detail are essential here.

The second reason

Gaps between tightly packed houses are transit routes

Houses built very close together leave narrow gaps. Snakes use these gaps as corridors to move from house to house. The gaps also provide shade and dampness that snakes prefer. Sealing these gaps from outside may be impossible, but sealing the entry points of each house individually is essential and achievable. Treat each building as separate even though they are joined.

The third reason

Subsurface dampness attracts rodents to the foundations

In Umm Al Salam, soil beneath foundations is damp from ageing drainage networks and surface water accumulation. Rats burrow through this damp soil seeking water to drink. Snakes follow the rats beneath the ground or slip through cracks in the foundation. Treating dampness and rodents together works better than attempting to seal every crack.

Umm Al Salam on the map

Umm Al Salam sits about 4.5 km from Al Harazat and about 4.5 km from Al Mahamid.

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Before treatment

What the site tells us before we start

The district lies in south eastern Jeddah on Old Makkah Road, adjoining Al Harazat and Al Mahamid on the lorry route towards Makkah. It contains a health centre, mosques and low rise residential streets. Buildings are tightly packed and streets are narrow.

A shed skin

Shed skins may be found near the crack in the foundation where the snake entered.

A winding trail across fine sand beside a wall

The track in the sand

Tracks in sand around drainage outlets and foundation cracks show where snakes move.

Concrete blocks stacked against an exterior wall

Block and rubble piles

Piles of block and rubble from old repairs provide shelter for snakes around the house.

A closed metal gate with a visible gap beneath it

The gap under the gate

The gap beneath an old wooden or iron gate may not be sealed tightly.

A burrow opening in dry soil beside a garden

Rodent burrows

Rodent burrows appear immediately around the foundation after the first treatment.

A drip irrigation line leaking onto garden soil

A leaking irrigation line

Leaking irrigation or drainage seepage keeps the soil around the foundation permanently damp.

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.

Landmarks of Umm Al Salam

In Umm Al Salam, services are coordinated through the district's main arteries. Homes on Old Makkah Road are accessed directly, whilst properties deep in the residential streets like Al Janabin Street and around the Umm Al Salam Health Centre require more movement through narrow lanes to reach them.

Old Makkah Road
Al Salem Mosque
Al Janabin Street
Umm Al Salam Health Centre

Questions about this district

Is it possible to repair all the cracks in an old house without demolition?

Repairing small cracks is possible but requires patience and precise work. Larger cracks may need cement injection. Very fine cracks may need flexible waterproof sealant. Demolition is not necessary if you are willing to invest in careful patching and sealing.

Are rodents in old houses harder to remove than in modern buildings?

Yes, markedly so. Old houses have many cracks and voids that shelter rodents. Rats breed more easily in the abundant cover. Treatment needs to be repeated more often. A new sealed house is easier to control because there are fewer places for rats to hide.

How does treating an old house in a mixed district differ from a purely residential area?

A mixed district has shops and food sources that attract more rodents. A purely residential area attracts fewer rodents. Treating a house in a mixed district may need more frequent repetition because the food source outside the house remains constant.

Do old drainage networks in the district worsen the snake problem?

Old drainage networks provide abundant water for rats. Rats live near drain pipes to drink. Snakes follow the rats. If the drainage is damaged, repairing it before treating snakes may be worthwhile. Water attracts everything.

Can snakes be prevented from entering through the ground with a seal under the foundation?

Theoretically possible but practically very difficult in an existing house. Injecting sealant beneath an old foundation may require extensive excavation and repairs. It is easier to seal the visible entry points in the floor and foundation surface.

How often does an old house need snake treatment?

One treatment stops the current snake. But the cracks remain open and rodents return. Periodic inspection and repair of new cracks is necessary. Treatment may be needed each season as new cracks develop and old repairs fail. This is ongoing maintenance, not a one time fix.

How much does snake control in Umm Al Salam 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 Umm Al Salam.