A city built on drained land and drainage canals
Coral Springs was master-planned from the mid-1960s on land drained by canals and levees, and the canals never left: the C-14 Cypress Creek Canal cuts across the city, drainage canals thread the subdivisions, and the Sawgrass Expressway on the north and west is the last road before the Everglades. Every one of those banks is a green iguana sunning spot. The hardest-hit streets are canal-front and lake-front: Cypress Run and Cypress Creek Villas on the canals in the west, The Isles, Venetian Isles, and the homes on 55-acre Lake Coral Springs, Bay Pointe and Pelican Isle, Brookside, Coventry Cove, and the water-view lots inside Eagle Trace's 903 homes, Wyndham Lakes, Heron Bay, and Coral Springs Country Club. Iguanas burrow into the banks, undermine patios, driveways, and pool decks, and strip hibiscus, orchids, and fruit trees on the way through.
Pools, lakes, and the preserve edge
Almost every single-family home in Coral Springs has a screened pool, and almost every neighborhood has a retention lake, which makes cane toads and Cuban tree frogs the second call. Toads breed in the lakes and canals, come up after rain, and sit on the pool deck, under landscape lights, and by the dog bowl; they are toxic to dogs. Tree frogs cover the lit lanai screens and pack into pump housings. Older non-HOA streets like Ramblewood, with mature canopy and porch lights, get geckos and anoles at every entryway.
On the west and north edges the list adds snakes. Homes backing Tall Cypress Natural Area on Turtle Run Boulevard — 68 acres of cypress and pine swamp — Sandy Ridge Sanctuary's lake and wetland on NW 40th Street, Cypress Park, and the Sawgrass Expressway canals see cottonmouths and rat snakes move into mulch beds and wood piles after heavy rain. Kensington Green, Eagle Creek, Eagle Lakes, Hidden Hammocks Estates, and Heron Bay all border that kind of ground.
Where to lay the band in Coral Springs
Canal and lake lots (Cypress Run, The Isles, Eagle Trace, Wyndham Lakes): a continuous band along the top of the bank, the outside footer of the pool cage, the water-facing hedge, and a ring around each low landscape light and the pool-equipment pad. Golf frontage (Eagle Trace, Country Club, Heron Bay): the fairway-side hedge as well. Preserve-edge lots (Turtle Run, Sandy Ridge, the Sawgrass side): the fence line facing the natural area, wood piles, and the mulch beds against the house.
Coral Springs is about 20 miles northwest of our Fort Lauderdale base, on the same route as Parkland, Tamarac, and Coconut Creek. A Cypress Run canal lot or an Eagle Trace lake lot is usually a 32 oz job; a Heron Bay estate or an HOA lake bank is the 5-gal bucket.
A barrier you control, from five ingredients you can read.
ReptilesAway is a granular powder, not a spray, made from five ingredients — sodium chloride, citric acid, lemongrass oil, peppermint oil, and garlic oil — and formulated as an EPA FIFRA 25(b) minimum-risk pesticide — made only from ingredients on the EPA's minimum-risk list, so it is exempt from federal registration. One application lasts 2–3 weeks. The 32 oz bag is $24.99 and covers 1,500 sq ft; the 5-gal bucket is $164.99 and covers 30,000 sq ft. Made with food-grade and botanical ingredients. As with any product, keep pets from eating it directly and check the ingredient list if your pet has known sensitivities to any of them. Local treatment is priced by quote with no contracts — call 1-833-8REPTILES (1-833-873-7845).
See how it works- Sodium chloride01
- Citric acid02
- Lemongrass oil03
- Peppermint oil04
- Garlic oil05
Buy what you need.
Free shipping on orders of $100 or more. Flat $8.95 under that.
Label mockup shown. Final packaging may vary.
ReptilesAway Powder · 32 oz
1,500 SQ FT · 2–3 WEEKS PER APP$24.99
Label mockup shown. Final packaging may vary.
ReptilesAway Powder · 5-Gallon
30,000 SQ FT · 2–3 WEEKS PER APP$164.99
Three steps. You run them.
Find the travel lines
Walk your Coral Springs property and flag the routes reptiles use — canal banks, foundation lines, mulch beds, the gaps under a fence.
Lay the band
Shake a three-foot band of powder along those lines. No spray, no fogger, nothing to dry — fine around the patio and play area.
Reapply on schedule
One pass lasts two to three weeks. Reapply after a heavy rain or every couple of weeks through the long season.
Questions about Coral Springs.
Iguanas dug under my pool deck on the C-14 canal. Will the powder stop them?
It discourages them from using the canal bank and the lawn strip that leads to the deck, which is where burrowing starts. Run the band along the top of the bank, the deck edge, and the hedge base, and reapply every two weeks in summer. A deck that has already settled should be checked by a contractor.
Does it work on cane toads that come out of the retention lake behind our Wyndham Lakes home?
Yes. Keep a continuous band along the outside footer of the pool cage and the lake-facing hedge through wet season, and ring the landscape lights and pump pad toads sit under. Cane toads are toxic to dogs, so keep the band fresh May through October and keep pets away from any toad you find.
We back onto Tall Cypress and see snakes in the mulch after storms. Is this the right product?
For keeping them from settling in beds and along the house, yes — treat the fence line on the preserve side, wood piles, and the mulch beds against the foundation. It is a repellent, not a removal service. If you find a cottonmouth or rattlesnake in the open, leave it to a licensed trapper.
Take back your Coral Springs yard.
From the Sawgrass canals to the preserve-edge homes, the fix is the same: a granular line where the reptiles travel. Run it yourself, or let our crew handle the whole thing.